Ahmet Zeki Üçok, the vice chair of the İYİ (Good) Party, a nationalist opposition party, made a statement after visiting two imprisoned journalists. He said they had faced torture that was even worse than what had been done to members of the Gülen movement in the past.
The Gülen movement is a religious group led by Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish cleric. Turkey has declared the group a terrorist organization because it believes the movement was behind a coup attempt in 2016. However, the movement denies any involvement in the coup or any terrorist activities.
Üçok claimed that Batuhan Çolak and Süha Çardaklı, two journalists who are currently in Sincan Prison, were subjected to various forms of torture while awaiting trial. These forms included having their hair forcibly cut very short.
The word “torture” is sometimes used in Turkey to refer to any act of ill-treatment of a person, even if it is not considered torture in the legal sense.
“We unfortunately saw with our own eyes that they were subjected to torture that was not even meted out to FETÖ members in the past,” Üçok said. FETÖ is an acronym created by the Turkish government to refer to the Gülen movement as a terrorist group.
Üçok’s remarks are significant because they acknowledge the systematic practice of torture against alleged members of the Gülen movement since the failed coup attempt in 2016.
“Those who commit this torture will not go unpunished. Prisons are not places where anyone can forcibly shave someone’s hair or beat them,” he said.
Many reports, including those from international and national rights groups, bar associations, and international bodies, highlight the torture and ill-treatment of individuals linked to the Gülen movement after the 2016 coup attempt.
In January, the Ankara Bar Association published five censored reports detailing allegations of forced nudity, beatings, water torture, and threats of rape against Gülen-accused detainees. Other reports have also documented similar allegations, including the use of secret torture sites and the torture of minors.
Üçok’s comments serve as an admission that torture against alleged Gülenists has been systematic, as he uses it as a benchmark for describing the treatment of Çolak and Çardaklı.
Many rights activists criticized Üçok for his comments, accusing him of using discriminatory language about a serious crime like torture.
“The Good Party recommends ‘selectivity’ in torture. What kind of people are you?” said rights activist lawyer Eren Keskin.
Associate Professor Burak Bilgehan Özpek wrote, “This is a ridiculous statement. Torture and ill-treatment are both human rights violations and are prohibited by our laws. The act of torture and ill-treatment is not legitimized by [who] its victims [are], and the criterion for the legitimacy of this act cannot be [who] the addressees [are].”
After the failed coup in 2016, ill-treatment and torture became widespread and systematic in Turkish detention centers. The lack of condemnation from higher officials and the readiness to cover up allegations rather than investigate them have resulted in widespread impunity for the security forces.
