Can you imagine being imprisoned for offering your condolences to someone? Issues that many people in Europe and America say are “impossible, how can such a thing happen” are experienced as a reality in some countries as if they were the natural fate of the people. Below I will give you examples that will surprise you.

Fethullah Gülen, who was named among the “100 Most Influential People in the World” by Time magazine in 2013, passed away on October 20, 2024, at the age of 86 in Pennsylvania, USA, where he had lived for 25 years.  Time magazine wrote about him that his call for tolerance towards different beliefs, cultures, races and ideas was admired around the world. I knew him well. In fact, I invited him to my live television program in 1997. The program received a lot of attention. I later wrote a book about him based on this program.

Fethullah Gülen was initially approached positively in the early years of the AK Party government led by Erdoğan, as he made promises such as joining the European Union, democracy, human rights and respect for universal values. At that time, Türkiye was seen as the rising star of the world.

However, as Erdoğan grew more powerful in the country, he increasingly distanced himself from democracy and law. He began to rule the country through oppression. He drew closer to Russia and Iran and broke away from his European Union goals. Corruption became the country’s main agenda. When Fethullah Gülen saw that the country was evolving into a dictatorship, he abandoned his positive approach to Erdoğan. Erdoğan’s reaction to this was very harsh. He declared all individuals and institutions affiliated with the Fethullah Gülen movement and those who sympathized with them as enemies. He told them that there was no bread or water in Turkey anymore and declared them terrorists. He also threatened those living outside the country. Indeed, Gülen movement volunteers from many countries were kidnapped by the Turkish secret service and taken to Turkey and tortured. The pro-government media boasted about these kidnappings and made headlines.

Allegedly, regime elements in Turkey organized a mock coup in Turkey on July 15, 2016. There are also strong claims that intelligence and logistical support was received from Russia and Iran. The dictatorial regime in Turkey was built step by step after this incident. In fact, Erdoğan considered this incident as a blessing from God.

The current Speaker of the Parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş; The volunteers of Hizmet that we have dismissed from state cadres are very meticulous about obeying the law, and have never been punished for their duties, flawless people. If it were not for the opportunity provided by July 15, we would not have been able to legally dismiss any of them from their duties, he said. Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ also said, “We are not dismissing these people because they committed a crime. We are dismissing them as an administrative and political decision.” More than 200 thousand civil servants lost their jobs despite not committing any crime. Many of them were also imprisoned.

The AKP regime threatens those who present a different view based on documents about what really happened on July 15 with imprisonment and never wants it to be discussed. Judges in court do not allow defendants to adequately defend themselves. Evidence that may be in favor of the defendant is not taken into account. Defendants are not given the opportunity to access the information they need for their defense. Prisons are full of tens of thousands of people who have already made decisions about their cases before they even have a trial.

There is strong evidence that the main purpose of July 15 was to purge pro-NATO officers in the Turkish army. Turkey is being brought closer to the pro-Russian, pro-Iran and pro-China (BRICS) blog. The pro-Russian or pro-Chinese leftist parties and radical Islamist parties that support the AKP government proudly describe this situation in their own media outlets. Indeed, hundreds of generals and thousands of officers were not only dismissed from the army, but also imprisoned. They are still in prison. Images of the torture of these were broadcast by the government media. Even young people under the age of 17-18 who were studying at military schools were accused of being putschists and imprisoned. There were young soldiers who were beheaded in the middle of the road by Erdoğan supporters. Those who were subjected to this describe how detainees were tortured using numerous paramilitary elements during and after the coup plot.

Thousands of schools, dormitories, numerous civil society organizations, numerous newspapers, television, radio and magazines that were opened with the encouragement of Fethullah Gülen were closed overnight. Thousands of academics were expelled from universities. Many universities that were labeled as anti-Erdoğan were closed. Fethullah Gülen made a statement to the world media on July 17, 2016 regarding the incident that occurred on July 15, 2016. He suggested that an international commission of inquiry be established to investigate this issue. He said that he accepts the outcome in advance.

The Erdoğan government has always rejected calls for an investigation into what really happened on July 15. Even though more than 8 years have passed since the incident, anyone who voices an opinion, writes, or shares anything outside the government’s official thesis has been threatened with imprisonment. There are hundreds of journalists in prison. All of them have been imprisoned on charges made against them. These journalists are being held hostage in prison not because of what they wrote or the crimes they committed, but so that they will not have the opportunity to write again and oppose the government.

Indeed, after the death of Fethullah Gülen on October 20, the social media accounts of nearly 200 journalists and intellectuals were closed in Turkey. The reason for this decision was the possibility of writing something positive about Gülen after his death. However, many had not written anything after Gülen’s death. Using this excuse, social media accounts known to be anti-government were closed.

Kazım Gulecyuz, one of the names you see in the photo and the editor-in-chief of one of Turkey’s long-established newspapers, Yeni Asya, was imprisoned for saying “rest in peace” on his social media account after the death of Fethullah Gülen. He is still in prison.

Let me give you a striking picture of where Turkey has come. Two of the four journalists in the photo you see, taken in 2015, are in exile, and two are in prison. One of the exiled ones is me. The other is the presenter of the program, Tarık Toros. He currently lives in London. They detained me on a ferry during my sea voyage in 2015 because I criticized the Erdoğan government on television. Since I was a well-known name in my country, they wanted to spread fear in society through me. Classic dictator regime tactics, you know.

Let’s give an example of which one. Just last week, Nasuh Mahruki, a world-renowned figure who is one of the first teams to reach anywhere in the world after natural disasters, was imprisoned on the pretext of a social media post. Many Kurdish intellectuals and politicians are still in prison.

The report published by the Finnish Immigration Office on August 14th detailed the human rights violations in Turkey by the extensions of the regime elements that staged the coup during the detention process after July 15th. The report includes information about many women who were raped and gave birth to children in detention. Many detainees who were told they would die if they were in prison are being held in prison despite medical reports. Many people lost their lives in prison because they could not receive adequate health care. Recently, 78-year-old Melek İpek was imprisoned on a fabricated charge. The reason was that she was a volunteer for the Hizmet movement. Many children under the age of 14 are under investigation for terrorism. The reason is that they shared their views on social media. The pro-regime media happily covers the torture of Hizmet volunteers in their headlines and defends the tortures by hosting the torturers on television programs.

In Turkey, although the Constitutional Court has made decisions regarding the release of some prisoners, the political authority does not arbitrarily release them. Osman Kavala and Can Atalay are just a few examples. The regime keeps them in prison as political hostages to use as leverage in its next steps. Selahattin Demirtaş, the beloved leader of the Kurdish community, is among them. His running as a candidate against Erdoğan and the unexpectedly high number of votes he received led to him becoming a political hostage, resulting in his imprisonment. These names have been in prison for many years.

More than 2 million people in the country have been investigated for terrorism. Their only crime is that they do not support government policies. Even if you like the social media posts of innocent people targeted by the regime, you are thrown in jail on charges of praising a criminal. Even if any of the people who post against Erdoğan visit Turkey as tourists, they are at great risk. In street interviews conducted by YouTubers, even those who criticize the bad state of the economy and emphasize corruption are being arrested. Even funnier, there are those who are being arrested for stepping on a newspaper with Erdoğan’s photo on it while it was on the ground. The regime accuses everyone who does not think like it of being a terrorist. So much so that when prices in the market increased due to the country’s bad governance, even the shopkeepers who increased prices were accused of being terrorists. They immediately discredit the opposition they want to destroy by accusing them of terrorism. Even being a volunteer for HIZMET MOVEMENT is enough for this. One of the most well-known examples of this is NBA player Enes Kanter, who most recently played for the Boston Celtics. While he was in Indonesia in 2017, Turkish intelligence planned to kidnap him. He was saved at the last minute. Is he the only one who was tried to be kidnapped? Regime elements have already clearly stated in their official activity reports that they kidnapped more than 100 HİZMET volunteers, most of whom were teachers, from many countries. When the kidnapping operation was unsuccessful, this time Enes Kanter’s Turkish passport was illegally canceled by the Turkish Government. In fact, he was detained in Romania because his passport was invalid. His return to the US was ensured through the efforts of American diplomatic officials. What was done was not limited to this. The regime in Turkey issued a Red Notice about him. He was faced with the problem of not being able to play in the match to be played against the Toronto Raptors on Christmas 2019. According to the news, the Canadian Government guaranteed his safety, and he was able to come to Toronto. He is now a US citizen. As a human rights activist, he is engaged in a voluntary struggle for issues that concern all of humanity. He was one of those seen in the front row next to the coffin at Fethullah Gülen’s funeral ceremony. He is now a US citizen. As a human rights activist, he volunteers for issues that concern all of humanity. At Fethullah Gülen’s funeral, he was one of the first to appear next to the coffin. Enes Kanter is a player that the American media follows closely and uses for his comments on various issues. One of the important guests at the victory gala dinner that Trump gave after his last election victory was Enes Kanter.

Ali Bulaç, one of Turkey’s well-known writers, spent years in prison. He recently participated in a YouTube program where he said, “My lawyer tells me that if you say that Fethullah Gülen is a devil and crazy, the elements of the regime will release you from prison.” He said that he rejected such an immoral offer. His lawyer later quit being his lawyer out of fear. Because thousands of lawyers who defended members of the Gülen movement in court were also imprisoned. My lawyer Hasan Tahsin was among them.

Slandering and inventing crimes against the Gülen Movement is allowed, but expressing positive opinions is forbidden. Let me give you a striking example on this subject.

When the world-famous American boxer Muhammad Ali Clay died, his family gave the task of organizing the funeral program to Imam Safer from the IWDM Community. When Erdoğan expressed that he wanted to speak at the funeral, Imam Safer said that it was possible under one condition and gave the following answer; If you allow us to speak in Turkey about the Gülen movement, we will allow you to speak at the funeral. You will explain your thoughts about Muhammad Ali here, and we will explain our thoughts about Fethullah Gülen in Turkey. Erdoğan did not accept this offer and returned without attending the funeral.

The summary of this article is best explained by the Turkish thinker Said Nursi. He says; “I can live without bread, I cannot live without freedom.” In other words, everyone in the world should know the value of freedom. They should fight for a more perfect democracy in order not to lose freedom to oppressive regimes.

by Prof. Dr. Osman OZSOY