Police raid business association in Malatya in new government-backed operation

Police officers arrived at the MAKİAD building on Thursday evening to conduct a search based on a court decision. (Photo: DHA)
Police officers arrived at the MAKİAD building on Thursday evening to conduct a search based on a court decision. (Photo: DHA)


Date posted: May 8, 2015

Police teams entered and searched the premises of the Malatya Active Businessmen’s Association (MAKİAD) on Thursday in a new wave of government-led operations targeting institutions deemed to have an affiliation with the Gülen movement — a faith-based initiative inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

According to the Cihan news agency, police officers arrived at the MAKİAD building on Thursday evening and told the association’s officials that they would conduct a search based on a court decision. After the arrival of the association’s lawyers, the search began. As the search continued in the building and no one was allowed inside, members of the association prepared and served çiğ köfte, a traditional dish in Turkey made with bulgur wheat and spices, outside the building.

The police raid was allowed due to a controversial law passed in December 2014 that makes it possible for the authorities to arrest anyone about whom there is “reasonable suspicion,” and not necessarily tangible evidence. With the new law, the threshold for the burden of proof required for obtaining a search warrant was reduced from strong and concrete evidence to mere reasonable suspicion. The police are not only able to easily search any individual, their home and vehicle, but also easily seize the property of all so-called dissidents on the grounds that they have committed a crime against the government.

The raid in Malatya comes on the heels of similar recent moves by the police.
After obtaining a search warrant from the Manisa First Criminal Court of Peace, police raided six associations in the province of Manisa on Tuesday, following on from an operation last week. The Manisa branch of the Turkish aid organization Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anyone There?) was targeted, in addition to other civil society organizations such as the Feza Educational and Cultural Foundation and the Health and Education Association, the Social Aid Association, the Moris Şinasi International Children’s Health Association, Manisa Public Education And Teaching, Health and Social Assistance Association and the Aviation Community Sports Association.

Source: Today's Zaman , May 07, 2015

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Bank Asya’s corporate governance rating increases

Bank Asya, a leading Turkish financial institution, announced on Sunday that their corporate governance rating had increased in June over its score from last year.

Global Spying Network: Erdogan’s Worldwide Monitoring of Gülen Supporters

In his desire to convince the world that Gülen is a criminal, Erdogan has been demanding that the U.S. extradite Gülen for months. That also likely explains why the Turkish government is currently collecting information from all over the world. It needs incriminating evidence in order to substantiate the allegations against Gülen.

Georgia refuses refugee status to detained ‘Gülen school manager’

Georgia’s Ministry of Refugees has refused to grant a refugee status to Mustafa Emre Çabuk, a manager at the Private Demirel College, a school linked to Turkish opposition political figure Fethullah Gülen. Mr Çabuk was detained in Tbilisi on Turkey’s request.

In Houston, a celebration: Silk road festival

“Yes, I am very pleased,” Annise Parker, mayor of Houston, told me. “The community of Turks, here in particular, are very outward, extroverted and curious in a sense of cultural understanding. I wish the others, too, would be like them. They contribute a lot to our prosperity and future and teach us a lot about where they come from, Turkey.”

Ministerial bureaucrats being purged over their alleged affiliations with Hizmet

Radikal said the only criteria in these purges is the “parallel state,” a term the government uses to define those bureaucrats known to favor the Hizmet movement, which is a grassroots movement based on voluntary participation to spread interfaith dialogue and tolerance with a particular emphasis on education.

Erdoğan’s dream: Seizing Gülen’s network

Once Erdogan declares the Gülen movement as national security threat, he will try to confiscate all schools, dormitories, foundations, institutions and universities associated with the Gülen movement and hand them over to his supporters to run a giant institution of networks to create “religious generations.”

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

The responsibility of the Hizmet movement

Gulen Schools Fight Provokes New Tensions in Bosnia

Belgium ‘proud’ to be host as ‘Colors of the World’ rocks European capital

Pak-Turk schools issue: Foundation moves court for fear of closure

Recalling Turkey’s ‘post-modern coup’

Erdoğan’s imaginary power struggles

Fethullah Gülen’s Statement on the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News