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.
Zaman daily launches news portal in Kurdish language
The Zaman daily has broken new ground by launching a news portal that will present reports in the Kurdish language.
Witch-hunt-targeted mother dies in Kabul, family could not attend funeral in Turkey
İsmail Eyüpoğlu (42), who has been living abroad for 25 years, lost his wife early in the morning on Saturday, February 3. He was straddled between the idea of going back to Turkey with his children and bid farewell to his wife for 18 years in her last journey and on the other hand, the fear of being arrested at the airport and sadden his two children.
Ex-CIA Director: Mike Flynn and Turkish Officials Discussed Removal of Gulen from U.S. without Going through Legal Process
James Woolsey says he attended a September meeting where other participants, including then-Trump adviser Mike Flynn, talked of moving Fethullah Gulen back to Turkey without going through U.S. extradition process.
Tariq Ramadan says Erdoğan should practice what he preached to Mubarak
Prominent scholar Tariq Ramadan, grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, has criticized the Turkish prime minister for seeking more power and urged him to rethink staying in power for a longer time. Ramadan said, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan once told former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak — that one day he will have to know how to leave — is true for him as well. “[Erdoğan] also needs to get this right.”
PM continues war he already lost
If a statement appearing in the Cumhuriyet daily, where the prime minister was quoted as saying that the “money used [in corruption] belongs to the state, not the people” reflects the truth, then this is a clear acknowledgement of wrongdoing.
Turkey’s president is using the failed coup as an excuse to snuff out secular democracy
In the immediate aftermath of the Turkish military’s attempted coup on July 15, the international community responded with relief. While many people within Turkey and outside of it are no fans of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian regime, the bloodshed and chaos that would have resulted from a government overthrow seemed like the worse of two options.
Latest News
Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison
Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney
Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement
ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment
New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement
European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests
ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases
Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade
Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet
In Case You Missed It
Self-exiled Islamic scholar Gülen rejects Khomeini analogy for potential return to Turkey
IFLC’s ‘colors of the world’ welcomed at European Parliament
Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) at center of political storm
Formerly Gülen-linked schools in Albania face growing gov’t pressure
Humanity prepares its own end, says Assyrian Catholic Church leader Sag