Has Turkey arrested Christian to exchange for Fethullah Gülen?


Date posted: December 15, 2016

Eliana Benador

Turkey’s Erdogan regime has arrested an American pastor whom they could use in a possible exchange for the Turkish Muslim cleric they want to extradite from the United States.

The Muslim Fethullah Gülen is accused by the Erdogan regime to be the mastermind behind the latest failed-military-coup intending to depose the president.

Pastor Brunson and his wife, Norine, were detained on October 7, under Interior Ministry deportation orders.

However, his wife was released on October 19 and received an extended permit to remain in the country.

Norine Brunson overlooking Izmir’s Harmandanli Detention Centre, where her husband is detained. Photo: World Watch Monitor

Norine Brunson overlooking Izmir’s Harmandanli Detention Centre, where her husband is detained. Photo: World Watch Monitor

Meanwhile, the pastor was transferred overnight on 8 Dec. to a counter-terrorism center, before being brought before an Izmir court for interrogation.

64 days after his arrest on October 7, on December 9, a Turkish judge sent Rev. Andrew Brunson to prison at the Harmandali Detention Centre on the northern edge of Izmir.

Brunson’s lawyer has confirmed that the court document released at the hearing charged her US client with “membership in an armed terrorist organization”. The judge specifically mentioned allegations that the pastor had links with the Fethullah Gulen movement, which is accused by Ankara of instigating a failed military coup against the Turkish government on 15 July.

Fethullah Gülen

In September 2016, Turkey requested U.S. authorities to detain the Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Fethullah Gülen of masterminding a failed coup that killed at least 271 people in July this year, according to the state Anadolu news agency.

Mr. Gülen emphatically denies any wrongdoing and maintains that he is opposed to violence.

In fact, he assures that charges against him are part of a political vendetta that started in 2013 after his supporters started investigating and publishing corruption allegations against Turkish politicians close to the president.

After the so-called coup, Erdogan’s rage was such, that he promoted incarcerations of ten thousand troops, maintaining them in concentration camps, with almost no food or water, and the thousands of men being systematically raped.

turkish-soldiers

Initially, no human rights organization decried the crimes against humanity committed by the Erdogan regime at that point.

Finally,  Amnesty International alerted that there was “credible evidence Turkish police are holding detainees, denying them food, water, and medical treatment and in worst cases, severely beaten and tortured.

During months, many of the 10,000 detainees have been kept locked up in horses’ stables and sports halls – some hogtied in horrific stress positions, according to human rights campaigners.

Credible sources report that Turkish troops imprisoned after the failed military coup are being raped, starved and left without water for days.

Up until now, we don’t know what has been the final fate of those Turkish men.

Conclusion

While Muslims are unconditionally welcome with open arms in the West, where they never intend to adopt local mores, exactly the opposite happens to Christians in the world of Islam.

Surely, the Brunson couple has lived in Turkey for roughly 20 years, but did not stop authorities from accusing Reverend Brunson of aiding and abetting terrorism.

For his part, Gülen maintains he and his movement are not for violence.  It could be true.

But, don’t all Muslims say Islam is the religion of peace?

All Muslims, that is, except their terrorists. Indeed, the religion of peace.

Always remember, the 19 terrorists who prepared and trained for the massacres of 9/11, ALL were “moderate” until the left their homes to fulfill their macaber mission.

Whom you choose to believe, is at your own risk.

The bottom line may be that with Brunson, now Turks have a good piece to exchange for Fethullah Gülen, should they not receive him before President Obama finishes his term.

Nothing dealing with Islam is unplanned.  The sooner Westerners and Americans, in particular, realize that the better it will be.

Source: ELIANA BENADOR , December 15, 2016


Related News

An open letter to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan

When it is necessary, making objections demonstrates honesty; approving everything is an indication of hypocrisy. So if all these people are saying that this is wrong, listening to them is not a weakness but a virtue. This is what the nation expects from you. Otherwise, it will take forever to heal the wounds that have been inflicted in their hearts. So is it worth it?

Yamanlar and Fatih High Schools’ success at International Science Olympiads

Yamanlar and Fatih Science High Schools won medals at the international physics, chemistry, biology and computer this summer as well. Sebahattin Kasap, CEO of Yamanlar Education Institutions, said; “207 out of 391 medals won so far at the international Olympiads by Turkish student won by Yamanlar Science High School students. We are happy to represent Turkey successfully”.

Mother of four under detention for months on coup charges

A tweet posted by Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, an academic and a columnist for the t24 news website, revealed that a Turkish woman with four children has been kept in pre-trial detention for nine months on alleged links to Turkey’s Gülen group.

Another Police Chief Jailed Over Alleged Gülen Links Dies In Turkish Prison

Fifty-two-year-old Ahmet Tatar, a police chief who was arrested as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement in Osmaniye province, has died in prison, the TR724 website has reported.

Erdoğan calls critics, civil movements ‘traitors,’ threatens investors

Graham Watson, the president of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and the former chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the EP also criticized Erdoğan for using hate speech against Hizmet.

Followers of Multiple Faiths Join at Columbia University for Iftar

An iftar, a religious ceremony that breaks the fast of Ramadan with a gathering of people, brought together followers of multiple faiths in New York.

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

Torture – Black Sites of Turkey

22 Kosovo Police officers under investigation for deporting Turkish ‘Gulenists’

Gulen turns coup accusations on Erdogan

Tonyaa Weathersbee: Various forms of Islam revealed in Turkey

Astonishing questions about the failed coup attempt in Turkey

Minister Yazici Visits Kazakh-Turkish High School

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is about to make himself a virtual dictator in Turkey

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News