An İstanbul-based lawyer filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday against Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, with allegations such as the establishment of a criminal organization, organizing an attempt to overthrow the government, organized fraud and abuse of duty as a civil servant.
Lawyer Hüdaverdi Yıldırım submitted a petition to the İstanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office in which he accused Gülen of being behind the corruption scandal that came to public attention on Dec. 17 of last year. Claiming that the graft probe is not about corruption and bribery but about overthrowing a legitimate government, Yıldırım argued that those who emphasize the independence of the judiciary are actually asking for privileged status for the ideology of their community — by which Yıldırım meant the Hizmet movement.
Yıldırım also claimed that Gülen is guilty of using his influence over public prosecutors to make them target the government.
The Hizmet movement is a religious and social movement that is inspired by the teaching of US-based scholar Gülen.
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Turkish authorities are arresting people for links to the Gulen movement, which denies involvement. The number of people detained by Turkish authorities following the failed coup to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has passed 26,000.
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South African, Kenyan leaders show support for Turkish schools
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Government plans to unlawfully take over aid organization
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Lawyer: Claims about Gülen followers among ‘jihadist group’ baseless defamation
The lawyer of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has strongly dismissed claims by a French publication that followers of Gülen are among members of an alleged jihadist formation encouraged by Turkey to fight a political offshoot of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Syria as baseless slanders. “The claim in question is first of all […]
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