Everyday dozens of women get arrested in Turkey on false charges of terror and coup plotting in a systematic persecution campaign launched by the country’s autocratic President Erdoğan who declared a “merciless’ crack down on his critics and opponents. Among those who face harsh treatment in detentions and prisons include mostly women of Gülen movement and Kurdish political movement. Alevis and leftist groups also get their fair share of oppression under the current repressive regime.
The persecution of women who are perceived to be critics of the government has picked up a pace after the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that appears to be staged to set up Erdoğan’s critics for a mass persecution. By targeting especially women, Erdoğan and his partners in the government hopes to break the will of government critics while undermining crucial role of women in supporting the community members, taking care of children who are separated from their jailed fathers.
Erdoğan knows the value of women grassroots networks because he ascended to the power in Turkey partly because of mobilization of conservative and religious women base in Turkey. By exerting pressure on networks sustained in great deal by women in various opposition groups in Turkey, Islamist rulers hope to insure their survival. Since women play essential role both as wives and mothers in keeping the family and on a greater scale the community together, Erdoğan has started directly attacking women in Turkey.