Mehmet Tosun, a 29-year-old Turkish judge who was expelled from his job and subsequently arrested over alleged involvement in a July 15 coup attempt in Turkey, died of cancer after being released from prison on Monday morning.
“Mehmet Tosun, 29 years old, Council of State judge. Dismissed with a decree, arrested, got sick in prison, died yesterday, buried today,” Hüseyin Aygün, a former deputy of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), tweeted on Tuesday.
Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Although the movement denies any involvement, the Turkish government launched a widespread purge aimed at cleansing alleged sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions.
More than 100,000 people have been purged from state bodies, nearly 43,000 detained and 23,500 arrested since the coup attempt. Arrestees include journalists, judges, prosecutors, police and military officers, academics, governors and even a comedian. (Turkey Purge)
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reported that he died in prison; however, Turkish Minute has learned that Tosun died after being released from prison. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.