Turkish Political Violence and Human Migration

Monica Aguilar

For a country that has survived four coups in two decades, Fiji is not a stranger to political violence, ethnic tensions and the mass exodus of coup opponents.

Turkey, a country that is more than a twenty hour flight away from Fiji, is currently facing this same crisis.

In July this year the Turkish government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was subject to a failed military coup. In response Erdoğan has detained and arrested tens of thousands and dismissed over eighty thousand government employees.

Those purged by the government are suspected of being members of the Hizmet movement which is accuseded by the government of orchestrating the coup attempt. The movement is lead by Fetullah Gülen a Turkish businessman and Imam living in exile in the US.

Dr Erman Kaplama, a Lecturer in the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of the South Pacific and native of Turkey, explained the complicated political relationship between Erdoğan and Gülen.

“Erdogan came to power and got so many votes thanks to Gulen’s support. They were good friends in the 80s and 90s; Erdogan respected Gulen and called him ‘Master’ but in 2013, Hizmet Movement managed to record Erdogan’s phone call conversations and they released a lot of bribery, corruption and calls to his son to hide the money,” he said.

He added that while there is no definitive proof that the coup attempt was led by Gulen it was most likely led by Gulen supporters within the military responding to the closure of Gulen’s schools and businesses.

The rift between the government and the Hizmet has had a huge impact on the lives and human rights of Turkish citizens.

Tom (not his real name), who had requested that his identity would not be revealed, is a member of the Movement and is married with four kids.

Since 2000 Tom has been working as a volunteer for Hizmet in several countries outside of Turkey in order to foster business links between nations.

He has been separated from his family since the failed coup.

Since the failed coup, his family and friends had advised him not go back to Turkey as it was not the right time.

He fears going back to Turkey as he is unsure whether his name is in the list of people ordered by the Government to be imprisoned.

“If they find out where I live, they can cancel my citizenship by creating problems with the other Government about me,” he said.

In the meantime Tom and others like him are stuck in legal limbo unable to acquire travel documents or return to their home.

Currently one of his children’s passport has expired and he is unable to renew outside of Turkey.

“There is a rule in Turkey where if you have to renew the passport for the kids, the mother cannot request it without the father’s permission. And the father cannot try without the mother’s consent too.”

“So I prepared the consent letter with the assistance of the respective government departments. I was busy with these documents for 5-6 weeks and after 6weeks they told me they can’t accept any documents unless it is from the Turkish Embassy,” he said.

He applied for a visa in Australia and New Zealand more than a month ago, but still awaits their response.

While waiting, he travelled to Malaysia but was advised by the Turkish Officer at the Turkish Embassy that the system was not working and they cannot do anything to help him.

“I waited another two days and they said the same thing. No solution. From Malaysia I was planning to go to Turkey but it’s not the right time so I had to come back to the country I reside in,” he said.

Until today, he still has not managed to renew his son’s passport.

He says that his family is safe in his hometown but greatly misses them.

“If the Government is not able to approach the person (on the list), they will take the husband, wife, father, mother or kids to jail.”

“Whoever is near him or her, they will take to jail,” he said.

In response to whether international human rights bodies are taking action to resolve this issue, he says they systems do not work in Turkey.

“Nothing is working. What everybody is worrying about is their position and that’s why nobody is doing any movement or action,” he said.

As a concerned father, he hopes that foreign Governments well help Turkish nationals overseas secure documents for their children.