Police insult former Zaman columnist for not supporting Erdoğan

Zaman columnists Ali Bulac (left), and Sahin Alpay (right)
Zaman columnists Ali Bulac (left), and Sahin Alpay (right)


Date posted: October 21, 2016

A police officer told former Zaman daily columnist Ali Bulaç, who has been in Silivri Prison since July 28 on coup charges, that he will suffer even more in prison as he did not support President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as pro-government columnists did, an opposition deputy said on Wednesday.

Speaking with the Cumhuriyet daily about his last visit to journalists in Silivri Prison in İstanbul, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) İstanbul deputy Mehmet Bekaroğlu said that journalists, including Bulaç, were insulted by police officers during their questioning.

According to Bekardoğlu, a high-ranking police officer came in while three others were questioning Bulaç in Silivri Prison and said: “You, Ali Bulaç, You didn’t act like Ahmet Taşgetiren [a pro-government columnist]. Look where is he now, and where are you? You didn’t understand the value of the Reis [the chief, referring to Erdoğan]. You are now in prison at this age, and you will suffer even more.”

Bekaroğlu also visited other jailed journalists in the prison, including prominent journalist and author Ahmet Altan, his brother professor Mehmet Altan, former pro-government Yeni Şafak daily columnist Murat Aksoy and former Zaman columnists Ahmet Turan Alkan, Şahin Alpay and Mustafa Ünal, who were also jailed over coup charges.

He said the prison administration forbade them to write or receive letters and books. He added that 65-year-old Bulaç and 72-year-old Alpay face serious health problems in prison.

Bulaç, Alkan, Alpay and Ünal were among 47 journalists on a list that included former executives and columnists from the Zaman and Today’s Yaman dailies for whom detention orders were issued on July 28 for allegedly having links to a July 15 failed military coup attempt. The Altan brothers and Aksoy were also arrested on coup charges as part of police operations against critical media and journalists following the coup attempt.

President Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) accused the Gülen movement, a civil society movement inspired by the views of US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, of being behind the coup attempt hours after the putsch on July 15 and started a widespread witch-hunt against Gülen sympathizers as thousands of public servants, judges, prosecutors and journalists were detained by Turkish police for allegedly having links with Gülen.

Trustees took over the management of Feza Publishing, which includes the Zaman and Today’s Zaman dailies, both critical of President Erdoğan and his AKP government, earlier in March.

With a circulation of 600,000 copies per day, Zaman was Turkey’s best-selling daily before trustees were appointed in a government-orchestrated move in early March of this year.

Source: Turkish Minute , October 20, 2016


Related News

Erdoğan’s Fight against the Gülen Movement & The Demise of Turkish State Rationality

In a nutshell, Erdoğan’s divisive political rhetoric and his attempts to foster anti-Gülenist sentiments have perfectly served his own political interests within the country, but they have not served the country’s interests in the international arena, as they raise serious doubts about the credibility and rationality of the state as embodied in Erdoğan’s personality.

Turkish police raid media close to cleric rival Gulen, detain 24

Turkish police raided media outlets close to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric on Sunday and detained 24 people including top executives and ex-police chiefs in operations against what President Tayyip Erdogan calls a terrorist network conspiring to topple him.

Fethullah Gülen’s message of condemnation and condolences for victims of the terrorist attack in Gaziantep, Turkey:

I condemn, in the strongest terms, the barbaric terrorist attack on attendees of a wedding ceremony in Gaziantep, Turkey that took the lives of more than fifty citizens, including children, and wounded many others.

[Cafe Capital] Excessive attempts to manipulate people’s perceptions to backfire

The tension caused by a Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) bill that is designed to restructure the HSYJ, the witch-hunts against police officers, teachers and other public employees who have been profiled as members of the Hizmet community (Gülen movement) and the victimization of tens of thousands of people have created unease among the general public. People started reacting negatively to the accusations and slander, which went far beyond the limits of criticism against the Hizmet community, and started saying: “This is too much!

Somali students caring for the Soma orphans

The Somali students who were previously brought to Soma, Manisa, for study by Kimse Yok Mu Foundation (KYM) in 2011, recently donated stationery supplies for 105 orphans the mining disaster left behind.

French court punishes death threats, attacks against Gülen sympathizers

Following attacks and threats against Gülen movement sympathizers by Turks across Europe, a French court has handed down verdicts punishing two men for vandalizing an educational institution and sending death threats.

Latest News

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

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Turkish Teacher Died Under Custody in the Aftermath of the Coup Attempt

Conference on Hizmet movement to take place in Senegal

Fethullah Gulen’s Maxim: Live So That Others May Live

Arresting police to make Erdoğan happy

Turkish School Officially Opens in Rwanda

Peace Islands Institute Massachusetts Fifth Annual Friendship and Awards Dinner

‘Ankara no longer producing laws compatible with EU norms’

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News