Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1399957
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 AUGUST 2021 NEWS THE husbands of two mothers jailed for using false documents to flee persecution in Turkey have called on the Maltese au- thorities to show compassion towards their wives, who fled a post-coup purge before being imprisoned in Malta. Husbands Musa Denari and Fatih Yavuz said all they want- ed was to be reunited with their wives and children and live a peaceful life. "We are seeking assistance from the Maltese au- thorities. We are hoping that our wives can be reunited with our children, and we will be able to travel to Malta and be a family once more," they told MaltaTo- day from Greece. Their wives, teachers Rabia Yavuz and Muzekka Denari, were on Friday night given a suspended sentence on appeal, after having been sentenced to six months' imprisonment for admitting to passport offences in their bid to reach Brussels from Malta. The women were trav- elling with their two children, aged three and four. The children, Akif Yavuz and Sina Denari, were present in the courtroom when their moth- ers were jailed. The toddlers screamed helplessly as their mothers were led away and placed in the care of the Founda- tion for Social Welfare Services. Previously they had only been seeing their mothers via Skype calls for 30 minutes every day. However, a face-to-face visit was allowed on Thursdays. "We have been tormented and persecuted since 2016, and the last episode in Malta has taken a mental toll on our wives. They are broken. All we want is to live a peaceful, safe and free life for our families," the husbands said. Both Denari and Yavuz are hoping that if their wives are given asylum in Malta, so they can travel to the island and join them. Fleeing Turkey due to persecution Denari said he and his wife were both teachers who worked for educational NGOs linked to the Gülen movement, a one- time ally of Reccep Erdoğan's AKP but since 2015 listed by the Turkish government as a terrorist organisation. Gülen is considered to be a Sunni Is- lamist fraternal movement led by Fethullah Gülen, a Muslim preacher who has lived in the United States since 1999. The Denaris' son Sina was born in April 2017. After his birth, the family fled and went into hid- ing for three years. For years, Erdoğan had accused Gülen of attempting to overthrow the Turkish government through a judicial coup by the use of cor- ruption investigations. Gülen allies were accused of the failed coup in 2016, leading to the ar- rest of thousands of soldiers and judges, and the suspensions of over 10,000 education staff and 20,000 teachers. The Denaris left Turkey for Greece on a boat down the Mar- itsa River. On arrival in Greece, they were arrested by the police. During their year in the coun- try, they stayed in a refugee camp before moving to an apartment. The couple was allowed to stay for six months while they applied for asylum, but the Denaris say the Greek gov- ernment nev- er got back to them on their a s y l u m applica- tion. On the run Fatih Yavuz, who married his wife in 2017, says that ever since the coup, many of their family and friends were arrested. An electronics graduate from the Yildiz Technical University, Yavuz said his wife was unable to go to doctors to check after giving birth to her son because there was an arrest warrant for him at the time. When she gave birth, Yavuz was not allowed to go with her due to the arrest warrant. Yavuz said that police were waiting for his wife at the hos- pital, took a statement from her, and referred them to court. However, the judge de- cided against holding a trial and postponed it due to the newborn child. Yavuz said being on the run wore them out, which is when they decided to flee to Greece. Both families realised that when they were not going to be given asylum in Greece, they had no choice but to leave. They had no documents, so their only op- tion was to obtain false papers and try to leave. Denari said that was when they decided the women and children would go first, and then they would join them. Jailed in Malta The two women were jailed in Malta during a stopover while en route to Belgium. They were handed a six-month prison term, which lawyers Gianluca Cappit- ta and Jason Grima insisted was excessive. Since then, the prison term has been suspended for two years on appeal. The law- yers insisted that the magistrate could have given the mothers al- ternative sentencing that did not involve prison time. The sentence sparked crit- icism from NGOs and social workers who said the children's best interest was not taken into account. Graffitti, the Asso- ciation of Social Workers, the Aditus Foundation and former president Marie-Louise Colei- ro Preca, who heads Eurochild, protested outside the law courts against the "unjust" treatment of the mothers. Children's Com- missioner Pauline Miceli urged the court to minimise the chil- dren's trauma and harm, in line with the provisions of the Con- vention for the Rights of the Child, which states that children should only be separated from their parents as a last resort and where it is in the child's best in- terest. lcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt 'We just want to live a peaceful life together' The husbands of two Turkish women jailed in Malta spoke to Laura Calleja about the persecution they face as a family and call for compassion "We have been tormented and persecuted since 2016, and the last episode in Malta has taken a mental toll on our wives. They are broken" 2016 attempted coup The 15 July 2016 coup d'état attempt was attempted in Turkey against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right). The attempt was carried out by a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces that organized themselves as the Peace at Home Council, whose members have never been identified. They attempted to seize control of several places in Ankara, Istanbul, Marmaris and elsewhere, such as the Asian side entrance of the Bosphorus Bridge, but failed to do so after forces loyal to the state defeated them. The Council cited an erosion of secularism, elimination of democratic rule, disregard for human rights, and Turkey's loss of credibility in the international arena as reasons for the coup. The government said the coup leaders were linked to the Gülen movement, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the Republic of Turkey and led by Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish businessman and scholar who lives in Pennsylvania, United States. The Turkish government alleged that Gülen was behind the coup (which Gülen denied) and that the United States was harbouring him. Events surrounding the coup attempt and the purges in its aftermath reflect a complex power struggle between Islamist elites in Turkey. An extensive purge of the Turkish civil service began in the wake of the coup attempt. As of 20 July 2016, the purge already had seen over 45,000 military officials, police officers, judges, governors and civil servants arrested or suspended, including 2,700 judges, 15,000 teachers, and every university dean in the country.