HAMBURG, Germany – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that the Director of Amnesty International Turkey, along with 11 others, were being held with the “intent of a continuation of last year’s failed coup attempt,” and that judicial authorities are seeing into their case.
Ibid Eser, Director of Amnesty in Turkey, along with 11 others were arrested on Buyukada Island near Istanbul in their hotel on July 5 as they were holding a digital security and information management workshop.
“They gathered for a meeting which was so to say the continuation of July 15. They were detained upon intelligence,” Erdoğan told a news conference at the G-20 summit yesterday in Hamburg, adding that the judiciary will make the decision on their future, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Among those detained were seven other human rights activists, two trainers from Germany and Sweden as well as the owner of the hotel, according to Amnesty.
"This is a grotesque abuse of power and highlights the precarious situation facing human rights activists in the country," said Salil Shetty, Amnesty's Secretary General.
Shetty was in Hamburg, Germany to lobby the G20 leaders in helping to release two of Amnesty’s activists from Turkey’s jails.
Ibid Eser, Director of Amnesty in Turkey is still being detained along with Chair of Amnesty in Turkey, Taner Kilic who was arrested in Ismir and has been detained since June 6 for alleged connections with the outlawed “Fethullah Gulen Terror Organization” and is awaiting trial.
"The country is in a serious human rights crisis," Shetty said. "It is impossible for the G20 on the one hand to say it upholds values of democracy and free speech and on the other ignore blatant violations of human rights."
Shetty said the Turkish president, who attended the G20 Summit in Hamburg as one of the world’s 20 largest economies, that he is one of “a new breed of hyper-nationalist” democratically elected authoritarians who use repressive measures to boost popularity at home, as reported by Reuters.
Amnesty called on the release of the activists via a video shared on their Twitter account, reminding Erdogan that the organization had also campaigned for his release 19 years ago after he was arrested for reciting a poem “inciting religious or racial hatred” as acting mayor of Istanbul at the time.
“President Erdoğan, remember 1998? We do. Back then Amnesty campaigned for your release when you were mayor of Istanbul defending your right to read this poem…” Amnesty stated
“We have always fought against injustice in Turkey no matter the beliefs of the individuals or the government in power,” Amnesty campaigner Milena Buyum stated in the video.
Since the failed coup attempt almost a year ago in Turkey, local authorities have arrested over 50,000 people with another 150,000 losing their jobs. Those affected cross all professions, soldiers, police officers, public servants and academics based on alleged connections to Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen who has been blamed for the failed coup in Turkey last year.
Gulen has denied any responsibility for the coup attempt.
Hey @RT_Erdogan, remember 1998? We do. We demanded your release back then & demand you free our Turkey Director NOW: https://t.co/mKGfENCKRq pic.twitter.com/lmDSWBaSnD
— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) July 7, 2017
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