{"id":111609,"date":"2026-06-18T20:53:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/111609\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T20:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:53:15","slug":"social-media-campaign-urges-release-of-critically-ill-turkish-inmate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/111609\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media campaign urges release of critically ill Turkish inmate"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A social media campaign has called for the release of Abdullah T\u0131rpan, a 74-year-old critically ill inmate imprisoned over alleged links to the faith-based G\u00fclen movement, amid warnings from relatives and rights advocates that his deteriorating condition poses an imminent risk to his life.<\/p>\n

The hashtag \u201c#AbdullahT\u0131rpan AcilTahliye\u201d (Emergency Release for Abdullah T\u0131rpan) began trending on social media on Tuesday, with users urging authorities to free T\u0131rpan before his condition worsens further.<\/p>\n

T\u0131rpan suffers from multiple chronic and acute conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, neuropathy and vision problems. Despite his health problems, a request for the suspension of his sentence was rejected after Turkey\u2019s Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) ruled<\/a> on December 17, 2025, that he was fit to remain in prison.<\/p>\n

The ATK frequently comes under criticism over its questionable reports that find ailing inmates fit to remain in prison. Rights advocates slam the agency over its lack of independence from political influence and its role in compounding the persecution of political prisoners.<\/p>\n

T\u0131rpan was first detained on August 16, 2016, during a crackdown that followed a coup attempt a month earlier and spent some 19 months in pretrial detention. He was later sentenced to more than seven years in prison by the Tekirda\u011f 3rd High Criminal Court. After Turkey\u2019s Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the sentence, he was re-arrested on February 25, 2025.<\/p>\n

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan has targeted followers of the G\u00fclen movement, inspired by the US-based cleric Fethullah G\u00fclen, who died in 2024, since corruption investigations in December 2013 implicated him as well as some members of his family and inner circle. He dismissed the probes as a G\u00fclenist conspiracy and later designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016, intensifying a sweeping crackdown after a coup attempt in July of the same year that he accused G\u00fclen of orchestrating. The movement denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.<\/p>\n

Human rights defender and Peoples\u2019 Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) lawmaker \u00d6mer Faruk Gergerlio\u011flu said in a video shared on X that 70 percent of T\u0131rpan\u2019s brain vessels were blocked, warning that he could be require intensive care at any moment and might not survive. Gergerlio\u011flu said relatives who recently visited T\u0131rpan described his condition as critical and said they feared he was approaching death.<\/p>\n

Responding to Gergerlio\u011flu\u2019s post, journalist Nihal Bengisu Karaca said sick and elderly prisoners should not be left to die in prison. She said acts cited in T\u0131rpan\u2019s conviction, including having an account at Bank Asya, attending religious gatherings and making donations, had been deemed lawful activities by Turkey\u2019s Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights in similar cases.<\/p>\n

G\u00fcndemle alakas\u0131 yok, \u00e7\u00fcnk\u00fc uzun zamand\u0131r kimse burada ne oluyor diye d\u00f6n\u00fcp bakm\u0131yor.<\/p>\n

Ama bir bak\u0131ma g\u00fcndemle \u00e7ok alakas\u0131 var \u2014 ba\u015fka bir ba\u015fl\u0131k alt\u0131nda (ter\u00f6rs\u00fcz T\u00fcrkiye s\u00fcreci) \u201chasta ve ya\u015fl\u0131 mahkumlar\u0131n tahliyesi\u201d s\u00fcrekli konu\u015fuluyor. S\u00fcreci desteklemi\u015f biri olarak ben de\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/bXPDQzXJep<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nihal Bengisu Karaca (@nibenka) June 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

His daughter, Esra T\u0131rpan Yakut, appealed directly to the head of the Council of Forensic Medicine in a social media post, saying her father faced the risk of paralysis and urging authorities to reconsider his case.<\/p>\n

Another social media user recalled that T\u0131rpan had reportedly waited 112 days for an MRI last year despite his serious illnesses and called for his immediate release.<\/p>\n

112 G\u00dcN BEKLET\u0130LD\u0130\u2757\ufe0f<\/p>\n

Abdullah T\u0131rpan, 17 \u015eubat\u2019ta n\u00f6roloji muayenesinde istenen MR \u00e7ekiminin
8 Haziran\u2019da ger\u00e7ekle\u015fti\u011fini biliyor muydunuz\u2757\ufe0f<\/p>\n

Abdullah dedenin neler ya\u015fad\u0131\u011f\u0131n\u0131 siz d\u00fc\u015f\u00fcn\u00fcn @aydinsule1<\/a><\/p>\n

AbdullahT\u0131rpan AcilTahliye #\u0130stanbulBeklemez<\/a> Fatih Terim pic.twitter.com\/PNthyI5lNl<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tutuklu Hastalar (@Hapisedilenler) June 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is being demanded for Abdullah T\u0131rpan is not a privilege,\u201d one social media user wrote. \u201cIt is humane treatment. It is the right to medical care. It is the right to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abdullah T\u0131rpan i\u00e7in talep edilen \u015fey ayr\u0131cal\u0131k de\u011fil.<\/p>\n

\u0130stenen \u015fey insan onuruna yak\u0131\u015f\u0131r muamele.<\/p>\n

\u0130stenen \u015fey tedavi hakk\u0131.<\/p>\n

\u0130stenen \u015fey ya\u015fam hakk\u0131.@HurAyse<\/a> <\/p>\n

AbdullahT\u0131rpan pic.twitter.com\/Xxlq6yiGbF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Eksik Dosya (@DosyaEksikk) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Other users echoed calls from family members for T\u0131rpan\u2019s release before it was too late.<\/p>\n

Turkish authorities have frequently been criticized for their systematic disregard of the health problems of prisoners.<\/p>\n

Under Turkey\u2019s Law on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures, courts may suspend the sentence of a prisoner who, due to a serious illness or disability, cannot sustain life in prison conditions and who is not considered a serious or concrete danger to society. Rights groups say the provision is very rarely applied in practice.<\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s Human Rights Association (\u0130HD) says more than 1,400 sick prisoners are currently held in Turkey, including hundreds in critical condition. The group has repeatedly reported delays in trips to the hospital, inadequate treatment in prison infirmaries and forensic assessments that allow seriously ill detainees to remain incarcerated.<\/p>\n