Number of women calling for Aysel Tuğluk's freedom tops 5 thousand

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Over five thousand women have signed the petition "A Call from 1000 Women for Freedom to Aysel Tuğluk", demanding the release of Kurdish politician and seriously ill prisoner Tuğluk from prison.

In a statement about the campaign launched for Tuğluk, who is diagnosed with dementia and held behind bars despite the report of the Kocaeli University Faculty of Medicine, which has concluded that she is not in a state to stay in prison, the organizers of the campaign have recalled that the campaign will continue until tomorrow (January 12, Wednesday).

The statement has recalled that Aysel Tuğluk, a former MP of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) "whose stay in prison is not suitable due to her health problems, is still held in the Kandıra No. 1 Type F Prison despite all objections." The statement has read:

The report prepared by the Kocaeli University Research and Training Hospital's Department of Forensic Medicine says that Aysel Tuğluk cannot stay in prison; in spite of this, the İstanbul Forensic Medicine Institution has given a decision about her, concluding that 'the execution of her sentence can continue in prison conditions'.

The organizers of the campaign have further underlined that "in fact, it is known that ill prisoners such as Aysel Tuğluk cannot lead a humane life in prison conditions, which have been especially aggravated by the pandemic." Recalling that their petition has set out to raise concerns and publicity about the right to life of Aysel Tuğluk as well as all other ill prisoners, they have announced that the campaign have been supported by over 5 thousand women from the following places, too:

The US, Afrin, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, Belgium, the UK, Brazil, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Canada, Catalonia, Cyprus, Cuba, Latvia, Lebanon, Norway, Nepal, Portugal, Russia, Greece and Slovenia

The statement has noted that thousands of women have also expressed their support and solidarity and demanded Aysel Tuğluk's release under the hashtag #BinlerceAyseliz (We are thousands of Aysels).

Click here to sign the petition

CLICK - 'Seeking justice, not begging': Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk in prison despite severe illness

What happened?

On December 29, 2016, when she was the Vice Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk was arrested along with seven other politicians from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and the Democratic Society Congress (DTK).

The indictment filed against Tuğluk, who was the DTK Co-Chair till September 2014, brought her statements to the press as well as the funerals that she attended as criminal evidence against the politician.

On March 16, 2018, the Ankara 17th Heavy Penal Court sentenced Aysel Tuğluk to 8 years in prison as per the Anti-Terror Law (TMK) no. 3713. Increasing this prison term by half, the court then gave a 12-years prison sentence to the politician. Lastly, it has decreased this prison sentence by one sixth and ruled that she shall be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

As Aysel Tuğluk's appeal to the Ankara Regional Court of Justice was rejected, her file was sent to the Court of Cassation.

Her mother's funeral

Aysel Tuğluk's mother Hatun Tuğluk lost her life in 2017. Upon her last will, her deceased body was brought to the İncek Cemetery in Ankara. Aysel Tuğluk left prison by permission and her mother was laid to rest; shortly afterwards, a group of 5-6 people gathered to protest the funeral.

The ones who attended the funeral said that this number gradually increased and they tried to attack the grave.

As the attacks continued, the deceased body of Hatun Tuğluk had to be removed from the ground and laid to rest somewhere else. One of the people who attacked the funeral turned out to have a picture with Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu at the police station.

Health problems

Aysel Tuğluk's elder brother Alaattin Tuğluk said that his sister had a memory loss after their mother's passing:

My sister didn't look fine. She asks the same question 3-4 times. She doesn't remember some things. For instance, when she wants to ask about someone from the family, she says, 'Who was that, who?' They are close people, it is impossible for her to not know them. I am concerned that this will come to an irreversible point and that we will lose my sister... I want treatment before it is too late. Let another committee examine her and give a decision accordingly. She is given 1-2 medications now. It is not enough. She will go [to jail] after her treatment ends.

About Aysel Tuğluk

Politician.

She was the founding member and Co-Chair of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) and elected Diyarbakır MP in 2007-2009. She became the Van MP of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in 2011-2015. She served as the Vice Co-Chair of the HDP responsible for Law and Human Rights.

Aysel Tuğluk was also a member of the Society and Law Studies Foundation Executive Board, a member of the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the founder of the Patriotic Women's Association.

Born in Elazığ in 1965, she graduated from the Faculty of Law of İstanbul University and worked as a self-employed lawyer. (HA/SD)