Turkey may be challenged in ECtHR due to massive crackdown, CoE head warns
Date posted: September 10, 2016
Turkey must avoid targeting individuals simply because they worked for firms affiliated with the Gulen Movement, otherwise it may be challenged in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the Council of Europe (CoE) Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland urged.
Turkey must produce clear evidence in pursuing participants in a failed coup, Jagland said on September, according to Reuters.
“We are stressing to the Turks that they have to present clear evidence, be able to separate those who were clearly behind the coup and those who have been in some way or another connected to or working for this so-called Gulen network,” Jagland was further quoted as saying.
Turkey accuses the movement of being the organizer of the July 15 coup attempt which killed over 240 people and wounded a thousand others. While the government has yet to bring forward any credible evidence in supporting its claims, the movement has denied involvement on many occasions.
More than 100,000 people including civil servants, teachers, journalists and soldiers suspended or sacked according to Reuters count. While 43,000 have been detained, 23,000 people arrested on coup charges so far.
Austria arrests two after arson attack on Turkish cultural center
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with an attempt to set fire to a Turkish cultural centre in the northern Austrian town of Wels, police said on Monday, at a time of heightened tension between Vienna and Ankara. The attack took place in early morning and the suspects, whom police declined to identify, were arrested immediately.
Our three-month ordeal in Turkey’s maximum prison -Nigerian students detained over coup saga
Notwithstanding such aims and the benefits to Turkish citizens and others around the globe who enjoy scholarship and the benefits of quality education, all such pro-Gülen educational organisations, including the ones established in Nigeria have been branded as enemies by the Turkish government. “I have never heard that the Turkish schools in Nigeria have done anything illegally since the time they began operation in Nigeria; I attended one of such excellent schools so, I see no reason why the school should be closed,” Mohamed said.
Kyrgyzstan: Antagonism Grows with Turkey Over Gülen Links
In the eyes of the government of Turkey, where Gülen is from, the sprawling building immaculately cast in the bright colors of the red Kyrgyz flag is little short of an incubator of terrorism and plots to subvert the state. Ankara’s antagonism to Gülen’s international influence has deep roots, and the Turkish government’s attempt to link the educator with the recent failed coup is intensifying that animosity. But Kyrgyzstan, which is host to at least a dozen Gülen-linked schools and one university, is holding its ground — up to a point.
European Parliament calls for fair trial of suspects arrested in anti-coup operations in Turkey
Members of the European Parliament (EP) discussed developments following the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey at a session on Tuesday and stressed the need for the fair trial of suspects who have been arrested on coup charges.
Feds don’t see extradition for Turkish cleric [Mr. Gulen]
The extradition of an elderly cleric living in Pennsylvania who Turkish officials allege orchestrated last month’s failed coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not drawn serious consideration by U.S. officials, a federal law enforcement official said Friday.
Turkish citizens in Arkansas face uncertain futures
Director of the Peace Keeping and Human Rights Program at Columbia University David Phillips says surveillance is possibly going on here in the US, even in Arkansas. “There are widespread reports that Turkey’s national intelligence agency is recruiting informants in order to identify so-called Gulenists or opponents of the regime.”
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