Bünyamin Tekin
Norwegian author, journalist and former politician Odd Anders With says he felt compelled to document the stories of refugees in Norway who fled Turkey after a coup attempt in 2016, describing their plight as both a personal and moral call to action.
Speaking to Turkish Minute about his 2024 book “Tyrkiske tårer” (Turkish tears), With said he was moved to write by his long-standing friendships with Turkish Muslims he had met through interfaith dialogue.
“These are my brothers and sisters,” he said. “When my brothers and sisters need help, you are in the right place.”
With, a former state secretary in Norway’s Ministry of Children and Family Affairs and a prominent Christian educator, has been involved in Christian-Muslim-Jewish dialogue for more than 15 years. He said his connection to the Turkish diaspora predates the mass purges and repression that followed the failed coup in July 2016.
After the coup attempt, thousands of people had to flee Turkey to escape the Turkish government’s crackdown on the Gülen movement, a faith-based civic initiative inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen. In Norway alone, more than 22,000 such people currently reside, according to data cited in With’s book.
For decades the Gülen movement operated a global network of schools and charities, including hundreds of educational institutions inside Turkey. It was publicly supported by successive Turkish governments until 2013.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan as well as members of his family and inner circle.
He dismissed the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government and designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following the abortive putsch in July 2016. Tuesday will mark the ninth anniversary of the coup attempt.
Erdoğan accused the Gülen movement of orchestrating the abortive putsch.
Gülen, who lived in self-imposed exile in the United States until his death in October 2024, strongly denied any involvement and called for an independent international investigation, a demand that was never met.
Under the pretext of an anti-coup fight, the Turkish government has pursued an aggressive campaign against real and perceived members of the movement. A total of 390,354 people have been detained on charges broadly categorized under terrorism or coup-related offenses. Of these, 113,837 have been arrested.
The purge reached nearly all parts of Turkish society. Among those detained were military officers, police personnel, civil servants, teachers, academics, judges, prosecutors, journalists, businessman and even housewives.
“I visited schools and media houses across Turkey before 2016,” With said. “I saw firsthand their commitment to education and peaceful civic life. When suddenly these same people were declared terrorists, it was shocking.”
The book draws on extensive interviews With conducted with Turkish refugees in Norway, many of whom fled the country under threat of arrest, torture or worse. He described the encounters as emotionally intense.
Out of dozens of interviewees who shared firsthand accounts of imprisonment, torture, forced family separations and the trauma of fleeing their homeland under threat, With quoted 20 in the book with their full names.
One man described being tortured in a police station, while another detailed his experience of spending 37 months in pretrial detention.
A mother recounted giving birth in prison and being denied proper medical care.
Several families spoke of losing loved ones during their escape or as a result of the emotional toll of persecution.
The stories of the interviewees collectively paint a picture of systemic abuse and lasting psychological scars, with many expressing ongoing fear of the Turkish government’s reach, even while in Norway.
“It’s not only Turkish tears. I cried too,” he said. “I heard stories of families being split, of people dying while fleeing. They all spoke with love for their country and shared values that I see in myself.”
Turkish authorities have been arresting people accused of ties to the Gülen movement for nearly a decade. The crackdown has attracted criticism from human rights organizations and international observers for its scale and severity.
With said European governments, including his own, have failed to respond adequately to what he described as ongoing human rights violations.
“We must not get used to what’s happening in Turkey,” he said. “The values of the regime are the same as they were in 2016. People are still being imprisoned. The Turkish government is still tracking and harassing people abroad, even in Norway.”
“European leaders walk on rubber soles,” he said, describing them as cautious and quiet. “Erdoğan walks with spiked shoes,” he added, portraying the Turkish president as aggressive and unrestrained.
He also expressed concern over what he calls a decline in protections for Turkish asylum seekers in Norway. “It was much easier in 2018. Today, very few are admitted,” he said. “Some families now face deportation. That’s a shame.”
Despite Norway being a safer environment for Turkish exiles, With warned that threats still persist. “People are being followed, slandered on social media, and even in mosques they are met with hostility,” he said. “They’re still refugees in Norway and they need protection.”
With has attended protests in Strasbourg which came amid growing frustration with the Council of Europe’s failure to hold Turkey accountable for continued defiance of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments in landmark cases such as those of philanthropist Osman Kavala, Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş and former teacher Yüksel Yalçınkaya.
“When one part of the family is hurting, I hurt too,” he said. “Faith should unite us. We need to stand together across borders.” The former politician also reflected on his 2018 visit to Gülen in the United States, calling it a deeply personal encounter.
“From the first minute, I felt he was a friend,” With said. “Later, when I was seriously ill with cancer, he sent me books, flowers and messages. He remembered me as a brother.”
With said he supports Gülen’s emphasis on education as a bulwark against radicalization. “His message about the importance of schools and helping the poorest people through education is universal,” he said.
Asked whether he had a message for European governments, With was direct: “Be honest,” he said. “You know what’s happening, but you’re not saying it clearly enough. We can’t sleep while Erdoğan continues to hurt his own people — people who love Turkey.”