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

Strategic defamation of Fethullah Gülen: English vs. Turkish

Dr. Koç’s review and statistical analyses show very clearly that the defamation of Gülen and the Hizmet movement is being strategically operated. Gülen is simultaneously portrayed as an Islamic danger who is secretly trying to resurrect the Ottoman Empire and caliphate (in English) and as an American and Zionist puppet who is destroying Turkey and Islam with his “moderate Islam” (in Turkish).

Parents jailed over Gülen links not allowed see their children for 9 months

Parents of four Bedia Baş and Abdülkadir Baş, who were arrested on terrorism charges in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016 due to their alleged links to the Gülen movement, were not allowed to see their children during the first nine months of their incarceration.

The Encyclopedia of Islam and hate speech

Erdoğan’s obvious target was Fethullah Gülen, but it is clear that he also attacked anyone who doesn’t think like him with phrases such as “false prophets,” “fake mystics” and “so-called scholars.” This denigration is problematic especially in terms of secularism. Indeed, the prime minister hurls gross insults at religious interpretations that diverge from his own. In his capacity as a prime minister, he imposes his beliefs and acts onto those who do not think like him. One step beyond these remarks would be the prime minister’s supporters’ resorting to violence against those he places on the bull’s eye.

Hate speech creates new opportunities for Hizmet movement

The effects of the ruling party’s persistent hate speech against the Hizmet movement on non- Hizmet groups can be examined by dividing the groups into two categories: conservative groups and other groups.

Gülen’s lawyer to sue daily Sabah over black propaganda

Gülen’s lawyer, Nurullah Albayrak, will file a legal complaint in Ankara against the daily on Monday for violating the confidentiality of communication according to Article 132 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and for insult according to Article 125 of the TCK.

Turkish Olympiad finals held all around the globe in prestigious venues in a variety of cities

Though we typically only witness the Turkey leg of the Turkish Olympiad, held as a part of the International Turkish Education Association’s (TÜRKÇEDER) Language and Culture Festival, the fact is that excitement over this event similarly takes place in participating countries every year as well.

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

Kimse Yok Mu to provide meals to over 1 mln in Ramadan

Dialog High School wins top prize

Prime minister’s inconsistencies raise eyebrows

Egyptian Professor: Turkish Schools to Guarantee Global Peace

Kosovo Extradition of Wanted Turkish ‘Gulenist’ Suspended

Aydan Meydan from Bosna Sema School won the “Inspiring Educator Award”!

Dialogue Eurasia Institute Opens in Kazakhstan

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News