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.
Closer look at empire of cleric accused in Turkey coup attempt
Turkey’s crackdown of those suspected in the failed July 15 military coup widens, with the firing of 492 people at its top Islamic authority. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is zeroing in on a Muslim cleric living in rural Pennsylvania, whom he accuses of masterminding the coup attempt.
Turkey seizes billions of dollars worth 691 companies over alleged ties to Gülen movement
The state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) has announced that a total of 691 companies, some of whose assets are worth billions of dollars, have been seized by the government due to alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement. The government has been confiscating the private property of non-loyalist businesspeople without due process on unsubstantiated charges of terrorist links.
Paralyzed by ill-treatment in Sivas prison, Turkish police officer dies at 33
Kadir Eyce, a 33-year-old police officer who was jailed due to alleged links to the Gülen movement, has died several weeks after he was released from prison due to health problems. According to photos and tweets posted by family members on Twitter, Eyce had been denied food and water in jail, thereby losing 45 kilograms in three months.
Cleric Accused Of Plotting Turkish Coup Attempt: ‘I Have Stood Against All Coups’
“If they ask me what my final wish is,” Gulen added, “I would say the person who caused all this suffering and oppressed thousands of innocents, I want to spit in his face.” When asked if he was referring to Erdogan, he replied: “It can’t be anyone else. He is the oppressor.”
Amnesty International: Malaysia’s extradition puts three Turkish men at risk of torture
“By sending these three men suspected of links to Fethullah Gülen back to Turkey, the Malaysian authorities have put their liberty and well-being at risk. They have already suffered a harrowing ordeal, being arbitrarily detained and held incommunicado. Now, they have been extradited to Turkey, where they could face arbitrary detention, unfair trial and a real risk of torture.”
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.
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