Turkey Purge

Billionaire philanthropist George Soros’s Open Society Foundation on Monday announced that it would end its operation in Turkey following accusations made by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan against Soros and his activities. In a speech last week Erdoğan accused Soros of assigning people to divide nations. The foundation said on Monday that it had been the […]

Abdulhalim C., the deputy governor of the northwestern province of Karabük, has been put in pre trial detention over his alleged links to Turkey’s Gülen group, the Cumhuriyet daily reported on Sunday. Turkey experienced a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the

Turkish prosecutors has demanded an aggravated life sentence for the former co-mayor of Nusaybin in southeastern Turkey on charges of terrorism. Sara Kaya, a Kurdish mayor who was detained in a house raid on Jan. 13, 2017 and subsequently arrested, testified at a hearing on Friday in Mardin via teleconference, the Mezopotamya news agency reported.

At least 8 people were detained in an Erzurum-based operation carried out by riot police, state-run Anadolu news agency said Nov 21. Detention warrants were issued for 11 people who are accused of being “residents of the apartments, allegedly formed to resume coordination among Gulen movement followers and recruit new members after the failed coup

Turkish journalist Murat Aksoy was sent back to prison on Thursday after a regional appeals court upheld a local court’s ruling to imprison him for 2 years and 1 month. A former columnist for the now now-closed Bugun daily newspaper, Aksoy spent 421 days in pretrial detention over his alleged links to the Gülen movement,

A total of 260,144 people are currently being held in prisons across Turkey, Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül told during budgetary presentation on Nov 20. As of Nov 16, 2016, a total of 260,144 people are being held in 385 prisons in Turkey, of which 202,434 were convicted and the remaining 57,710 are kept pending trial,

Turkish prosecutors have issued detention warrants for a total of 48 people in Bursa province as part of an investigation into the Gülen group on Nov 21. 20 of the suspects are accused of having used ByLock mobile app while the remaining are being sought over similar charges. Turkish authorities believe that ByLock is a

At least 486 people were detained as part of investigations into the Gülen movement over the past week, according to government data. In a written statement on Monday, the Interior Ministry said 486 people were rounded up in operations targeting the Gülen movement between Nov 12-19. Turkish government accuses the movement of masterminding the July 15, 2016

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday said that Turkey is not bound by verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) following the court’s decision calling for the release of  Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtaş from a lengthy pre-trial detention. “ECtHR decisions do not bind us. Up until now, most of the decisions about the

An Ankara-based nurse who was removed from her job as part of the Turkish government’s post-coup crackdown, has died of cancer, leaving her three children behind, opposition deputy Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu tweeted on Nov 19. Gülhan Köseler, a 33-year-old nurse in Ankara’s Mamak was diagnosed with cancer after she was dismissed from the post with