Former Diyanet employee and businessman Süleyman Türk said three driving schools, nearly 30 cars, eight buses and two trucks were seized and sold while he was still in custody after being detained on terrorism-related allegations following Turkey’s July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
He said he was detained between July 15 and July 26 on accusations of establishing and leading a terrorist organization and remained in custody for 23 days.
According to Türk, no court decision had been issued against him when authorities moved against his businesses.
He said the later indictment relied on claims made by two unidentified callers who alleged that his driving schools belonged to the Gülen movement, that he was only formally managing them and that he was transferring money to the movement.
Ankara designates the Gülen movement, a transnational civic initiative inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, as a terrorist organization and blames it for the coup attempt. The movement denies involvement in the coup or any terrorist activity.
‘They sold everything I had’
Türk said he had invested everything he owned in commerce and was still in custody when his assets were sold.
He said he owned three driving schools, nearly 30 cars, eight buses and two trucks, all of which were taken from him before he had appeared before a judge.
“While I was still in custody, they sold all my property,” he said.
Türk said the loss left his family unable to cover basic expenses.
He said his wife could not pay rent and had to move to another home, eventually relocating to Üçkuyular, a poor district of Diyarbakır.
He said she later told him she had been unable to buy a liter of sunflower oil for a week and had gone three months without replacing a gas cylinder.
Conviction later overturned
Türk said he was sentenced to nine years in prison, later reduced to seven years and six months for good conduct.
He said he challenged the logic of applying a good-conduct reduction to someone the court had labeled a terrorist, but the judge told him not to speak too much and did not allow him to present a proper defense.
Türk said the Court of Cassation, Turkey’s top appeals court, later overturned the ruling.
By then, he said, his property had already been lost.
“My entire 31-year accumulation was wiped out,” he said.
Family says schools were closed without explanation
Türk’s wife said she initially could not believe what was happening when police came to the house.
She said officers took 10 to 15 legally published books from their home and then detained her husband.
She said he spent nearly 28 months in prison and that she struggled to care for their three children during that period.
According to her account, officials from the tax office and the Education Ministry came early one morning after Türk’s detention and said the driving schools had been seized under Decree-Law No. 667, one of the emergency decrees issued after the coup attempt.
She said she asked what she had done wrong, whether she had stolen anything, used drugs or possessed any banned books.
She said the officials lowered their heads and told her there was nothing against her personally but that they had to close the schools because of the decree-law.
Social isolation after release
Türk said the consequences continued after his release.
He said he left prison with only 3 Turkish lira and tried to ask friends and business contacts for help rebuilding his life.
Many initially promised support, he said, but later avoided him because they feared being accused of aiding terrorism if they helped someone labeled a terrorist by the state.
Türk said even relatives in his hometown in Balıkesir avoided visiting him because of fear.
He recalled that people in his village said “a terrorist” had arrived after he went to see his mother.
He said the experience showed him how deeply fear had spread through Turkish society after the coup attempt.
Wife says she remains unemployed
Türk’s wife said the family was “smeared” and excluded along with their children.
She said their youngest daughter suffered health problems during the process and that the family faced severe hardship while traveling to prison visits.
She also said her teaching position had not been restored and that her diploma had been confiscated.
Although she said she had obtained a clean record document from the courthouse, she said she still could not work anywhere affiliated with the Education Ministry.
“I am unemployed and we are victims,” she said.
The video below presents KHK TV’s interview with Süleyman Türk and his wife on the seizure and sale of their assets, the closure of their driving schools and the family’s life after Türk’s detention.
