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.
According to a video posted by Mehmet Cerit, the editor of Zaman Vandaag, an overseas subsidiary of the government-seized Turkish daily Zaman, a man is seen turning away the people whom he considered Hizmet members, just before the Friday prayer in a mosque in Germany.
Turkey’s Curious Coup – positions of the Turkish Government, Gulen Movement and Turkey’s Western allies
Within days of the coup attempt, James Clapper, the then-Director of US National Intelligence, said that they had not seen any intelligence indicating Gülen’s involvement. Bruno Kahl, head of Germany’s BND foreign intelligence agency, said during an interview in March 2017 that he did not believe Gülen was behind the coup.
US Court Dismisses Turkey-backed Lawsuit against Fethullah Gülen
A US District Court in Pennsylvania today dismissed a politically-motivated lawsuit against Fethullah Gülen, an internationally respected Turkish scholar, preacher and peace activist. Brought about by three Turkish nationals with the backing of the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan-led Turkish government, the baseless lawsuit alleged persecution of the Doğan Movement at the direction of Mr. Gülen.
Peace and prosperity for Turkey lies in philosophy of Nursi says Altan Tan
On one hand he is a devout Muslim, and former member of the conservative Welfare Party (Refah Partisi), which was thrown out of the government in 1997 after a military memorandum, commonly known as the February 28 post-modern coup. Equally important for Tan is his identity as a Kurdish political figure, seeking political rights for his people and an end to conflict between armed rebels and the state.
Thousands in anti-corruption protests; Erdoğan defiant
Thousands took to the streets of İstanbul on Sunday to protest against the government over a corruption scandal that has led to multiple arrests, including sons of two ministers and general manager of the state-run Halkbank.
Twenty-four people, including the sons of two ministers and the head of state-owned Halkbank, have been formally charged in connection with the corruption inquiry that Erdoğan has called a “dirty operation” to undermine his rule.
Turkey arrests Fethullah Gulen’s barber from 26 years ago
At least 16 people have been detained in the western province of Izmir, including a 50-year-old hairdresser, identified as İ.D., who used to give haircut to Fethullah Gülen during 1990s.
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