Dutch police detain second Turkish man for threatening Erdoğan critics


Date posted: September 8, 2016

Dutch police on Wednesday detained a second Turkish man, a supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on suspicion of death threats and hate speech made against Erdoğan critics in the Netherlands.

Rotterdam police detained a 43-year-old Dutchman of Turkish descent who is suspected of having threatened critics of the Turkish president and backers of US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

On Monday, the Dutch police detained a 42-year-old Turkish man on the same charge.

The Turkish government blames Gülen and his supporters for a failed coup on July 15, a charge denied by Gülen.

In a statement on Monday Dutch police said they had investigated 150 complaints related to the aftermath of Turkey’s coup since mid-July, roughly half of them for threats and intimidation appearing on social media.

After Monday’s detention, Dutch prosecutors said more detentions were likely.

Turkey’s post-coup fallout has spilled over into Turkish immigrant neighborhoods in the Netherlands, with lists of purported Gülen supporters circulating on social media, exposing families and schoolchildren to death threats, Reuters reported.

“We aim to de-escalate, but if necessary we will take action,” Reuters quoted Peter Slort, a regional police chief, as saying.

Rotterdam police set up a special team to investigate the threats and claims and had examined 170 complaints as of Wednesday.

After a wave of immigration in the 1960s and 1970s, there are roughly 400-500,000 Dutch Turks. A small minority are known to be Gülen supporters.

Source: Turkish Minute , September 8, 2016

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Detainee says was pushed to make accusations about Gülen movement

Cleaning company owner Abdullah Yıldırım, who testified in court as part of an investigation launched based on a complaint from Okyanus Group CEO Nusret Argun, said police officers encouraged him to make accusations about the faith-based Gülen movement during interrogation.

As Gulen movement contracts in Africa, worry over who will fill the vacuum

Abdallah Kheri, who in Kenya heads the Islamic Research and Education Trust, worries that shuttering Gulen schools and other institutions could leave a vacuum that the so-called Islamic State will seek to fill. “Closing down the institutions would definitely grant gains to the fundamentalists,” he said. In Kenya, the Rev. Wilybard Lagho, Mombasa Roman Catholic diocese vicar general, said he would lament the demise of Gulen schools.

Türksat removes Zaman, 3 others from ad list

Türksat withdrew its ads from three other dailies as well: Bugün, Taraf and Radikal, all of which have published articles that criticized the government’s efforts to cover up an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption claims.

Pulitzer Prize equals five years in prison in Turkey

The statement in the headline belongs to Bülent Arınç, deputy prime minister and spokesperson for the Turkish government. Moreover, he is responsible for the government’s media policy. For Western readers, I should clarify that he was not joking when he said, “A journalist might win the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting, but he should face the consequence of five years in prison.”

What would Carl Schmitt say about Turkish politics today?

The Hizmet movement has been identified as a “domestic enemy” collaborating with foreign forces and legal and political channels were used as a tool to deal with this “enemy” after the corruption scandal became public. Thousands of policemen were reassigned and the government has taken important steps to place the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) under the control of the executive branch, which is totally at odds with rule of law.

Turkey’s extradition adventure undermined Kosovan rule of law – Expert

Turkey’s operation to abduct six Turkish citizens from Kosovo last week reinforced the image of a country “acting outside the bounds of normal behaviour” for an EU candidate and NATO member country, according Freedom House project director Nate Schenkkan.

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

The Istanbul Cultural Center hopes to build bridges though food

Hizmet in Context: Societal Islam Versus Political Islam

Ethio-Turkish businesswomen to strengthen business ties

Rhode Island’s latest refugees flee Turkey’s repressive regime

100,000 blankets campaign by Turkish-American groups in US media

Pro-gov’t journalist says jailed Gulenists should be forced to commit suicide

Gov’t lifts confidentiality of MGK docs for publishing in partisan press

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News