Turkey Continues Its Witch Hunt Against Gülen Followers
Photos of the individuals arrested and detained. Source: Turkish Minute.
Date posted: September 3, 2016
MICHAEL VAN DER GALIEN
The purges continue unabated in Turkey. On Friday, 218 individuals were arrested on charges of being members of a terrorist organization. Another 421 were detained.
These arrests and detentions took place more than 6 weeks after the Turkish military staged a failed coup. In the meantime, not only the military officers responsible for the coup have been arrested, but the same goes for many others: people who had absolutely nothing to do with the coup, but who are simply accused of sympathizing with Fethullah Gülen, the Islamic scholar Turkey says masterminded the coup.
In what’s becoming a repetitive story, a host of journalists, lawyers, teachers and civil servants were among those arrested by the authorities.
All in all, more than 41,000 people have been detained in recent weeks, and more than 22,000 individuals were arrested. According to the latest reports, a sum total of 130,000 people have lost their jobs.
Report: White House denies remarks attributed to Obama about Gülen
White House has reportedly denied remarks attributed to US President Barack Obama about Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, describing them as “not accurate.” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday during a live TV interview that Obama received “the message” about his complaint of Gülen residing in the US.
IFJ representative denied permission to visit journalist Karaca in prison
The Justice Ministry has rejected a request from a coalition of international journalist organizations to visit imprisoned Turkish journalist Hidayet Karaca at Silivri Prison in İstanbul.
Gülen-linked journalist association warns that movement’s support for gov’t can end
Erdoğan and his supporters have cast the corruption probe as a smear campaign devised by Gülen, who exercises broad, if covert, influence in the media and judiciary through his followers. In response, the government has staged an unprecedented purge of the police forces and has moved to increase its control over the judiciary. Yeşil said that all these allegations were unfounded.
Der Spiegel: Turkish embassies pursuing Erdoğan critics in 35 countries
Turkish government has been spying on its own citizens in 35 countries with the help of its diplomatic outpost, according to German weekly magazine Der Spiegel.
What is this bedlam all about?
So, as expected, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared all-out war. The enemy — what he and his advisers regard as “the junta formation within the police,” the media, the judiciary, the American Embassy, affiliates of the mainly volunteer Hizmet movement, and, well, whoever seems to disagree with the way he intends to run the country and whoever tends to believe there is no smoke without fire — have dug their trenches in a circle.
Question in the aftermath of the Turkey coup – Who is Fethullah Gulen?
Gülen embraces an inclusive and peaceful understanding of Islam. His commitment to dialogue and altruism has inspired the Hizmet Movement. Mr. Gülen and Hizmet participants are known for their commitment to peace, democracy and non-violence, and oppose turning religion into a political ideology.
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