Police, inspectors raid Gülen-inspired schools in Manisa for 3rd time

Officers from the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau accompanied by inspectors raided the Şehzade Mehmet Primary and Secondary Schools in Manisa on Monday. (Photo: Cihan)
Officers from the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau accompanied by inspectors raided the Şehzade Mehmet Primary and Secondary Schools in Manisa on Monday. (Photo: Cihan)


Date posted: September 1, 2015

Police officers and inspectors from 15 government agencies have raided Gülen-inspired private schools in the western province of Manisa for the third time, as part of a government-orchestrated operation targeting the faith-based Gülen movement, popularly known as the Hizmet movement.

Manisa was among five provinces where the private and prep schools were raided on Aug. 26. The same schools in Manisa, including a kindergarten, were raided again on Aug. 27.

On Monday, officers from the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau accompanied by inspectors from government bodies such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, the Gediz Electricity Distribution Company, the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD), the Turkish Standards Institution (TSE) and the Social Security Institution (SGK) raided the Şehzade Mehmet Primary and Secondary Schools.

Speaking to the Cihan news agency, a principal of one of the schools, Giray Kara, said, “What worries us [in school management] is that the students here for summer courses feel uneasy,” and added: “How many schools have been inspected this like this in Manisa, or in Turkey, with a number of officers stationed outside? Can these inspections really be considered routine when they are accompanied by police?” Addressing the inspectors, he asked, “Were your consciences clear during the inspections?” and continued: “These operations are not carried out on schools but on the futures of the 1,200 students being educated in Manisa. We will continue to educate them, no matter what.”

In the western province of Bursa, 47 Gülen-inspired private and prep schools and the offices of 15 businesspeople said to be supportive of the movement were also raided by police and inspectors on Monday.

A number of private and prep schools sympathetic to the Gülen movement have been targeted by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government after major graft investigations that implicated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other high-ranking AK Party figures were made public on Dec. 17 and 25, 2013. Then-Prime Minister Erdoğan accused the Gülen movement of using the investigations in an attempt to overthrow his government.

In May 2014, Erdoğan publicly advised AK Party supporters not to send their children to schools inspired by the movement, vowing, “We will not even give water [to the movement’s members].” He has also said he would carry out a “witch hunt” against anyone with any links to the Gülen movement. Erdoğan has also ordered officials in AK Party-run municipalities to seize land and buildings belonging to those inspired by the movement by any means necessary. The Gülen movement strongly denies the allegations and no indictment has been brought against it.

Source: Today's Zaman , August 31, 2015


Related News

Deputy PM Arınç opens Zaman University in Cambodia

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An thanked Turkish entrepreneurs for their initiatives in the area of education and remarked that two years ago he had asked them for an institution of higher education.

Dismissed top editor of Zaman: We made a mistake by not objecting to the imprisonment of journalists

Journalist Abdulhamit Bilici, who was dismissed as editor-in-chief of Zaman said the Zaman daily should have kept its distance from the ruling AKP. He also said his media group made a mistake by not objecting to the imprisonment of journalists in the late 2000s.

Gezi anniversary reminder of Erdogan’s nine lives

Although Gulen was Erdogan’s principle ally in clipping the wings of the staunchly secularist Turkish military, he quickly became his nemesis and thousands of policemen, and prosecutors accused of being Gulen followers were dismissed or displaced in what amounted to a sweeping political pogrom.

Erdoğan calls on people to show no mercy to Gülen movement

Amid an ongoing witch-hunt targeting the faith-based Gülen movement, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday called on people to not show mercy to the movement, saying the pitiful will be pitied, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Alevis voice unease over lack of promised rights at Abant meeting

Alevis have expressed at Abant meeting their uneasiness over pro-government comments claiming that the Gezi Park protests were an “Alevi uprising,” warning against a “dangerous approach that encourages wrong perceptions.” The title of this year’s Abant Platform, which started on Dec. 13, was “Alevis and Sunnis: Searching for Peace and a Future Together.” It was organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), a group affiliated with the Gülen Movement.

Turkic American Alliance Condemns Government Takeover of Zaman

Turkish government seized control of Zaman Newspaper, the largest and highly circulated newspaper in Turkey. The takeover is a violation of the freedom of press which is vital for every democratic state and requires political intervention from the international community.

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

Tamsil: The inadvertent overspill of internalization

GYV gathers politicians, diplomats at iftar dinner in Turkish capital

Kimse Yok Mu opens school for Syrian children

Five pilots who bombed coup base on July 15 arrested over Gulen links

Police officer reassigned for attending dershane picnic

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

Gülen says abusive language to cover up sins is hypocrisy

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News