New York Times urges Obama not to deport Gulen


Date posted: May 4, 2014

World Bulletin / News Desk

An editorial post by the New York Times has called on the U.S. Pesident Barack Obama to refuse Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s request to have the Pennsylvania-based Turkish congregation leader Fethullah Gulen extradited back to Turkey.

In an editorial titled ‘Let Mr. Erdogan Fight His Own Battles’ published on May 2, the New York Times said ‘The American government is obliged to examine the request if Mr. Erdogan follows through and formally files one. But right now the threat seems to be nothing more than a crass and cynical attempt to exploit the law, and Turkey’s alliance with the United States, for political payback.’

Citing that the Obama administration is yet to comment on the extradition request, the post added ‘It would be an abuse of extradition law to use it for political reasons. Mr. Erdogan should fight his political battles on his own.’

Fethullah Gulen, who leads Turkey’s Hizmet Movement – one of the most influential movements in Turkey – is wanted by the government to face charges over allegations that he was behind a plot to conduct a civilian coup on Erdogan’s ruling AK Party ahead of the March 30 local elections.

A former ally of the Turkish Prime Minister, Gulen’s movement once used allies in key positions in the Turkish judiciary to help Erdogan fight off an attempt by the shadowy Ergenekon group – which was comprised mainly of senior security officials – to carry out a military coup on the government.

However, Gulen and Erdogan began to fall at odds with each other when Gulen disapproved of an attempt by the Turkish charity IHH to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza with the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla in May 2010.

Further signs of a split in the alliance between the two began to show once again in 2012 when members in the Turkish judiciary linked to the movement attempted to investigate the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and key Erdogan ally, Hakan Fidan.

At the end of 2013, Erdogan announced that tuition centers in the country would have to transform themselves into private high schools if they wished to remain open. Gulen’s movement, which owns a high proportion of these schools – from which they earn a bulk of their financial income – said they would not be able to make the transformation and slammed the move as an attempt to halt their services.

Weeks later, on December 17, a wave of high-profile arrests on bureaucrats allied to the AK Party-led government – including the sons of four ministers – left the country in shock after the suspects were accused of corruption and bribery. This prompted Erdogan to conduct an overhaul of the judiciary and police force, and even to reshuffle his cabinet. In doing so, he successfully averted a second wave of arrests on December 25.

Events then evolved as it was revealed that hundreds of thousands of Turkish citizens, including everyone from journalists to President Abdullah Gul, had been listened in a bugging a wiretapping scandal blamed on so called ‘parallel’ elements, with Erdogan pointing the finger directly at Fethullah Gulen.

Just days before the local election, an audio file of Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, intelligence chief Hakan Fidan and two other security officials discussing possible war strategies to use on targets in Syria was leaked on to the internet.

Turkey and the United States have shared an extradition agreement since former Turkish president Kenan Evran signed a deal on November 5, 1980. Fethullah Gulen has been living in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since fleeing Turkey in 1999 with a fake diplomatic passport to escape charges of plotting to undermine the pre-Erdogan Turkish government.

Source: worldbulletin , May 3, 2014


Related News

The term ‘Fetö’ is a misnomer, a bizarre creation of the paranoid Erdoğan propaganda machine

It disturbed me to see your newspaper uncritically using the term ‘Fetö’ – standing for the so-called ‘Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organisation’, which is a rather bizarre creation of the paranoid Erdoğan propaganda machine. It is true that, with most dissenting voices silenced and most of the opposition press closed, Erdoğan’s propaganda now reigns supreme in Turkey.

Somali denies allegations that ‘aid supplies did not reach camp’

The claim was also denied by the person in charge of the camp, Ibrahim Abdinur Muhammed, demonstrating that defamatory activities are being conducted by pro-government media outlets against Hizmet movement.
Muhammed said the organization had helped 450 families living in the camp and that it continues to send assistance to the camps in six other locations in Somali in the form of health and food supplies and clothing as well as education tools.

Gulen has ‘no intention of leaving the US’

The Alliance for Shared Values “rejects the accusation” by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus that Gulen is planning a move to Canada, it said in a statement on its website. The Alliance also reiterated its call for an end to attempts to stymie voices of democratic dissent, including journalists, academics, Kurds, liberals and participants in the Hizmet movement.

Kofi Annan’s remarks about Gulen Movement

Hon. Kofi Annan said: I think it is extremely important to have institutions like the Gulen Institute (Gulen Movement) bringing people together, getting them to understand that we all are in the same boat and in today’s world you cannot be secure at the expense of the other, you cannot be safe and prosperous at the expense of other.

THY passengers strongly criticize embargo on Today’s Zaman

Turkey’s flagship carrier Turkish Airlines began an embargo on Dec. 23, 2013 on the distribution of the newspapers Zaman, Today’s Zaman, Bugün and Ortadoğu to business class passengers on its planes, without providing an explanation. Other dailies are still being handed out on board.

Five global challenges: how might Hizmet respond?

Hizmet, the social movement inspired by the neo-Sufi thinker Fetullah Gülen, is currently being dismembered by the autocratic president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He accuses Gülen of ordering a coup attempt on 15th July 2016, saying it was was led by Hizmet members in the army.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

US Professor Carter: Gülen struggles for peace against poverty and terrorism

Turkey’s Erdogan and onslaughts against opposition

White House courts int’l students as language festival concludes in DC

Turkish Charity in Virginia send 30 thousand blankets to Syrian refugees

US under Trump still highly unlikely to extradite Gülen

Limits of political Islam: the other face of AKP (2)

Plot against Gülen movement put into action based on lies, false confessions

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News