Fethullah Gülen lawsuit [in the US] thrown out in setback for Turkey’s Erdoğan


Date posted: June 29, 2016

US judge dismisses civil case funded by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan against prominent critic who is based in Pennsylvania.

A US judge has dismissed a human rights lawsuit against Fethullah Gülen, a US-based Turkish cleric who is a former ally turned prominent critic of his home country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The lawsuit, funded by Turkey, had claimed the Muslim cleric in Pennsylvania orchestrated human rights abuses in his native Turkey.

Erdoğan’s government funded the civil suit as part of a crackdown on the cleric and his movement.

Gulen’s attorneys had called the suit “pure political theatre” and an attempt by Erdoğan to silence Gülen, who has criticised the Turkish leader.

The suit contended that Gülen ordered sympathetic police, prosecutors and judges in Turkey to target members of a rival spiritual movement critical of his teachings.

US District Judge Robert Mariani in Scranton dismissed the suit on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Gülen’s defence said the “US justice system worked as it should.”

The plaintiffs’ attorney had no immediate response.

With the Associated Press

 

Source: The Guardian , June 29, 2016


Related News

The Hizmet Movement: Reflections from Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, the Hizmet Movement started the Learnium School as well as the Intercultural Dialogue Foundation. Initially, the funding for the school came from the Movement until it managed to support itself on its own income. Kimse Yok Mu was among the first to respond to the devastating tsunami that hit Sri Lanka. Large amounts of food and other requirements that the tsunami victims needed were supplied without any fanfare.

US says it does not consider Gülen movement a terror organization

The U.S. has stated that the country does not consider the movement of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen a terror organization, a position which stands in contrast with the latest decision taken during a Turkish National Security Council (MGK) meeting on the movement.

Current defamation campaign against Hizmet was part of Ergenekon scheme

A major campaign launched by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and media organs to defame and discredit the Hizmet movement was among the plans of the Ergenekon network, which once attempted a coup d’état against the AK Party.

Turkish Islamic preacher – threat or benefactor?

Alexandra Hudson Smiling 11-year olds Serra and Liyna, fellow pupils at the 5,000-pound-a-year Fatih College primary school in Istanbul, chime in similarly confident English that their favourite subject is science and they want to be doctors. (Reuters) – Nine-year-old Burak says his favourite subject is maths, he loves studying and writing in English, and when […]

Businessmen voice frustration over smear campaign against Hizmet

The Akşehir Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (AKSİAD) has condemned an ongoing defamation campaign being conducted against the Hizmet movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, calling on government officials to refrain from the hate speech and polarizing rhetoric that are damaging the society.

In Conversation with Fethullah Gülen (Interview in Asharq Al-Awsat-I)

While it is a movement inspired by faith, this [Hizmet movement] community of volunteers develops and delivers reasonable and universally acceptable projects which are in full compliance with humanitarian values and which aim to promote individual freedoms, human rights and peaceful coexistence for all people regardless of their faith.

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

Who is Fethullah Gulen, the man blamed for coup attempt in Turkey?

The International Justice Conference Hailed A Major Success

Turkish asylum claims in Greece rise 40-fold in three years

‘Everybody reads about Prophet Muhammad’

PM threatens business, media and civic groups amid corruption woes

Yamanlar Koleji crowns Turkey with second gold medal

Woman says she miscarried baby due to stress under police custody

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News