A former Turkish civil servant whose life was upended by the government’s post-coup purge has spoken out about how his imprisonment led to a family tragedy — the death of his wife and daughter, and the recent arrest of his only surviving child.
Hakkı Alagöz, dismissed from public service and jailed over alleged ties to the faith-based Gülen movement, shared his story during a livestream event on Sunday hosted by Vicdan Vakfı (Conscience Foundation), founded by Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) MP and rights advocate Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu.
“When they took me away, my daughter was 17,” Alagöz said during the broadcast. “By the time I came out, I had no daughter and no wife. And now, my son is in prison.”
Alagöz was detained 45 days after the failed coup of July 15, 2016, in a night raid at his home in Antalya. His wife, daughter, and in-laws were present as armed officers arrested him. Alagöz recalled how his daughter pleaded with the police, saying, “My father is not a criminal. He’s a good man.”
Held in pretrial detention for 16 months in Alanya Prison, Alagöz was later sentenced to over eight years in prison in 2018 and released on parole in 2023.
During his incarceration, his daughter — a student at Akdeniz University — fell into depression and drug addiction. In a psychological crisis, she fatally pushed her mother from a height and later died by suicide.
Alagöz read from a letter she had sent him while he was imprisoned: “Everyone else hugs their father. I want to hug you, too. I want to lean on you and not worry about anything else. You are my angel, Dad.”
The family’s suffering continued earlier this year when Alagöz’s son, a student at Ankara University, was arrested in a Gaziantep-based investigation targeting alleged members of the Gülen movement. He was detained along with more than 200 others.
“They’re students, not criminals,” Alagöz said. “I lost my daughter. I lost my wife. I cannot lose my son, too.”
Gergerlioğlu, speaking during the event, called Alagöz’s case an example of the human cost of Turkey’s sweeping post-coup purges. “These are lives broken by injustice. We cannot remain silent,” he said.
Since the 2016 coup attempt, which the government blames on the Gülen movement, over 130,000 public sector employees, thousands of judges, prosecutors, and military personnel have been summarily dismissed or jailed as part of an ongoing crackdown. The movement, led by exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen, denies any involvement in the coup or terrorism.
Alagöz said that while he is now free, the emotional scars remain. “All we wanted was to live our lives. Now all we have are scars,” he said.
