AfSV Statement on the Turkish government’s detainment of Kutbettin Gülen


Date posted: October 8, 2016

Alliance for Shared Values issued the following statement on the Turkish government’s detainment of Kutbettin Gülen

News of the detention of Kutbettin Gülen, the brother of Fethullah Gülen, is as unsurprising as it is troubling, and it is yet the latest example of the Turkish government’s persecution of innocent citizens in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt. Kutbettin Gülen, like tens of thousands of others in Turkey, has been detained on trumped-up charges used by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s administration to silence dissent and cement his autocratic hold on power. Just in the last few days, Erdoğan extended the country’s state of emergency, issued arrest warrants for more than 100 citizens and suspended more than 12,000 police officers, adding to a total of more than 100,000 innocent people systematically detained, jailed or purged.

 About the Alliance for Shared Values

The Alliance for Shared Values (AFSV) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves as a voice for dialogue organizations affiliated with Hizmet, a civil society movement inspired by prominent preacher and peace advocate Fethullah Gülen. Based in New York, the Alliance strives to promote peace and to eliminate prejudice and discrimination against any or all ethnic, cultural and religious communities. To learn more about the Alliance please visit www.afsv.org.

About Fethullah Gülen

Fethullah Gülen is an Islamic scholar, preacher and social advocate, whose decades‐long commitment to interfaith tolerance and altruism has inspired millions in Turkey and around the world. Gülen is the honorary chairman of the Rumi Forum, Washington, DC; the Intercultural Dialogue Platform, Brussels, Belgium; and the Foundation of Journalists and Writers, Istanbul, Turkey.

-For legal inquiries, please contact:

Jason Weinstein

Steptoe & Johnson LLP

202-429-8061

jweinstein@Steptoe.com

-For all other inquiries, please contact:

Dr. Y. Alp Aslandogan

Alliance for Shared Values

212-682-4278

media@afsv.org

Source: Alliance for Shared Values , October 4, 2016


Related News

Turks See Purge as Witch Hunt of ‘Medieval’ Darkness

Candan Badem teaches history at a university in southern Turkey, is a socialist and does not believe in God. But he lost his job and was hauled in by the police and accused of being a loyalist to a shadowy Islamic cleric who lives in exile in Pennsylvania.

Father of three released only after wife died following heart attack

Engin Öztürk, a father of three who spent 15 months behind bars over his alleged ties to the Gulen movement, has been released only after his wife, Vina Öztürk passed away following a heart attack.

US voices concern about press freedom over Karaca’s arrest

The United States has expressed concern about press freedom in Turkey in regards to the Samanyolu TV network’s top executive, Hidayet Karaca, being arrested after a media crackdown on Dec. 14, saying that it is continuing to address these concerns to Turkish authorities.

Turkey and the “forgotten” Zaman journalists in jail

Two years of the seizure of his newspaper and his sacking, the former bureau chief of Zaman newspaper in Brussels, Selçuk Gültasli, visited the EFJ-IFJ headquarter to deliver a special briefing on “the desperate situation of Zaman journalists and media workers in jail” in Turkey.

Class-B shareholders join objection against Asya decision

The lawyer representing B-type shareholders of recently seized private lender Bank Asya has filed a case against the takeover decision, demanding an injunction along with compensation for losses at the stock market.

Don’t lose the plot

Turkey’s attempted coup shocked an already tense society. At least 240 people were killed, and the country narrowly averted a disastrous military takeover. The plot was led in part by followers of the Gulen movement, a secretive Muslim sect that runs a global network of schools, charities and businesses and has infiltrated the Turkish state. It is only natural that Turks should be determined to identify and punish the conspirators.

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

“A Model for Peacemaking: In the Footprints of Francis & the Sultan”

Students of Fatih Schools take first place in LYS and TEOG exams

Behind the secret documents – Turkish government profiled a large number of individuals

Police raid Gülen-inspired prep schools in Erzurum

Three Turkish diplomats seeking asylum in Germany after coup

Turkey’s ‘terrorists’ active in India. But who are they really?

Nigeria: When Hearts Converged Through the Language Festival

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News