– You are declared a terrorist. But a terrorist has committed an act with a weapon and damaged the country, says Özlem Rana Kaya (47). – I cannot accept that they call us that. She receives news at home in her apartment in the Turkish capital, Ankara. On the floor of the spacious living room is a prayer rug. The Koran has a place next to the sofa and on the sideboard are some pictures of the family. EVERYDAY: Making breakfast for her son Furkan is one of the few normal routines Özlem has, after she lost her job. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news Özlem lives here with his son Furkan Emin (13). But there should have been three of them here. Furkan’s father, Ahmet Kaya, is missing. He has been doing that since a November day in 2018. MISSING: It has been a long time since Ahmet Kaya has been around his wife Özlem Rana Kaya. Photo: PRIVATE – Didn’t understand what I had done wrong Özlem Rana Kaya always dreamed of working with children. That’s why she was overjoyed when she got a job as a preschool teacher at a school in Ankara. But one day in January 2017, she was told to pack her things. Her name had ended up on a list among tens of thousands of others, and now she was seen as a danger to the security of the realm. – I did not understand what I had done wrong. I just sat on the sofa for two years unable to do anything, says Özlem. Almost two years later, in November 2018, the police came to the door and arrested her husband Ahmet. He is now serving a sentence of 8 years and 9 months. MIMRER: The photo album from the wedding is among the few pictures Özlem has from the time before the man was arrested. The police seized their computer. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news The start of the nightmare The coup attempt in Turkey almost seven years ago was the start of the nightmare for Özlem and his family. On July 15, 2016, tanks rolled into Istanbul and helicopters could be heard over Ankara. In the chaotic days following the failed coup attempt, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan imposed a state of emergency. A purge of more than 130,000 judges, military personnel, teachers, police officers and other public employees was launched. Most were accused of having a connection to the Gülen movement. This is a moderate Islamist sect with enormous influence in the state apparatus and the education sector. The movement’s leader, Fethullah Gülen, was in the years before the coup attempt an ally of Erdogan. He wanted more Islam in the public sphere, and saw an advantage in pushing more secular forces out of key state roles. But he became Erdogan’s arch-enemy after the Gülen movement accused the president’s close associates of corruption in 2013. Facts about Fethullah Gülen * Born on 27 April 1941 in Korucuk in Turkey. * Author, preacher, educator and former imam. * Founder of the religious and social movement Gülen movement in the 1970s. It stands for a moderate interpretation of Islam and has a worldwide network. * A million-strong following in Turkey. In May 2016, the movement, which is better known by the name Hizmet, was put on the authorities’ terrorist list. * Gülen now lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania in the USA. He has done so since 1999. * Is accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being behind the military coup on 15 July, which cost 232 people their lives. This is rejected by Gülen, who condemns the coup attempt. * Was formerly one of Erdogan’s allies, and together they squeezed out secular forces in the state apparatus, increased their power and influence in the police, the judiciary, the military and the education sector. * Is now Erdogan’s arch-enemy after the Gülen movement accused those close to him of corruption in the media in 2013. Erdogan saw this as being stabbed in the back and the following year he cracked down hard on the movement. * Was on TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013. (Sources: NTB and news) After the coup attempt in 2016, the Gülen movement was labeled a terrorist organization, and everyone associated with it was seen as terrorists. Opening an account in a bank connected to this movement was the “mistake” Özlem Rana Kaya made. In addition, she scored “suspiciously high” on an exam to become a public employee, the investigators believed. A summary of the test answers was leaked to members of the Gülen movement. The husband was accused of having attended meetings with the religious network, which he denied. MEMORIES: On the sideboard in the living room are some mementos from the time before they were accused of being terrorists. Photo: PRIVAT/news More authoritarian direction – Everyone who could be associated in one way or another with the movement was demonized and lost their job, explains the regional director of Human Right Watch in Turkey, Emma Sinclair-Webb. Many were also imprisoned. Sinclair-Webb refers to it as a massive injustice – Simply having ideological sympathies with the movement, working at or sending children to one of their schools, or having an account in one of the banks associated with the network, was enough, she says. – This is not illegal. The vast majority have not committed any crime or activity that can be seen as crime under international law, states the area director. COUP ATTEMPT: Civilians try to stop the tanks rolling into Ankara in July 2016. The failed coup attempt was followed by mass arrests. Photo: Burhan Ozbilici / AP She refers to the time after the coup attempt as an extraordinary period in Turkey. Government critics and political opponents were persecuted, journalists imprisoned and media organizations taken over. President Erdogan took control of the country in a more authoritarian direction. The opposition has promised to change that if it wins the Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday. If none of the candidates receives more than 50 per cent of the vote, there will be a new and decisive election round on 28 May. WANT CHANGE: A woman with a mask of the face of opposition leader Kemal Kiliçdaroglu at a public meeting in Istanbul. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news Promises all the jobs back “Are you ready to bring democracy back to Turkey?” shouted opposition candidate Kemal Kiliçdaroglu during a public meeting in Istanbul last weekend. Hope hung in the air as tens of thousands of people answered, loudly and resoundingly: “Yes!” CHALLENGING ERDOGAN: Kemal Kiliçdaroglu has made the heart his hallmark in the election. Photo: AFP Kilicdaroglu has promised that everyone who lost their job in the wake of the coup attempt will get it back, and that those who are imprisoned will have their case tried again. He also wants to lead the country in a more democratic direction, he says. But professor of political science Ilhan Uzgel believes it is not as simple as giving everyone their jobs back. – If you are a religious sect, why are you so interested in controlling the police and intelligence and every ministry? he asks rhetorically. – Not everyone was equally innocent, and many got jobs they were not qualified for through the network. The professor believes there must be some criteria and that a distinction must be made between an ordinary teacher and someone high up in the bureaucracy. THE PRESIDENT: Recep Tayyip Erdogan is waging a fierce election campaign to retain power. Photo: AP Warns against more repression In Ankara, Özlem Rana Kaya and his son Furkan Emin have begun to believe in a change. They have hope ahead of the election on 14 May. – I miss playing with dad. Even reading homework with him I miss, says the 13-year-old. He was only 8 years old when his father was imprisoned. Once a month he gets to come with him to the prison, but they only get time to chat for the short hour they are in there. VISIT DAY: Once a month, the son is also allowed to visit his father in the high-security prison. He is serving a sentence of almost 9 years, accused of attending meetings of the Gülen movement. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news His mother believes that people are no longer valued in the country, and hopes that after the election they will see Turkey swearing in its 13th president. She warns of what can happen if the result is not achieved. – I have experienced oppression for several years. If Erdogan continues to rule, others will also get a taste of it. Facts about the elections in Turkey Around 64 million are eligible to vote in the parliamentary and presidential elections in Turkey on 14 May. 5 million votes for the first time. It is between two candidates for president and three party alliances for parliament Six Turkish opposition parties have gathered around a common presidential candidate – the long-time leader of the Republican Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu. If none of them gets more than 50 percent of the votes, a second round of elections will be held on 28 May. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been in power for 20 years.
ttn-69
Ostracized by Erdogan – hoping the election can be the salvation – Urix
