A man who was jailed as part of a massive government-led crackdown on followers of the Gülen movement in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in Turkey has been undergoing chemotherapy for cancer in prison and has not been released, according to a member of the Turkish parliament.
Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a human rights activist and deputy of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), frequently brings up the plight of victims of the government crackdown.
In a message from his Twitter account on Monday, he wrote: “Ahmet Karakuş. He has been diagnosed with testicular cancer. Despite medical reports and petitions [calling for his release], he has not been released from prison. Don’t let him be released from jail in a coffin.”
Gergerlioğlu did not mention exactly when Karakuş was jailed or what charges he is facing.
The Turkish government accuses the Gülen movement of masterminding a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 and labels it a “terrorist organization,” although the movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Following the coup attempt, the Turkish government launched a massive crackdown on followers of the movement under the pretext of an anti-coup fight as a result of which more than 150,000 people were removed from state jobs while in excess of 50,000 others were jailed and some 600,000 people have been investigated on allegations of terrorism.
Since the coup attempt, there have been many cases of people who died in jail, some suspiciously, because they were denied crucial treatment or subjected to maltreatment or acts of torture.