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

Purge-victim family drowns in the Aegean Sea off Turkey

A Turkish family of five has reportedly drowned after a boat capsized in the Aegean Sea, off the western coast of Turkey, according to several Turkish media outlets. The victims have reportedly been sought by the Turkish government over their links to the Gülen group.

Hopefully the Gulen movement will help change the American values

Peace Islands Institute hosted Dr. James Harrington on a “Book Conversations” program on March 1st 2012. Journalist/Writer Aydogan Vatandas interviewed Dr. James Harrington on his book titled “Wrestling with Free Speech, Religious Freedom, and Democracy in Turkey: The Political Trials and Times of Fethullah Gulen“. Following his presentation there was Q&A part. Below is the interview […]

Terrorist PKK targets Gulen movement’s schools in Hakkari

Schools opened by the Gülen movement, inspired by internationally respected Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen, in the eastern province of Hakkari are often threatened by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to an interview by the T24 news portal. The first private school the Gülen movement in Hakkari was opened in 2007. There are currently 300 students at the school, Hatice Avcı College.

Final Declaration of “Coexistence in Islamic Civilizations and Contemporary Reviews” Conference

In this century when “Alienation” has become a global and local syndrome of every society and the problems of “inability to coexist” have gained momentum, The Journalists and Writers Foundation Inter Cultural Dialogue Platform (IDP) and the Fatih University Civilizations Research and Application Center (CRAC) co-organized the “Coexistence in Islamic Civilization and Contemporary Reviews” International […]

Is the Hizmet movement resisting normalization?

Accusing the Hizmet movement, which insistently demands the fulfillment of the steps towards democratization which I referred to above and contributes to the process of change as evidenced by its stance in the referendum, of serving as a parallel structure indirectly means: “I will not change myself and introduce universal reforms. You have to live with this painful fact for the normalization of the country and take your steps accordingly.”

Turkish “religious advisors” are keeping an eye on Erdogan opponents in Belgium

Turkey is pressuring “religious advisors” to keep an eye on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s opponents in 38 countries, including Belgium. In Belgium, how the religious councillor at the Turkish embassy behaved could be seen as interference.

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

Kimse Yok Mu conducts cataract surgeries in Nepal

President of Zambia Mr. Rupiah Banda thanks Turkish investors in education

Gülen files criminal complaint over smear campaign

Defamation- Pro-Erdoğan daily claims Gülen movement converted 500,000 to Christianity in Kazakhstan

Fethullah Gulen: I consider the coup attempt as a serious “terror coup”

Pakistan’s Sindh High Court restrains Turkish teachers’ deportation

Out of the rubble, a chance to mend relations

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News