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.
Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) at center of political storm
Indeed, the MIT’s tarnished reputation can be viewed as collateral damage from the AKP’s wars with former allies (the Gulen movement) or an unintended consequence of the government’s haphazard propaganda since Gezi. The agency is seen as the nexus of the initial friction between the Gulen movement and the AKP.
Berlin mayor accuses Turkey of waging war on Gulen supporters in Germany
“I was approached and asked by a Turkish government official, whether we would be prepared to critically confront the Gulen movement in Berlin,” Michael Müller, mayor premier of the state of Berlin, told the German newspaper Bild. “I rejected the idea and made it very clear that Turkish conflicts could not be waged in our city,” he added.
US Rep. Scott: Gülen movement cannot be designated as “terrorist organization”
Congressman David Scott, representing Georgia’s 13th congressional district, has said that Gülen movement cannot and should not be designated as a “terrorist organization” while expressing his concerns over President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s including the movement on the list of “Turkish terrorist organizations.”
Erdoğan’s war against Hizmet: Step by step
Turkish prosecutors carried out a number of arrests and raids on the morning of 17th December 2013 as part of a series of on-going corruption investigations. PM Erdogan’s response has been to call this a coup attempt against his government orchestrated by a coalition of foreign and domestic enemies. Erdogan claims that the ‘domestic pawn’ of this plot is the Hizmet movement. His number one election campaign promise: to crush and annihilate the treacherous Hizmet movement.
Turkey seizes billions of dollars worth 691 companies over alleged ties to Gülen movement
The state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) has announced that a total of 691 companies, some of whose assets are worth billions of dollars, have been seized by the government due to alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement. The government has been confiscating the private property of non-loyalist businesspeople without due process on unsubstantiated charges of terrorist links.
Turkish Cleric, Accused in Coup Plot, Calls Crackdown ‘Dark Pages’ in History
The Turkish Muslim cleric accused by Turkey of plotting a failed coup two months ago denounced the repression of his supporters, calling the crackdown “dark pages in world history.” The severity of the crackdown in Turkey has raised concerns in the United States and Europe that Mr. Erdogan has used the failed coup as a pretext to eradicate political rivals and groups he deems a threat to his power.
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