Kalashnikov-carrying police raid Gülen-inspired private and prep schools based on ‘reasonable suspicion’

Police officers from the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau officers enter Sur Fırat Prep-school in the southeastern province of Mardin. (Photo: Today's Zaman)
Police officers from the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau officers enter Sur Fırat Prep-school in the southeastern province of Mardin. (Photo: Today's Zaman)


Date posted: September 15, 2015

Police carrying Kalashnikov rifles and inspectors from a number of government bodies raided 14 private and prep schools in Mardin province on Tuesday based on “reasonable suspicion” that the schools are involved in tax fraud, a move that comes as part of the government-orchestrated operation targeting the faith-based Gülen movement, popularly known as the Hizmet movement.

On Dec. 12, 2014, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed into law a change to Article 116 of the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK), reducing the threshold for the burden of proof that is required to obtain a search warrant from “strong and concrete evidence” to mere “reasonable suspicion.” It allows the police to not only search any individual, their home or vehicle more easily but has also, many commentators have alleged, paved the way for the government to seize the property of its critics on the grounds that they have committed a crime.

The raid was authorized by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and carried out at around 8 a.m. by police officers from the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau (KOM), who arrived at the schools in armored vehicles.

Cemalettin Bal, the principal of one of the FEM prep schools that was raided in Diyarbakır’s Sur district, told the Cihan news agency: “I wish [this many] police officers had come here when our prep school was set on fire and we suffered TL 600-700 billion in damage, on Oct. 6 and 7. I wish they had come here to protect this educational institution and our students then.”

Violence erupted on Oct. 6 and 7, 2014 following reports that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was close to capturing the town of Kobani, which was being defended by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian-based affiliate of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Protesters, angry at the government for not intervening to save the town despite a heavy military presence at the border, took to the streets nationwide. Violence peaked on Oct. 6-7, when protesters clashed with security forces and rival groups. More than 40 people died during the protests, mainly in southeastern Turkey, while hundreds of people — including 140 members of the security forces — were injured.

Şeyhmus Taşkın, a lawyer representing the schools, also told Cihan that the raid was based on claims of tax fraud, which is not supported by any concrete evidence. “There is not a single tax inspector among those who came to the schools. This [the raid and inspection] is unlawful. The claims are nonsensical and unrealistic. The [FEM] prep schools have been operating in Mardin province for 22 years. They educate around 1,500-2,000 students each year. They [police officers] have even failed to present documents supporting [their claims of] reasonable suspicion. We will take the necessary legal action,” Taşkın added.

Media outlets also revealed on Tuesday that a number of FEM prep schools and private Samanyolu Schools in Eskişehir, which were raided by police on July 31, were given fines based on laws that are only applicable to hotels, boarding houses, orphanages and nursing homes. Criticizing the fines, Selamet Şen, a lawyer representing the raided schools, stated that they are unlawful because the law it is based on is not applicable to educational institutions. The lawyer added that the schools have filed a complaint to demand the annulment of the fines.

An increasing number of schools sympathetic to the Gülen movement have been targeted by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) following a major investigation into graft that implicated President Erdoğan and other top AK Party figures that was made public on Dec. 17, 2013. Then-Prime Minister Erdoğan accused the Gülen movement of instigating the operation in order to overthrow his government.

In May 2014, Erdoğan publicly advised AK Party supporters not to send their children to schools affiliated with 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 links to the movement. Erdoğan has also ordered officials in AK Party-run municipalities to seize land and buildings belonging to the Gülen movement by any means necessary. The movement strongly rejects the allegations and no indictment has been brought against it.

Source: Today's Zaman , September 15, 2015


Related News

UN Human Rights: Turkey should promptly end its protracted state of emergency

Routine extensions of the state of emergency in Turkey have led to profound human rights violations against hundreds of thousands of people – from arbitrary deprivation of the right to work and to freedom of movement, to torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary detentions and infringements of the rights to freedom of association and expression, according to a report* issued by the UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday.

Culture Day Celebrated In The Turkish Schools

MARAM ALABBASI The Turkish School celebrated Culture Day on 25 April in the capital, Sana’a. The event had many cultures represented, including the Pakistani, Indian, Turkish and Yemeni cultures. The Minister of Culture, Abdullah Aobal was present, along with several ambassadors. Turkish ambassador Fazli Corman told the audience that “cultural relations between the two countries […]

A Chat with Vonya Womack, a Human Rights Activist and Expert on Turkey and Its [Gulen Follower] Refugees

Following a recent coup attempt, more than 100,000 people were arrested and dismissed from their jobs in the Republic of Turkey. Turkey is also the world’s largest jailer of journalists; 300+ are now behind bars. Our guest is an expert on these and related matters — Vonya Womack

Turkish schools help to enhance trade relations with Africa

  BURSA African businessmen and ambassadors stress that they have developed trade relations with Turkey thanks to Turkish schools acting as bridges in their countries, although the ruling Justice and Development (AK Party) government is planning to shut down Turkish schools abroad that are affiliated with the movement of Islamic Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen. Speaking […]

Tanzania dismisses Turkish gov’t allegations concerning Feza schools, asks for proof

Tanzania has dismissed an allegation by Turkey that the Feza schools in the country are being used to radicalise the youth and fund opposition against the Ankara government. Stung by a failed coup last month, Turkey has targeted businesses associated with Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim Cleric it wants extradited from the US to face charges in Ankara of plotting the coup and funding terrorism activities.

Turkey just snatched six of its citizens from another country

The Pristina abductions are merely the latest episode of Turkey’s global purge, the government’s campaign to pursue its opponents all over the world, which began in 2014 but has accelerated dramatically since the coup attempt of July 2016. In this time, Turkey has repeatedly resorted to extralegal means to target its perceived opponents abroad.

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

Parents criticize gov’t-led police raids on educational institutions

The last refuge of losers: deporting a journalist

Opposition deputy seeks answers on gov’t ban on Kimse Yok Mu

Leaked photo shows 11 hijabi women, 2 babies in Bursa prison on terror, coup charges

Erdogan’s Private Youth Army

Fethullah Gülen always supported settlement process, lawyer says

Alleging Gülen supported coups is huge distortion of truth

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News