Another mother who newly gave birth and her baby were arrested. 10-year classroom teacher Meryem Haydaroğlu (37) who grew up in orphanages was arrested and sent to Şanlıurfa T Type Prison while on maternity leave.
SEVİNÇ ÖZARSLAN
BOLD – A new one added to the prisoner mothers with their babies who are the biggest victims of the Banishment Process. Meryem Haydaroğlu, a classroom teacher in Şanlıurfa Viranşehir, and her 30-day-old baby Ahmet Mert were arrested on 7 September 2019.
Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, the Member of Human Rights Commission and deputy of Kocaeli, announced the arrest of Haydaroğlu from his social media account as follows:
PRISONS ARE NOT FOR BABIES
“Meryem Haydaroğlu was sent to Şanlıurfa Prison in Hilvan although she newly gave birth. She has had surgery recently. Now, she stays with 28 females in the ward, and her other two children are at home. Cruelty is at its best! Prisons are not for babies! ”
Gergerlioğlu learned the worrying situation of the mother and her baby from a letter written by a ward friend of Meryem Haydaroğlu. In the letter, it was told that Meryem Haydaroğlu had a crying crisis and suffered a trauma when she saw prison corridors, iron bars, and officials. Because, she grew up in an orphanage, and the prison called her her childhood.
Meryem who was born in Şırnak is 37 years old
DETENTION WITH HER BABY FOR TWO DAYS
Bold Media reached Meryem Haydaroğlu’s husband Fatih Sultan Haydaroğlu, and he verified what was written in the letter.
“Around 6 o’clock the police came and took my wife to Şanlıurfa. After 2 days of detention with our baby, she was arrested on the grounds that she met with suspicious people. A mother should be released. ”
Haydaroğlu stated that his wife had worked as a teacher in a private school for 10 years, left her job before July 15th and never started again. “My wife had not been working for 3 years. She had just passed a security investigation and was reassigned in April 2019. She gave birth to our third child. He was on maternity leave. Our son Ahmet Mert was born on 31 July 2019. The baby was 30 days old when he went to prison. My wife had a cesarean section.”
As far as is known, Ahmet Mert is the smallest baby in Turkey’s prisons. According to official figures announced on May 24, 2019, there are 864 babies in prisons. But Gergerlioğlu thinks that this number is about 1000. According to Turkish Law No. 5275, mothers who give birth cannot be detained, arrested, and their sentences should be postponed for 6 months.
CHILDHOOD IN BITLIS, KILIS AND URFA ORPHANAGES
Meryem Haydaroğlu, who was born in Şırnak, is a teacher who grew up in Bitlis, Kilis and Urfa orphanages with her brother due to their parents’ death. After studying Classroom Teaching at Firat University, Haydaroğlu started working and got married in 2009. Apart from Ahmet Mert, the young mother has two more children.
Meryem has two other children named Zeynep Ozlem (3) and Betül İdil (8)
HERE’S THE LETTER WHICH TELLS THE SITUATION OF MERYEM HAYDAROGLU AND AHMET MERT IN PRISON
Mr. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu,
I wrote you a letter about myself before. I don’t know if it has been achieved you. I’m sure you’ll get back to me. I am still a prisoner in Şanlıurfa separately from my four small children and most importantly, unlawfully. I say unlawful because I was arrested for a SIM Card, which my husband also was tried in court for using the same SIM Card. I mentioned it all in the other letter I sent. Now, the purpose of this letter is completely different.
Sir, five days ago, we were faced with a situation, which was impossible to be insensitive to. It’s a painful situation to make us all forget our pain. Namely; a mother who newly gave birth and her 30-day-old baby were arrested and brought to our ward on the grounds that she was the friend of a wanted person and had some money in Bankasya. Her name is Meryem Haydaroğlu, and she has been trying to live in difficult conditions with the baby Ahmet in 28 person ward.
Meryem had lost her parents when she was five years old and stayed in different orphanages until she was 18 years old. Is it true to imprison someone who grew up without a family and suffered during her life? Also, two other children are waiting at home for her.
Sir, a woman with surgery, a crying baby who doesn’t sleep until morning… I wanted to share this heartbreaking situation with you with the idea that you will surely help. Sure, she couldn’t write you the letter herself, even now she’s trying to silence her crying baby. She does not know that I am writing this letter, because my goal is to share with you another situation that maybe she cannot express: The husband of Meryem is unemployed and has financial problems. They could not even retain a lawyer. After our insistence about retaining a lawyer, she expressed her financial situation. Sir, the reason why I tell you this is that I think maybe you will help with a lawyer (like a volunteer lawyer).
Mr. Gergerlioğlu, lastly, I want to share with you the statement of Mrs. Meryem when she came to the ward, which impressed me the most. After she was brought to the ward with her tiny baby in her arms, she had a crying crisis. When she calmed down, she said: what nice people are you. what is your fault? The only reason I cry is those long corridors, iron gates, the staff that reminded me of the orphanages I stayed in. I was very scared.” Do they have the right to cause this trauma?
Sir, in all these injustices, we also added a new one, but make sure the situation does not seem to be insensitive. Five people were arrested by the same prosecutor and judge in the last week and most of them are housewives.
She was an active class teacher. I’m sure you’ll help the woman who was removed from the hospital bed on the maternity leave and arrested. May Allah help you. Thank you very much.