Melek İpek, the 78-year-old mother of self-exiled businessman Akın İpek and a well-regarded philanthropist, said from prison that she has suffered a “great injustice” after dedicating her life to helping others, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported.
Speaking to human rights defender and lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu during a prison visit, İpek expressed anguish over her incarceration and deteriorating health.
“I have spent my life helping people, yet I was imprisoned in return,” İpek told the lawmaker. “They have done every possible harm to me, but I would still help others if I had the chance.”
İpek, who suffers from multiple chronic illnesses, including asthma, hypertension and severe herniated discs, was brought to their meeting in a wheelchair, Gergerlioğlu said.
Gergerlioğlu described İpek as devastated and physically frail. “She said her family has been torn apart and that she feels broken. She questioned how lawmakers who know her could tolerate such injustice,” he said
İpek also criticized what she described as harsh prison conditions and punitive practices, including constant surveillance during meetings with her lawyer.
İpek was taken into custody on November 9 to serve a prison sentence of six years and three months for “membership in a terrorist organization” over alleged links to the Gülen movement, in addition to a four-year, two-month sentence for allegedly violating Capital Markets Board regulations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 implicated then-Prime Minister Erdoğan as well as some members of his family and his inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began pursuing its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch in 2016, which he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement has strongly denied involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Shortly after being incarcerated, İpek was hospitalized, as the elderly woman’s already existing health problems worsened in prison.
Koza İpek Holding and numerous valuable personal assets were seized by the government in 2015 based on allegations of Gülen affiliations and other charges. Akın İpek, the holding company founder, was in the UK at the time and decided not to return to Turkey. The Turkish government subsequently filed a formal extradition request for İpek that was rejected by a UK court.
The İpek family has faced legal challenges and government scrutiny since Turkey branded the Gülen movement a terrorist organization in 2016. Several members of the İpek family have been charged with crimes. An Ankara court handed down a prison sentence of 79 years, eight months for Cafer Tekin İpek, Akın İpek’s brother, and he has been behind bars, initially in pretrial detention, since April 2016.
Melek İpek was a well-known and respected woman even among ruling Justice and Development Party circles as a pioneer of charitable activities before the government crackdown on the Gülen movement began.
Melek and her son, Cafer Tekin, were among 20 defendants tried in January 2021. Following a ruling by the Ankara 24th High Criminal Court, shares in Koza İpek Holding were transferred to the Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance, and a government-appointed board of trustees has managed the conglomerate since its seizure in 2015.
In July 2020, Melek İpek was forcibly removed from her home as part of a government crackdown on the Gülen movement’s assets; however, until recently, she had not been taken into custody.
Gergerlioğlu said he plans to raise İpek’s case and broader prison conditions in parliament.