As he continues a massive purge and witch-hunt against his opponents, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a message for Human Rights Day that he will continue to support the oppressed and victims all over the world, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
“We will continue to be with all oppressed people and victims from Palestine to Syria and Asia to Africa,” Erdoğan said in a message on the occasion of Dec. 10, Human Rights Day.
“Respect for human rights based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination of individuals before the law is the irreplaceable nature of the Republic of Turkey,” he added.
Erdoğan’s message came amid non-stop oppression against his opponents including Kurds and people affiliated with the faith-based Gülen movement.
According to figures released by the Turkish Interior Ministry a total of 5,747 people were detained in the October-November period for links to the movement.
The Gülen movement is accused by the Turkish government of mounting a coup attempt in July 2016, but the movement strongly denies any involvement.
Amid an ongoing witch-hunt targeting the Gülen movement, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on Nov. 16 said 48,739 people had been jailed and eight holdings and 1,020 companies seized as part of operations against the movement.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.
According to the Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF), 17,000 women have been jailed along with about 700 children over alleged links to Gülen movement.
Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15 through government decrees issued as part of an ongoing state of emergency.
According to a report released by the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) on Saturday, 2,278 people were tortured and 11 abducted in Turkey during the first 11 months of 2017.
Security forces killed 36 people and wounded 12 in extrajudicial killings and by firing arbitrarily into a crowd on the pretext that they did not obey an order to stop during the January to November period.
A total of 695 people including 183 soldiers, 460 militants and 52 civilians were killed and 310 injured during clashes in Turkey.
At least 322 women and 68 children died as a result of domestic violence in the country in 2017.
As of Nov. 1, there were 230,735 people in Turkish prisons, including 1,037 with health problems. The prison population numbered 178,089 in 2015 and 154,179 in 2014.