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.
The Gülen movement: advocators of interfaith activities in Turkey
To cover up the [corruption] investigations, the newspapers close to the government use many derogatory labels for the movement, such as “promoters of light or moderate Islam,” “the protestantization of Islam,” “collaborators and allies of foreign intelligence agencies,” and “Christian missionaries under an Islamic guise.”
Sweep these [journalists] off the floor
Sevgi Akarçeşme, former editor in chief of Today’s Zaman, recalls the night when the police raided the building of the most important and independent opposition newspaper in Turkey. «What happened to journalists today» she warns « can happen to citizens tomorrow».
PM Erdoğan’s arguments on prep schools contradict statistics, facts
PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during a live TV interview on Wednesday night that his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will not back down from its decision to close prep schools and listed his government’s arguments, many of which contradict official data, statistics and results of surveys carried out on the issue. According to surveys, 85 percent of the families who send their children to prep schools are low-income families.
Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say
The Turkey Tribunal, a civil society-led, symbolic international tribunal established to adjudicate recent human rights violations in Turkey, started proceedings in Geneva on Monday where rapporteurs pointed to the use of systematic torture by the government against alleged members of the faith-based Gülen movement and Kurds.
Couple jailed for watching Fethullah Gülen videos at Internet cafe
An Ankara couple has been sent to prison after they were caught watching videos belonging to US-based Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen at an internet cafe earlier this week.
Visually impaired journalist sent to prison over Gülen links
Visually impaired Turkish journalist Cüneyt Arat was sent to prison late on Monday due to his alleged links to the Gülen movement. When Arat learned that a prison sentence approved by an upper court on Sunday, he turned himself in to the police later the same day.
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