A dictator’s grip: Erdoğan terrorizes Turkish citizens with random arrests

Despite that it has been around two years and a half since the demonstrations that Turkey witnessed in July 2016, the Turkish regime, headed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is still practicing repression against Turkish citizens, especially through a series of random arrests, under claims of getting rid of political opponents who belong to the group of Fethullah Gülen.

Turkish prosecutors ordered the detention of 219 soldiers with suspected links to the US-based Muslim cleric accused of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016.

Police have conducted a steady stream of raids against alleged supporters of the preacher Gülen since the coup attempt.

On the orders of the Istanbul chief prosecutor's office, an operation was launched to seize the suspects, all soldiers on active service including four colonels, the Hurriyet newspaper website reported.

Three months earlier Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants for 110 people from a seized company over alleged links to the U.S.-based cleric.

It said the police operation to seize the suspects, who were managers, partners and employees of the publishing group Kaynak Holding and related companies, was focused on Istanbul but spread across 24 provinces.

Kaynak Holding was seized by the state in 2015 over links to the movement of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999. He has denied involvement in the July 2016 abortive putsch.

Turkish officials insist the raids are necessary to cleanse state institutions of the "virus" of infiltration by the Gulen movement.

Since July 2016, more than 350,000 people have been jailed pending trial over alleged links to Gulen, while 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from jobs in the military, public and private sectors.

As a reply to Turkey’s main opposition Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP) deputy Gamze İlgezdi’s question motion at the Parliament, Turkish Justice Ministry has stated that the number of prisoners has hit 230,735 as of November 1, 2017 in Turkey’s jails.

The increase in the number of female prisoners also turned out to be terrible. The number of female prisoners was 2,108 as of the end of 2002. However, this number has increased to 10,277 as of November 1, 2017.  The data given by the Justice Ministry indicates that there has been a 388 percent increase in the number of female prisoners over the past 15 years. Moreover, the increase in the number of female prisoners from the beginning of 2017 to November 1 was 23 percent.

Moreover, the Justice Ministry said the number of students arrested and convicted by the end of 2016 was 36,033; and, these people are enrolled in high schools or in two or four year college programs. There are also 33,268 arrested or convicted people who are enrolled in distant learning at college level.

A total of 70,000 students who have either been convicted of a crime or are in pretrial detention are currently in Turkey’s jails, while more than 100,000 students are facing trial.