Turkish minister’s leaked email shows trustees to Gulen affliated organizations not appointed by courts


Date posted: September 27, 2016

An email written by Ahmet Özal, son of the late President Turgut Özal, to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak, asking for an appointment as a trustee to a university bearing his father’s name, has revealed that trustee appointments are not made by courts, contrary to what is believed.

As part of an all-out war launched by the government against the faith-based Gülen movement, the government has been appointing trustees to the management of universities, companies and organizations that are thought to be linked to the movement.

Ahmet Özal’s letter is one of the thousands of emails leaked from the email account of Albayrak by RedHack, a Turkish Marxist-Leninist-Maoist computer hacker group. The group threatened to disclose 20 GB of secret information if the Turkish government failed to release Alp Altınörs, deputy co-chairperson of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), and prize-winning novelist and journalist Aslı Erdoğan by Monday, and has made good on its threat.

In the email Ahmet Özal says: “Definitely, trustees will be appointed to Turgut Özal University. … I think the esteemed president will also be happy if I cleanse Turgut Özal University [of Gülen sympathizers] and end the association between that community and my father’s name. I would be very pleased if you could convey this issue to the president [Erdogan] and help me get his support and approval.”

Turgut Özal University, established by Gülen followers, is among the hundreds of educational institutions closed down by government decree in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt on July 15.

The government put the blame for the failed coup on the Gülen movement despite lack of any evidence to that effect.

Source: Turkish Minute , September 27, 2016

Tags: | | |


Related News

Judiciary acts in line with legally unfounded police report to describe Hizmet as terrorist

A National Police Department report accusing the Gülen movement of being a terrorist organization without any solid evidence is being treated as a document not to be questioned by the judiciary, which apparently views it as an “instruction” by higher-ups, recent investigations have indicated.

US lawmaker says Gülen should not be extradited, calls his movement strongest element against radical Islamists

United States (US) Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, released a statement on Monday, saying that the US should turn down the Turkish president’s demand of the extradition of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen as he could not be part of a coup attempt, calling his movement “strongest element in his society opposing radical Islamist terrorism.”

Turkish asylum claims in Greece rise 40-fold in three years

The number of Turks claiming asylum in Greece has increased 40-fold in three years, according to figures released by Athens, as more people face prosecution for their alleged role in a failed coup against President Erdogan.

Report: Gülen-linked media outlets sold to pro-gov’t media groups without tender

A number of TV and radio stations that were closed down by the government in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt on July 15 due to their links to the faith-based Gülen movement have been sold to the pro-government Turkuvaz Media Group without a tender.

Police raid schools in Diyarbakır where locals go on strike in protest of recent gov’t practices

Police officers and inspectors carried out raids on a number of schools inspired by the faith-based Gülen movement as part of a government-led operation against the movement in southeastern province of Diyarbakır, where people have gone on strike in protest of the government’s recent practices in the province.

Rule of law casualty of AKP-Gulen conflict

The AKP government thinks that by labeling corruption investigations and operations as a “coup” and calling those behind them as “parallel state” that it has found a justifiable way to interfere with the judiciary. Otherwise the government would not have submitted a draft bill to the parliament that totally eliminates the functional independence of the judiciary bureaucracy and promotes the minister of justice, who represents the executive branch, to the status of single decision-maker.

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

Whistleblower reveals wiretapping conspiracy to libel Hizmet

Ugandan opinion leader refutes news report which defames Hizmet Movement

Vocational training center for the women in Albany

Media freedom in Turkey takes another blow

Why should education in Pakistan be held hostage to the politics of other countries, however brotherly?

Erdoğan, Hizmet, assassins

Bias about Gulen Movement in light of The Economist column

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News