Families of detained Turkish soldiers camp out to demand answers

The families of hundreds of Turkish soldiers detained in the wake of a July 15 failed coup have camped outside a detention center in Istanbul to urge information on the fate of their loved ones.

They have gathered outside the Silivri prison, and their numbers are growing ever since a first group arrived last Monday.

It is believed that 1,600 young conscripts are being held in the detention facility in connection with the coup attempt.

Turkish officials have launched a large-scale crackdown following the attempted coup d’état. A three-month state of emergency has also been declared in the country.

Almost 9,000 soldiers and several thousand other people have been arrested on charges of affiliation to the movement of US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the Ankara government accuses of having orchestrated the botched putsch.

Gulen has denied the accusation.

Nevin Ilhan, a mother whose 23-year-old-son is imprisoned in Silivri, said, “My boy is innocent. He is just a private. They take orders."

"They have to do whatever they are told. My son is now paying the price for having done what they [politicians] told them to do,” she added.

Ilhan added that his son was just five days away from finishing his conscription at a military base in Istanbul when the coup attempt was staged.

She said she has become increasingly concerned following reports of “credible evidence” that inmates detained after the failed military coup are subjected to torture and various forms of abuse.

“As a mother, I just want to hear that my son is safe. I just want to know that he is not being mistreated.”

Ahmet Atas, another person who has camped outside Silivri, has traveled from the southeastern city of Van all the way to Istanbul in a bid to find out information about his 20-year-old nephew, Hayrettin Atas, also detained over the coup bid.

“Hayrettin’s conscription would have ended today on July 26 if he hadn’t been arrested. We have had no news of him. I just know he is here. I have nowhere to stay. No money to buy anything. But I won’t return home until I see my nephew,” Atas said.

On Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim expressed disappointment over the US administration’s hesitation to respond to Turkey’s request concerning Gulen’s extradition.

“The evidence is crystal clear. We know the terrorist cult responsible for vicious attacks against us and the Turkish people,” Yildirim said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

“We are heartbroken at the way that the US has treated this matter. We simply cannot understand why the US just can’t hand over this individual,” he said.

Washington says it is considering Ankara’s extradition request but says Gulen would be sent back only after compelling evidence corroborated his culpability in the coup.

Gulen, once President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s mentor and now his enemy number one, has urged Washington to dismiss the Turkish government’s requests for his extradition.

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