Turkey is set to put 14 high school students on trial for alleged membership in a terrorist organization as part of a crackdown on suspected members of the Gülen movement, a faith-based group targeted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for over a decade, citing ordinary activities such as going to the movies and bowling as evidence against them.
The trial, beginning September 23 at İstanbul’s 24th High Criminal Court and expected to last five days, involves 41 defendants in total. The case, dubbed the “High School Girls Case,” stems from a May 7 police operation targeting individuals allegedly linked to the Gülen movement.
Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, since the corruption investigations of December 17-25, 2013, which implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan, his family members and his inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began to target its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch that he accused Gülen of masterminding. Gülen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
On May 7, police conducted early morning raids on the homes of 38 people in İstanbul, detaining 14 high school students along with their mothers. The detainees were held at the Juvenile and Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime departments. According to accounts from the students and their lawyers, the girls were held for four days without access to legal counsel, subjected to psychological pressure and denied food and water for extended periods.
Erdoğan's policemen have stooped so low as to abuse minors, 15-year-old girls, in order to feel powerful.
Below are two teenage girls who were detained last week in a police operation against suspected members of the Gülen movement, a faith-based group that Erdoğan has… https://t.co/AWDO5Gx7dM pic.twitter.com/pYwei9zHdH
— Bünyamin Tekin (@Bunyamintekin0) May 15, 2024
Ordinary activities framed as crimes
The 529-page indictment alleges that the students participated in activities constituting “membership in a terrorist organization.” These activities include renting apartments together, meeting at shopping malls, going to the movies, bowling, shopping and even standing and talking in public places.
The families of the students are also implicated. The indictment asserts that since the minors could not attend these activities without parental permission, their families must have knowingly allowed them to participate in the so-called “organizational structure of FETÖ [a derogatory acronym used by the Turkish government to refer to the Gülen movement].”
Pro-government news agencies reported that the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had launched an investigation into the Gülen movement’s efforts to reorganize in Turkey after it was outlawed, targeting university, high school and elementary school students.
Allegations of mistreatment
Human rights advocates have condemned the treatment of the detained minors. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a member of parliament from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), raised concerns about the children’s treatment in custody.
“Their statements were distorted, they were mistreated, shouted at and subjected to psychological violence,” Gergerlioğlu had said at the time.
He submitted a parliamentary question to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, demanding an explanation for the alleged rights violations.
Speaking to the Velev news website on Saturday, Gergerlioğlu described the police surveillance of a 13-year-old girl who was among the detainees from the May operation as “abuse.” He criticized the authorities for the heavy-handed tactics they use against alleged Gülen movement members, extending it now to children.
“There is severe pressure, stigmatization and acts of annihilation directed at certain people, which have now extended beyond adults to children,” Gergerlioğlu said.
“It’s extremely troubling that children are being monitored in this way. Imagine a police officer tracking a 13-year-old child; he must feel ashamed of what he’s doing, but his superiors have ordered it. This kind of surveillance constitutes harassment and should lead to an investigation into those officers. If these children sensed they were being watched, imagine what they must have felt during their detention. They have clearly experienced lasting trauma,” the lawmaker told Velev.
The Brussels-based human rights organization Solidarity with Others said the operation violates several national and international laws, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The organization highlighted specific violations, such as arbitrary detention on false charges, lack of legal grounds for accusations and infringement on the right to a fair trial. The conditions of detention, which may have caused physical and psychological harm, contravene the prohibition of torture and inhumane treatment, the group said.