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.
In a BBC interview aired in late February, Fethullah Gülen once again spelled out the most important challenges for Turkey: establishing unity among diverse groups that include Alevis, Kurds and others; boosting educational opportunities for the young population; and tackling the long-running poverty problem in Turkey.
Police wait outside delivery room to detain woman who just gave birth
A group of police officers are reportedly waiting outside the delivery room in Niğde Hayat Hospital in order to detain Büneyye Ö. who just gave birth. According to the report, police are now at the hospital to detain the woman over her alleged links to the Gülen movement.
Turkey: Post-coup prisoner says threatened with rape, beaten almost to death
In the latest of firsthand letters revealing the re-emergence of torture in Turkish prisons, an Antalya arrestee reportedly said he was beaten so badly that he blacked out for some time and was also threatened with rape.
70-year-old intending Hajj pilgrim detained on coup charges at airport
A 70-year-old prospective Hajj pilgrim was detained on coup charges at İstanbul’s Atatürk on Thursday night. Kıymet G., who is being held by police, was taken into custody while she was waiting to get on a Turkish Airlines flight for the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Turkish Businesses Snagged In Government’s Post-Coup Crackdown
Most of the companies taken over by the government also deny any role or connection to Gulen. But they’ve had their assets seized and employees fired. The economist Yesilada predicts the government will have to sell off these businesses. That’s likely to trigger lawsuits that could last years.
Threats and fear used to intimidate business world
In one of the eastern provinces, members of a business association believed to be close to the Hizmet movement, a CSO, were visited by the managers of another association that the government seeks to promote. They were told that a police operation might be launched against their association and that they would face serious tax audits and commercial problems if they continued their membership in their current association.
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