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 Turkish government’s war on the Gulen movement has shown no signs of ebbing. Ankara is so determined to crack down on this loose network that its top security council framed it as a terrorist group last week.
Mysterious visitors to holdings
Reports of certain visitors paying “unexpected” visits to various Turkish holdings and company headquarters are currently being spread in economy circles. As these guests are connected or close in some way or other to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), their visits can hardly be perceived as routine. These influential people are not making their visits for a cup of coffee. They send a short and clear message to the chairman of the executive board or to the general director, asking them to make a statement criticizing the Hizmet movement.
Erdogan: A saint elsewhere, outside Turkey’s shores?
On a recent trip to Spain, I picked a copy of the International New York Times, and saw a story that shocked me greatly. It said Mr Erdogan had ordered the release of 38,000 prisoners serving various jail terms, for different offences, in order to make space for the so-called coup plotters who had no space in Turkey’s overflowing prison. I was totally shocked by the news because I can’t imagine a situation where convicted criminals are being set free just so political opponents can be locked up.
Torture appeared widespread after Turkey coup: UN expert
Measures taken in Turkey after the July 15 coup attempt created an “environment conducive to torture”, and ill treatment appears to have been widespread immediately after the failed putsch, UN special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer said told reporters in Ankara. “Some recently passed legislation and statutory decrees created an environment conducive to torture,” he said.
The Islamic roots of the conflict in Turkey
he roots of the Gülen movement go back to Said Nursi (1878-1960), a preacher from Eastern Anatolia whose teachings (the Nurcu movement) emphasized the compatibility of Islam with rationalism, science and positivism. Nursi’s main contribution to Islam was a 6,000-page commentary he wrote on the Quran. This body of work is known as the “Risale-i Nur” (The Light Collection) and advocates the teaching of modern sciences in religious schools as the way of the future for an Islamic age of enlightenment.
President emphasizes importance of domestic peace for development
President Abdullah Gül has underlined the importance of domestic peace for Turkey to keep up its development, noting that the country should not waste its energy by focusing on “unnecessary rumors,” an almost open reference to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s defamation campaign targeting the Hizmet movement, a volunteer-based grassroots movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
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