Istanbul police display hundreds of books among evidence of ‘terror’
Date posted: September 7, 2016
Police in Istanbul’s Esenler province displayed seized books of Fethullah Gülen as evidence of terror.
In a statement on Monday, Esenler police said it has detained 31 suspects as part of investigations into the Gulen Movement, which the government accuses of masterminding the July 15 coup attempt, so far. While 14 of the suspects were arrested, 16 were released. The detention process is still underway for the remaining one, the statement said.
Turkish government pinned the blame for the failed coup attempt on the movement while the latter has denied involvement on multiple occasions.
Police seized Gülen’s 1,500 books; 24 CDs featuring Gülen’s speeches; TL 435,200 ($148,000) along with $99,200 and 700 euros; several laptops; two guns and some digital data, during operations targeting the alleged terrorist network of the movement.
Who is Fethullah Gülen, why is the Gülen movement currently being targeted by the Turkish government?
since 2010 the movement and Fethullah Gülen himself have been critical of the authoritarian tendencies in Turkey. It was noticeable during the Gezi Park protests in 2013. The movement began to belong to the increasingly long list of state enemies, according to Erdoğan and the AKP politicians. Different kinds of actions have been directed since then against a so called “parallel state.”
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