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.
Gülen underlines values, rejects alliance with political party or leader
In response to a question on whether “the alliance” between the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Hizmet movement had ended, Gülen said, “If we can talk about an alliance, it was around [the] shared values of democracy, universal human rights and freedoms — never for political parties or candidates.”
Religious leader: I was told to blame Gülen movement for police banning my group meeting
Alparslan Kuytul, president of the Furkan Foundation and leader of a religious group critical of the Turkish government, said he was advised to put the blame on the faith-based Gülen movement for a police intervention in a meeting of his followers in April and that the government would ultimately clear the way for his group to operate freely.
Ex-AK Party deputy Özdalga: Gov’t wants to make judiciary subordinate to executive power
“The issue is not only about corruption, it is also about the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers, things at the heart of the democratic regime. There is no democracy without these,” says Haluk Özdalga, who was a member of the ruling party since 2007 until his recent resignation.
An instructive crisis
The links revealed between the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), which have been maintained by MİT to embrace Kurdish politics and blur the line between legal and illegal activities, were not surprising to anybody because, in terms of its personnel, MİT is still a military organization. ETYEN MAHÇUPYAN, Thursday February […]
EU calls on Turkey to Investigate abduction cases targeting Gülen Movement
The European Union (EU) on Thursday said it was closely following developments in Turkey including the abductions of people from the Gülen movement, reminding Ankara of its responsibility to investigate these reported cases.
‘Ekol Hoca’ center of attention on Periscope with his ’online prep school’
A Turkish teacher known as “Ekol Hoca” who has been providing online lessons to students, especially those preparing for nationwide exams amid government’s efforts to shut down prep schools, via live video streaming application Periscope has attracted attention after the CEO of Periscope expressed his gratitude to the teacher.
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