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Meric

Kaçırılan Hazine

Meriç nehrinin mezarlığa dönüşmüş karanlık sularına bakarken aklımda tek şey vardı. Çok sevdiğim ülkemden çıkmak. Beşik gibi sallanan kayıkta eniştem, kuzenim ve üç çocuklu bir aileyle birlikte nehirde ilerliyorduk. Ailenin en küçük ferdi bir bebekti ve ağlıyordu. “Kesin şunun sesini yakalanacağız.” diye küfretti bize eşlik eden kaçakçı. Adam her durumda küfreden karanlık bir tipti. Karşıya geçemeden yakalanma ihtimali içimi ürpertti. Enişteme fısıldadım. “Enişte eğer yakalanacak olursak suya atlayıp yüzeceğim haberin olsun.” Eniştem, “Su göründüğü gibi değil akıntı var çamur var boğulabilirsin Allah korusun.” dedi endişeyle. O an düşündüm. Kapkaranlık gecenin ortasında Meriç‟in karanlık ve soğuk sularına baktım. Ben zaten ölüydüm.

Hukukun olmadığı yerde, iftiraya ve zulme uğrayan insanın nefes alamadığını, manen öldüğünü yaşayıp görmüştüm. Sahip olduğunuz her şey birilerinin iki dudağı arasına sıkışmışken yaşamak, yaşamak sayılmazdı. Özgürlüğüme gidebilmek için riskleri göze alacaktım. Bebek hepimizi saran tedirginliği sanki hissediyordu daha yüksek sesle ağlamaya başladı. Annesi çocuğunu susturmak için göğsüne bastırdı. Nefeslerimizi tuttuk.

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THE TORTURED MOTHERS UNDER ERDOGAN’S REGIME

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By AST Reporter, Nur Ozer

May 15, 2020

“I was so afraid to go to the hospital for delivery. I had planned to have the majority of my labor contractions at home so that I would not be taken into custody,” says Ayse Kaya in an interview she gave to an Advocates of Silenced Turkey reporter. Like many mothers of the Gulen movement, Ayse Kaya’s life took a radical turn after the so-called coup attempt in Turkey, in 2016. Mrs. Kaya, who is a Gulen movement supporter, used to work at a non-profit organization. Mrs. Kaya mentions in her interview that the organization was completely legal, operating under the appropriate government department that oversaw non-profit organizations, and subject to unannounced government audits.

The Turkish Justice Minister data indicates that there are more than 750 babies imprisoned with their mothers. According to the Turkish Criminal Code, Law No# 5275, Article 16, Section 4 the Implementation of Criminal and Security Measures prohibits the arrest of women with babies younger than six months and pregnant women. However, these regulations do not apply to Gulen movement supporters. This brutality is not limited to new moms, and newborns; it is also affecting the new generation of Turkey. There are more than 3000 children in the prisons of Turkey. This growing young generation has witnessed many tortures, and brutal practices in the jails, and at the courts. During this process, one can easily witness a child screaming, or crying uncontrollably as they see their parents in handcuffs.  Some of the mothers have to take their newborns to prison with them, while others have to leave them in tears to their parents.  Worst of all, there are many children whose mother and father were imprisoned and due to their relatives’ unwillingness to accept guardianship, these children were sent to the orphanages. The link below shows a short video of a little girl whose father is in jail, and whose mother was taken to court and arrested. After many hours of waiting, the little girl is talking to a dog asking where her mother is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gni2GbSpoZA

As of now, there is no evidence that connects Gulen supporters to the attempted 2016 coup. However, for Erdogan, and the AKP regime, this does not mean anything. In his article, Tas (2017) states, “Having thwarted a coup attempt, one could plausibly assume that AKP would comb through the evidence gathered and reveal the truth of 15 July. Instead, AKP demonstrated an apparent disdain for facts and employed various means to obstruct the pursuit of truth and maintain its monopoly over the narrative of the abortive coup.” (p.6) Even if we consider that the Gulen movement followers organized the coup, there is no law that allows imprisoning new mothers and newborns. No matter what the truth is, there is one reality that is not changing; Turkey’s prisons are turning into the headquarters of torture for the new generations of Turkey.

Like Mrs. Kaya, there are many mothers living in brutal conditions in the prisons of Turkey without -knowing the exact reason for their imprisonment. They are living with the hope that all of this is a big misunderstanding, and that the authorities would eventually realize that they were making a big mistake. Even though we share the same hopes with these new mothers, the present status of the Erdogan regime has not made any attempt to release them despite the danger of the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides all the trauma and brutality, the mothers are facing, there is another crucial unforeseen fact, which is the psychological status of new mothers.  The delivery process brings many crucial identity, physiological, and physical shifts in a woman’s life. “These changes range from “baby blues” to a spectrum of feelings known as “postpartum mood disorders”. (“Emotions of Motherhood”, n.d, p.0). Besides the poor psychological and physical conditions in prisons, most mothers suffer from deprivations such as not having hygienic enough conditions, and the lack of baby diapers, baby formula, and attention to the nutritional needs of their newborns.

In addition to the mothers in jails, due to unforeseen conditions, many women are forced to live in secret locations with the fear of being taken into custody or imprisoned. Most of these women have been suffering from the lack of access to proper healthcare, and from starvation, and poverty. Today, many Gulen movement supporters are forced into civil death with their families, and many ended up with emigrating from Turkey via dangerous water crossing from Meric (Evros River) with the hope of finding new lives overseas.


References

All Things Baby . (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.unitypoint.org/waterloo/emotions.aspx

CEZA VE GÜVENLİK TEDBİRLERİNİN İNFAZI HAKKINDA KANUN. (2004, December 13). Retrieved from https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/MevzuatMetin/1.5.5275.pdf

Tas , H. (2018, March 8). The 15 July abortive coup and post-truth politics in Turkey. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14683857.2018.1452374?needAccess=true

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gni2GbSpoZA


 


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At Least 3 Victims Drowned While Trying to Cross Meriç/Evros River

Victims of Erdogan’s regime are increasing every day, as there has not been an effective mechanism to prevent him. On February 13, Turkish media reported that Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Organization (AFAD) found the bodies of three, including two children, near the Border between Turkey and Greece.

Eight Turkish nationals, including three children, two women, and three men tried to get to Greece by crossing the Meriç/Evros river using a rubber boat. The rubber boat was capsized, and two children, estimated to be around 11 and 3, and their mother drowned. The names of the dead were identified as Ayşe Söyler Abdurrezzak, and her children Abdulkadir Enes Abdurrezzak (11) and Halil Munir Abdurrezzak (3). The rest of the people that were in the same boat are missing. Ayşe Söyler Abdurrezzak, a 37-year-old teacher, and her husband were dismissed from their job due to crackdowns after the failed coup attempt.

Doğan family was also accompanying the Abdurrezzak family. The members of the family, Fahreddin Doğan, his wife Asli Doğan and their 2.5-year-old son, Ibrahim Selim Doğan are still missing.

Thousands of Turkish families have migrated to Greece from Turkey in recent year. Most of these families are sympathizers of the Gulen Movement. The Turkish government accuses the movement of being behind the 2016 failed-coup attempt. The movement denies alleged involvement.

Since the alleged coup attempt, which President Erdogan defined as a blessing from God, Turkish democracy, and justice have continuously deteriorated every day. More than 150,000 people have been detained and nearly 60,000 people, including academics, judges, doctors, teachers, lawyers, students, and people from different backgrounds have been put in pre-trial detention.

In November 2017, Hüseyin Maden, a 40-year-old teacher, who was also dismissed in the crackdown after the failed coup attempt, drowned along with his wife and three children while trying to reach Greek island of Lesvos.

We, as the Advocates of Silenced Turkey, are calling all the international and non-governmental human rights organizations to raise awareness about the drowned Abdurrezzak family and also to take immediate action as regards the problems in Turkey to prevent other families and children from suffering as such. We hope the situation in Turkey will get better for those in Turkey and abroad who are oppressed by the ruling government of Turkey.

Download statement as a PDF: AST_Statement-Abdurrezzak-Family

Download flyer on Abdurrezzak family as a PDF: AST_Flyer_Abdurrezzak family

 


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At Least 3 Victims Of Erdoğan’s Persecution Targeting Gülen Movement Drowned As Trying To Cross River Between Turkey And Greece

At least three victims of the massive post-coup persecution of Turkish government, led by autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, targeting the alleged members of the Gülen movement, have reportedly drowned on Tuesday morning as they were trying to cross the Meriç/Evros river between Turkey and Greece.

Eight Turkish citizens, including 3 children, 2 women and 3 man, have been missed after their rubber boat capsized in Meriç/Evros river on the border between Turkey and Greece on Tuesday. The bodies of the two drowned brothers, estimated to be aged around 11 and 3, and their mother were discovered.

The names of the victims are 37-year-old Ayşe (Söyler) Abdurrezzak from Havran district of Balıkesir province, her sons 3-year-old Halil Münir Abdurrezzak, who was born in Maltepe district of İstanbul and 11-year-old Abdul Kadir Enes Abdurrezzak.

It was learned that contact with the 8 people has been lost at 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning as they were trying to fled from Turkey to Greece via Meriç/Evros river. Uğur Abdurrezzak, the bodies of his wife and his children were found, is still missing.

Ayşe Söyler Abdurrezzak, who was graduated from Turkish Language Department of İstanbul’s Marmara University in 2005 and used to work as a teacher. She and her teacher husband were dismissed by a government decree under the rule of emergency as they were working at a school in Kartepe district of Kocaeli province in the wake of a controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

It was also learned that Doğan Family was accompanying the Abdurrezzak Family on the rubber boat as they were crossing the Meriç/Evros river and the members of the family, Fahreddin Doğan, his wife Aslı Doğan and the couple’s 2,5-year-old son İbrahim Selim Doğan are still missing.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency (AA) has reported previously that the emergency services are searching for up to 10 migrants reported missing after a boat capsized in a river that flows along the Turkish-Greek border. According to the report, the emergency services were alerted on Tuesday by border guards who heard cries for help from the river, known as Meriç in Turkish and Evros in Greek.

The report said between eight and 10 migrants, including women and children, were trying to cross into Greece aboard the rubber boat, which was found punctured.

Thousands of refugees and migrants enter Greece every year from Turkey on their way to Europe. Most choose the sea crossing in flimsy smuggling boats to the eastern Aegean islands. However, Evros has also been used for passage from Turkey to Greece.

In recent years, beside of refugees from other countries using Turkey as a transit route, some Turkish citizens who had to fled Turkey due to a massive witch-hunt launched by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government against sympathizers of the Gülen movement in the wake of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, have also used the same route. Many tried to escape Turkey via illegal ways as the government canceled their passports like thousands of others.

Turkey survived a controversial military coup attempt on July 15, 2016, that killed 249 people. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with Turkish autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.

Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.

Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15. Turkey’s Interior Minister announced on December 12, 2017 that 55,665 people have been arrested. Previously, on December 13, 2017, The Justice Ministry announced that 169,013 people have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.

Source:
https://stockholmcf.org/two-child-migrants-die-others-reported-missing-during-river-crossing-between-turkey-and-greece/

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