Trial opens of sacked Turkey teachers on hunger strike
ANKARA: Two imprisoned Turkish teachers who have been on a hunger strike for six months to protest their sacking in a mass purge went on trial yesterday charged with terror-related offences.
The case of academic Nuriye Gulmen and teacher Semih Ozakca, who have been jailed since May, has become a rallying cause for critics of the crackdown that followed the July 15 failed coup aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Neither was present as the first hearing got underway in Ankara.
The defence said the authorities had cited health and security grounds for not bringing them to court, AFP correspondents said.
Chaotic scenes unfolded outside the courtroom as dozens of people battled to find space in the cramped hall, with police using riot shields and batons to restore order.
Gulmen and Ozakca are among over 140,000 people working in the public sector who have been suspended or sacked under the state of emergency imposed after last year’s attempted putsch.
After their dismissal in late 2016, they protested daily in central Ankara and began their hunger strike on March 9.
In May, they were arrested on charges of membership of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front ( DHKPC), an outlawed group that has carried out sporadic attacks in the last years and has a fiercely anti-Western agenda.
Gulmen and Ozakca vehemently deny the charges, with supporters saying they were targeted because of their protest and hunger strike. But the government insists they have a history of militant behaviour.
Adding to alarm over the trial, at least 15 lawyers from the Office of People’s Rights ( HHB) representing the pair were themselves detained on ‘terror’ charges. The pair are only consuming salted or sugared water, herbal teas and vitamin B1, and family members and supporters have expressed concerns over their health. Beyza Gulmen, Nuriye’s sister, told Hurriyet daily her sister was ‘not well’.
“Her legs, neck and shoulders hurt. She has heart rhythm issues. She cannot walk now. She is sensitive to light,” the sister added.
Ozakca’s mother Sultan Ozakca said her son had difficulties walking – experiencing similar issues as Gulmen – but also had a ‘slow pulse’ and ‘intense stomach pain’.
After the failed coup, authorities sacked prosecutors, civil servants, judges and academics, accusing them of links to the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen who Ankara claims ordered the putsch. But critics say the crackdown has gone well beyond the alleged plotters to include anyone who dares oppose Erdogan. Gulen vehemently denies any link to the coup bid.