Turkish police raid media close to cleric rival Gulen, detain 24

Zaman editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanli (C), escorted by plainclothes police officers, is cheered on by his colleagues as he leaves the headquarters of Zaman daily newspaper in Istanbul
Zaman editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanli (C), escorted by plainclothes police officers, is cheered on by his colleagues as he leaves the headquarters of Zaman daily newspaper in Istanbul


Date posted: December 15, 2014

DAREN BUTLER AND HUMEYRA PAMUK

Turkish police raided media outlets close to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric on Sunday and detained 24 people including top executives and ex-police chiefs in operations against what President Tayyip Erdogan calls a terrorist network conspiring to topple him.

The raids on Zaman daily and Samanyolu television marked an escalation of Erdogan’s battle with ex-ally Fetullah Gulen, with whom he has been in open conflict since a graft investigation targeting Erdogan’s inner circle emerged a year ago.

In scenes broadcast live on Turkish TV channels, top-selling Zaman’s editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanli smiled and studied police documents before being led through the newspaper’s headquarters to applause from staff crowded onto balconies

“Let those who have committed a crime be scared,” he said before police struggled to escort him through the crowds to a waiting car. “We are not scared.”

Several hundred people chanted “The free press cannot be silenced” and “Turkey is proud of you”.

The European Union was quick to condemn the raids, saying in an unusually strongly worded statement they were incompatible with media freedom and ran counter to European values.

The U.S. State Department called “as Turkey’s friend and ally” on Turkish authorities to protect media freedom and other democratic values.

Terrorism charges

Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Hadi Salihoglu said in a statement arrest warrants had been issued for 31 people on charges of “establishing a terrorist group”, forgery and slander.

In raids across EU-candidate Turkey, 24 people have been detained, including two former police chiefs, state broadcaster TRT Haber said. Also detained were Samanyolu’s chairman and the staff of two Samanyolu drama series, one about an anti-terrorism squad and the other set in a southeast hit by Kurdish rebellion.

“This is a shameful sight for Turkey,” chairman Hidayet Karaca said before his arrest. “Sadly in 21st Century Turkey this is the treatment they dish out to a media group with tens of television and radio stations, internet media and magazines.”

Erdogan, whose AK Party was elected in 2002, introduced many democratic reforms in his first years in power and curbed army involvement in politics. NATO allies often cited Turkey as an example of a successful Muslim democracy, but more recently critics have accused Erdogan of intolerance of dissent and, increasingly, a divisive reversion to Islamist roots.

Alluding to Gulen’s ‘Hizmet’ (service) movement and the raids, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a meeting of his ruling AK Party in southeast Turkey those who “infiltrate state institutions” should expect to give account for their actions.

“Those who prepare dossiers against the prime minister of a government … who came to power with the national will shall give account before the people and history,” he said, attacking those who “declared war on the government in the guise of ‘service'”.

“Coup Against Democracy”

Main opposition CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu told reporters: “This is a coup government. A coup is being carried out against democracy”.

Erdogan accuses Gulen of establishing a parallel structure in the state through his supporters in the judiciary, police and other institutions, while wielding influence through the media.

The cleric, living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies any ambition to overthrow Erdogan.

Erdogan drew on Gulen’s influence among police and judiciary in his first years of power to help tame an army that had toppled four governments since 1960, including Turkey’s first Islamist-led cabinet. That relationship has dramatically soured.

Erdogan, who consolidated his power further in moving from the prime minister’s office to the presidency in August, has described “Gulenists” in the past as terrorists and traitors.


*Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Catherine Evans

Source: Reuters , December 14, 2014


Related News

Media freedom in Turkey takes another blow

On Dec. 25, Mahir Zeynalov sent out two tweets. “The first tweet contained a link to a news report about the second wave of a massive graft operation and how police blocked a raid involving more than 40 suspects, including Saudi businessman Yasin al-Qadi — listed as a specially designated terrorist by the United States,” Today’s Zaman reported Jan. 31. Zeynalov’s tweets are no longer present on his Twitter account. “’Turkish prosecutors order police to arrest al-Qaeda affiliates, Erdogan’s appointed police chiefs refuse to comply,’ read the first tweet. In the second tweet, Zeynalov shared a news report detailing al-Qaeda suspects’ escape from the country after police chiefs blocked the raid on Dec. 25.”

Mother with disabled son and daughter detained over alleged coup involvement

Hatice Kökoğlu, the mother of a disabled son and a daughter, has reportedly been detained in Kütahya province over alleged links to the Gülen movement. However, the two disabled children were left alone after their mother was recently taken into custody as part of an investigation launched by the Kütahya Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Why Erdogan Is Soft On ISIS

Turkey’s government and the media that support it have an odd attitude when it comes to violent acts carried out by ISIS: It’s as if the “cultural/ideological dialects” of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government somehow malfunction. The government is politically accountable if ISIS actions do not stop in Turkey. Trying to cover this up with nonsense like “ISIS is the same as PKK and the Gülenists” only increases this accountability.

International community’s Erdoğan problem

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has returned to his agenda of political Islamism since the 2011 elections even though he had rejected it in the past, and he quickly set out to implement his plan to purge the Hizmet movement, a plan he had made long ago.

Mysterious visitors to holdings

Reports of certain visitors paying “unexpected” visits to various Turkish holdings and company headquarters are currently being spread in economy circles. As these guests are connected or close in some way or other to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), their visits can hardly be perceived as routine. These influential people are not making their visits for a cup of coffee. They send a short and clear message to the chairman of the executive board or to the general director, asking them to make a statement criticizing the Hizmet movement.

Government plans to unlawfully take over aid organization

The Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) efforts to undermine the largest aid organization in Turkey, Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There?) reached a new level with alleged preparations to dissolve the board of the organization and appoint a trustee instead, although no legal grounds exist for such a move.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

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

In Case You Missed It

AK Party vs. Cemaat?

Criticism rains down on gov’t for insisting on closing prep schools

Turkish firm offers to set up schools in Sindh, Pakistan

PKK terrorists set dorm on fire, one student injured

Purge-victim family drowns in the Aegean Sea off Turkey

Fethullah Gülen: ‘I have no other goal than to please God’

Ramadan Fast Highlights Shared Religious Practices

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News