Date posted: July 18, 2016
CNN’s Ivan Watson looks at Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish cleric living in the US who President Erdogan squarely blames for the deadly failed
Source: CNN , July 17, 2016
Tags: Defamation of Hizmet | Fethullah Gulen | Hizmet and politics | Military coups in Turkey |

Several weeks ago, a lawyer based in England and Canada, Mr. Robert Amsterdam, announced in the US that he had been hired by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government to sue Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement.

A corruption scandal has forced Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to reshuffle his cabinet, but he is rejecting calls for his resignation. Three of his ministers have resigned because of the scandal. The situation today is being called the biggest threat yet to Erdogan’s 11 years in office. Stephen Kinzer, visiting fellow at the Watson Institute at Brown University, joins Here & Now’s Robin Young to discuss the unfolding situation in Turkey.

Federation of the Aegean and Mediterranean Industrialists and Businesspeople (ESİDEF) President Mustafa Çelik said anti-democratic rhetoric and intimidating speeches against the business world in Turkey have motivated them to double their targets.

PakTurk Schools’ Parent-Teacher Association expressed concern that the government may hand over the school management to “a political entity”. The association has demanded of the government not to make an unwise political move, and investigate if there is anything wrong with their curriculum. “Turkey is a friendly country and we respect its democracy. But we should consider the future of 11,000 students of these schools,” the association expresses.

The generals were never the script writers of the coups but only players. The script writers of the coup on July 15 in Turkey aimed to simulate a coup as if it was staged by the Gulen movement. It was simply a false flag. While only a few hundred soldiers were involved in the coup, more than ten thousand officers were purged and arrested. While the police officers challenged the coup plotters, twelve thousand police officers were fired two months after the coup.

The problem is not to side with the Hizmet movement or the AK Party. No one objects to the fight against corruption. But it is not possible to argue that what has been happening is all about corruption right now. Tensions should not be escalated or provoked further. I believe that promoting reconciliation is the best option. If you ask whether or not it possible, I would say, “Yes, it is still possible.”
