Eleven human rights activists – including the Turkish director of Amnesty International – are to face trial next week on terrorism charges in Turkey. They are among the thousands of people swept up in a huge crackdown in the country, following last year’s attempted coup that left at least 240 people dead.
Government officials have defended the post-coup actions saying they have a responsibility to protect the country from another uprising. But Human Rights Watch reports the government has embarked on what it's calling a “wholesale purge of public officials, police, teachers, judges and prosecutors.” People have lost their jobs, been detained and arrested.
The New York Times reports that about a dozen Americans are among those facing prison sentences.
The Committee to Protect Journalists found that Turkey accounted for nearly a third of all journalists jailed around the world in 2016.
WNPR spoke with two Connecticut residents from Turkey about the situation. One is a researcher, the other a former teacher. Both asked that we not use their names to protect family members still living in Turkey.
On arrests, detentions, and fear
“My cousin has been in prison for over a year now. He was a teacher at the government school and they accused him [of] being a terrorist because he had money in a certain bank and his daughter was going to a private school. This is his only crime.”
“Since after the coup people are so afraid to talk, I am afraid to call my friends. It can sound funny but they could also arrest people because they get a phone call from the U.S. So I don’t want to make people’s lives harder.”
On why the U.S. should pay attention
“Turkey is still an ally for U.S. and we are still under the European laws, which is basic human rights, freedom of speech, democratic elections, and all those things. What’s happening in Turkey right now is against all of the human rights.”
“There is a human crime in Turkey now. For example, the last number is more than 500 kids in prison with their mothers. There are sick people, old people. My father-in-law was arrested and he’s over 60 and he has been with cancer for 10 years. And after he was released, my sister-in-law was detained, and she has two small kids. And she stayed in prison I think for four or five months."
On living abroad during this period in Turkish history
“I feel I am one of the very lucky Turkish citizens living in this time period. Because being free, speaking free, thinking free is a wonderful thing.”
“I feel safe here. After the coup, I was in Turkey like for three weeks. And it was a nightmare. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat anything because there was a lot of psychological pressure. Even my neighbors started not to talk to me. I was afraid for my daughter. I was afraid for myself. But after I came here, of course we had some difficulties, my daughter had some problems, we had financial difficulties, but we can work, and we can get rid of the other problems. For example, my daughter is better. And I feel safe to be here.”
