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.
‘Power struggle with Gulen movement weakens Erdogan’
The [Hizmet] movement was formed by Gulen’s sermons – he knew how to reinterpret Islam’s moral and ethical demands. It’s not just about continuing traditions, but about exploring nature, seeing God in the laws of nature and the laws of physics and about finding God again.
Türksat removes Zaman, 3 others from ad list
Türksat withdrew its ads from three other dailies as well: Bugün, Taraf and Radikal, all of which have published articles that criticized the government’s efforts to cover up an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption claims.
Erdoğan gov’t supports Iranian contest while obstructing Turkish Olympiad
While Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been attempting to obstruct the Turkish Language and Culture Olympiad, his government has been supporting a similar competition to be held in Tehran in August 2014.
Turkey’s Reichstag Fire
President Erdoğan, apparently a firm believer in the adage that a good scandal should never go to waste, authorized an immediate crackdown against so-called Gülenists. The numbers are dizzying. In less than a week after the coup attempt, the government detained 6,823 soldiers, 2,777 judges and prosecutors (including two judges on the Turkish Constitutional Court), and dozens of governors.
Gülen files criminal complaint over smear campaign
Gülen’s lawyer Nurallah Albayrak said Yusuf Ünal crossed beyond freedom of speech by launching defamation campaign against the Turkish Islamic scholar, attacking his personality.
Human Rights Watch: Emergency Decrees Facilitate Torture in Turkey
Turkish police have tortured and otherwise ill-treated individuals in their custody after emergency decrees removed crucial safeguards in the wake of a failed coup attempt in July, 2016, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The report details 13 cases of alleged abuse, including stress positions, sleep deprivation, severe beatings, sexual abuse, and rape threats, since the coup attempt.
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