A young woman who has been advocating the release of her imprisoned father suffering from Alzheimer’s disease was among 27 people arrested in Turkey on Friday as part of an ongoing crackdown on alleged members of the faith-based Gülen movement, TR724 news website reported.
Sueda Güngör, the daughter of 72-year-old former university administrator İbrahim Güngör, who remains incarcerated despite advanced cognitive decline, was detained on June 17 and arrested on Friday along with 42 female and three male students. Prosecutors accuse the group of organizing and participating in religious gatherings, sharing accommodations and attending spiritual events such as iftar dinners — activities that authorities claim were part of an outlawed organizational structure.
Just days after @TLHumanRights spotlighted the case of Ibrahim Gungor, a 71-year-old Alzheimer’s patient, Turkish authorities arrested Sueda Gungor, in a blatant act of retaliation.
Her “crime”? Advocating for her father’s release.#Turkey #HumanRights #FreeSueda
— Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (@TLHumanRights) June 20, 2025
Güngör’s arrest came just days after the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan body of the US Congress, publicly detailed her father’s deteriorating condition during a June 11 hearing on Turkey’s human rights violations. Witnesses at the session accused Turkish authorities of using the judicial system to punish peaceful dissent and described İbrahim Güngör’s imprisonment as emblematic of the abuse of political prisoners.
According to the indictment and police interrogation records reviewed by TR724, the detained students were questioned about routine aspects of their personal lives, including rental contracts, utility bill payments, messaging app usage and whether they had attended religious study groups. They were also asked whether they knew anyone detained in connection to the Gülen movement, if they had traveled abroad, or if they had subscriptions to certain publications.
Sueda Güngör’s father, a former director of student affairs at the İzmir-based Gediz University — shut down by emergency decree in 2016 — was sentenced to over eight years in prison on charges of organizing student meetings and collecting donations. Although family members and rights advocates say he can no longer recognize his daughter or perform basic daily tasks, Turkey’s Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) ruled he was fit to remain incarcerated.
The ATK has faced criticism for issuing rulings under political pressure, often denying early release for seriously ill prisoners. Sueda had used her social media accounts to share updates about her father’s condition, including a heartfelt Father’s Day post on June 15. Her arrest has been widely condemned online, with critics calling it an act of retaliation for her public advocacy.
Meanwhile, Turkish authorities continue to carry out nationwide operations targeting perceived members of the Gülen movement. The İzmir arrests followed a broader wave of detentions announced on June 17, involving at least 56 people across 27 provinces. Separate operations in İstanbul and other cities focused on alleged recruitment activities and escape networks aiding those fleeing persecution.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan and some members of his family and inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan began to target the movement’s members. He designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016 and intensified the crackdown on it following an abortive putsch in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.