Trustees seize control of schools in government-led move

Police teams arrived in one of the Gülen-inspired schools following the appointment of trustees to the companies that own them, in İstanbul on Friday. (Photo: Today's Zaman)
Police teams arrived in one of the Gülen-inspired schools following the appointment of trustees to the companies that own them, in İstanbul on Friday. (Photo: Today's Zaman)


Date posted: February 12, 2016

MERYEM KİRAZ / FAZLI MERT | ISTANBUL

A judge in İstanbul has ordered that trustees be appointed to 12 companies, including the FEM and Anafen prep schools established by people sympathetic to the faith-based Gülen movement for allegedly being affiliated with Kaynak Holding.

The trustees were appointed to nearly 50 private prep schools, foundations and associations belonging to 12 educational institutions by the Anatolia 4th Criminal Court of Peace in İstanbul on Friday. Among the schools to which trustees were appointed are Fatih College, the Coşkun and Nilüfer private schools, the Mizan and Sema Education Institutions and the FEM and Anafen prep schools.

According to the court’s decision, eight of the companies are located in İstanbul and two in Ankara. The remaining two are located in İzmir and Samsun.

Executives of the 12 companies received notification of their dismissal earlier on Friday.

The appointed trustees — Sezai Çiçek, Ertuğrul Erdoğan, İsmail Gülen, Aytekin Karahan, Levent Küçük, İmran Okumuş and Hüseyin Yaşar — will serve at the 12 companies.

However, Kaynak Holding released a statement later on Friday, denying any corporate link with the foundations and associations where trustees were appointed.

“These claims are totally untrue. These companies are neither subsidiaries of Kaynak Holding nor have any organic relation with the holding,” the statement said.

An İstanbul court appointed seven trustees on Nov. 18 to take over the management of Kaynak Holding and 21 of its subsidiaries on suspicion of their affiliation with the so-called “parallel state,” a term invented by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to refer to sympathizers of the Hizmet movement, a faith-based community inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. The decision came less than a month after the seizure of Koza Holding, one of the country’s largest publicly listed conglomerates.

The İstanbul 10th Criminal Court of Peace ordered the appointment of trustees to take over the management of the holding in a controversial move. The court has been criticized for abusing its power to engineer a questionable legal pretext to confiscate one of Turkey’s most successful conglomerates.

The number of companies to which the same trustees have been appointed has increased to 58.

The first decision made by the trustees was to seize all items, including the office stock and the bank accounts of the 12 companies, and to stop remittances and the electronic transfer of funds.

On Oct. 27, police raided Koza İpek’s headquarters in Ankara and the İpek Media Group’s offices, which house four media outlets owned by the holding. The decision for the raid came from a widely criticized court decision to appoint a board of trustees to take over the management of the holding’s 22 companies. Dozens of people were fired, television stations belonging to the group were closed and the sales of the Bugün and Millet dailies significantly decreased following the appointment of the trustees.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting sympathizers of the Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet movement, since a corruption investigation was made public on Dec. 17, 2013. A graft probe implicated then-Prime Minister Erdoğan, members of his family and senior Justice and Development Party (AK Party) figures.

Erdoğan accused the Gülen movement of plotting to overthrow his government and alleged that sympathizers of the movement within the police department had fabricated the graft scandal. He said he would carry out a “witch hunt” against anyone with links to the movement; since then, hundreds of police officers have been detained and some arrested for alleged illegal activity in the course of the corruption investigation. The Gülen movement strongly rejects the allegations brought against it.

In an effort to restructure the judiciary in line with the government’s instructions following the corruption scandal, Erdoğan ordered the establishment of the Penal Courts of Peace in 2014 as part of a “project.” The establishment of these courts came after he accused the Gülen movement of being responsible for the revelation of the scandal.

Since their establishment, the courts have handed down rulings that have led to sweeping operations by the police force and the detention and arrest of dissident journalists and opinion leaders who are vocal in their criticism of the government’s unlawful acts. These courts have turned into the government’s apparatus to impose judicial pressure on the opposition.

Source: Today's Zaman , February 12, 2016


Related News

Izetbegovic praises Turkish schools and universities abroad

25 September 2012 / AYTEN ÇIFTÇI, İSTANBUL The Bosniak member of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tripartite presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, expressed his admiration for Turkish schools and universities abroad in an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman on Monday. Izetbegovic noted that Turkish schools abroad are esteemed for the good education they provide. Turkish schools (aka Gulen inspired schools) […]

US House Intel Chair Says ‘Hard To Believe’ Gulen Behind Turkey Coup

The United State House Intelligence Committee chairman has said it is “hard to believe” that U.S.-based Turkish cleric is behind the military coup attempt last summer, questioning Turkey as a reliable ally.

The more we learn, the more we are the same

During my stay in Turkey, I met with many business leaders and academics that provide funding for schools and universities based on this philosophy. As one businessman told me, “Educated people can understand each other.”

Professors in Gaziantep profiled alongside students

Those mainly profiled are reportedly followers of the Hizmet movement, a faith-based movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. The daily also claimed that other religious groups that voiced criticism or disapproval of the government’s activities were also profiled, mainly civil servants or those who planned or hoped to be employed in a state post.

HRW: 6 Turks taken from Kosovo to Turkey face risk of torture and abuse

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, on Saturday tweeted that six Turkish nationals who were arrested by Kosovar police on Thursday and apparently spirited out of the country by Turkish intelligence later in the day would face the risk of torture and abuse in Turkey.

Turkey’s Reichstag Fire

President Erdoğan, apparently a firm believer in the adage that a good scandal should never go to waste, authorized an immediate crackdown against so-called Gülenists. The numbers are dizzying. In less than a week after the coup attempt, the government detained 6,823 soldiers, 2,777 judges and prosecutors (including two judges on the Turkish Constitutional Court), and dozens of governors.

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

Fethullah Gülen’s message to the “Ideal Human & Ideal Society Conference” in Pakistan

Fethullah Gülen: Inspirer of Multi-disciplinary Studies

Turkish Kimse Yok Mu volunteers staying months to help survivors

Gülen Community and Gülen’s Reminder

After Huge Overseas Accolades IFLC Is Going To Win Indian Hearts On May 07, At Talkatora Stadium New Delhi

Reflection on the Asia-Pacific Trip with the Hizmet Movement

Turkish Language Olympics – Iraq Qualifications

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News