Ambassador says US having difficulty in seeing clear criterion in anti-Gülen operations


Date posted: September 11, 2016

US Ambassador to Turkey John Bass has said the United States administration is having difficulty in understanding whether a clear criterion is being used by the Turkish government in operations against followers of the faith-based Gülen movement.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and the Development Party (AKP) government have been pursuing a witch-hunt against people who are sympathetic to Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen since corruption investigations went public Dec. 17-25, 2013. The process turned into an all-out war against Gülen sympathizers following a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15 as the government accuses the movement of masterminding it despite the absence of any evidence to this effect so far.

Speaking to a group of reporters in Istanbul on Friday, Bass said although the Turkish government insists that the anti-coup measures it has taken against followers of the Gülen movement are proportionate, it is difficult see that the Turkish government is taking its actions based on a clear criterion.

Bass said the US was having difficulty in assessing whether the measures are proportionate and reasonable, warning that some of the measures could cost dearly given the number of people in society affected by them.

Despite Gülen and the movement having denied the accusation and calling for an international investigation, Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government launched a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.

Some 86,000 people have been purged from state bodies, nearly 41,000 detained and 22,000 arrested since the coup attempt. Arrestees included journalists, judges, prosecutors, police and military officers, academics, governors and even a comedian.

According to Bass, all the people in society should be convinced that justice is served at the end of the trial of the coup suspects, adding that the trial process should be in line with the Constitution and Turkey’s international obligations.

Responding to a question on the extradition of Islamic scholar Gülen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999, Bass said he thinks the extradition issue will be handled by the next US administration.

Bass said speaking less about ongoing trials or potential trials shows the seriousness of the process in the US legal tradition, not the contrary.

US Vice President Joe Biden, who visited Ankara last month, said the US administration wants to cooperate with Turkey over the Turkish government’s request for the extradition of Gülen but that it is a US court that will make the decision.

Source: Turkish Minute , September 9, 2016


Related News

Freedom award recipient Bartholomew praises Gülen’s peace efforts

13 May 2012 / BASRI DOĞAN, MIDDELBURG Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew praised well-respected Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen for his peace efforts around the world after receiving one of the Roosevelt Institute’s Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Awards. The award ceremony for the 2012 Four Freedoms Awards was held on Saturday at the Nieuwe […]

Hizmet Symposium: Academics Foster Peacebuilding Advocacy

Hizmet, or service, is one of the largest social movements in the world. The Rumi Forum organized an international symposium called the “Hizmet Movement and Peacebuilding for Global Cases” at the National Press Club Ballroom in Washington D.C. Academics and scientists from more than 20 countries presented topics covering the impact of Hizmet Movement to […]

Public ad budget unfairly allocated to pro-gov’t media

Separate sources have suggested that several public institutions prefer pro-government dailies and TV stations over other media, an initiative that follows Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s statements about “the opposition that cooperates with an international conspiracy seeking to topple the government.”

Global Muslim networks: How far they have travelled

IT IS a long way from the Anatolian plains to a campus in the heart of London, where eminent scholars of religion deliver learned papers. And the highlands that used to form the Soviet border with China, an area where bright kids long for an education, seem far removed from a three-storey house in Pennsylvania, […]

In Greece, Turks tell of lives full of fear in Recep Erdogan’s Turkey

Dominika Spyratou of the Greek NGO SolidarityNow, which provides assistance to refugees, says that more than 1,000 Turkish citizens came to Greece seeking asylum after the July 2016 failed coup, while almost 300 Turkish families are now in Thessaloniki.

PM defends Zarrab, suspected of leading bribery ring

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has praised Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab — who stands accused of being the ringleader of a shady money-laundering and gold-smuggling ring set up to dodge sanctions against Iran — for his contribution to the country’s economy.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Indian scholar: Fethullah Gülen a great blessing for Turkey, World

Is PM looking for someone he can pass the blame to?

Terrorist PKK targets Gulen movement’s schools in Hakkari

Moved by Syrian refugees’ woes, U.S. mayors initiate blanket drive

Erdogan caught off guard in latest political crisis

D-8’s Alam calls on everyone to support Turkish schools

Experts speak on role of digital media in society in İstanbul

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News