Turkish police detain 35 lawyers for ‘defending’ Gülen sympathizers


Date posted: March 23, 2017

Turkish police on Thursday detained 35 lawyers who are defending suspects accused of links to the Gülen movement in several ongoing trials.

Arrest warrants were issued for 80 lawyers, and 35 of them were detained in house raids across Turkey.

The arrest warrants target lawyers including those defending imprisoned journalist Hidayet Karaca, the former head of the now-shut-down Samanyolu TV station; exiled businessman Akın İpek; the former chief executive of Bank Asya; and some jailed police officers.

[This latest move against the Gulen sympathizers is a violation of a basic right of the suspects, who are still legally innocent until proven guilty, to defend themselves at the courts. Considering neither the lawyers nor the suspects have access to the indictments, it is clear that Erdogan regime leaves the suspects no room to defend themselves at the courts. (This paragraph added by HN)]

Turkey has been conducting a massive crackdown against real and perceived sympathizers of the Gülen movement that gained momentum particularly after a failed coup on July 15.

 

Source: Turkish Minute , March 23, 2017


Related News

Clash of the Anatolian Tigers

Gulen-associated businesses inside Turkey have already been “punished.” Several pundits have told Al-Monitor they do not expect TUSKON-related businesses, particularly Asia Bank, to survive another year.

Sending Fethullah Gulen to Turkey would be a national disgrace

Is Gulen one of the good guys or the bad guys? I have no idea, but that’s seriously not the point here. The cleric has been granted permanent resident alien status and now resides in Pennsylvania. As such, he’s “our problem” now and is entitled to a fair shake. …any plan to ship Gulen to Turkey would be a national disgrace.

Turkish PM Yıldırım names July 15 coup attempt as ‘project’ he did not like

In remarks that fueled suspicions even further that the Turkish government was involved in a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Thursday that July 15 was a “project” he did not like or approve of.

A reasonable statement from Fethullah Gülen

The statement made by Fethullah Gülen regarding the choice of the name Yavuz Sultan Selim for the third bridge over the Bosporus that is to be built by the government will certainly enrich the ongoing debate about this issue and will lead to a reconsideration of using this name. The sensitivities of the Islamic segment while evaluating […]

Police raid prominent journalists’ foundation GYV in Turkey

GYV’s members strongly protested the police measure. Underlining that the raid violated standard protocol, high-ranking GYV official Recep Usta expressed; “the protocol states that VGM technical teams can come to the building and conduct examinations; and should they find any violation, a period of a month is granted to us [to fix any issues].

Bittersweet joy for teachers amid prep schools conflict in Turkey

Zaman columnist Ali Ünal expresses how prep schools by the Hizmet movement were established under difficult circumstances under the leadership of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. Preps schools prevent students from falling into bad habits by giving them both life and schools lesson at the same time at reasonable prices, writes Ünal.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

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

In Case You Missed It

Reporters Without Borders urges Turkey to rescind draconian state of emergency decrees

Kalashnikov-carrying police raid Gülen-inspired girls’ dormitory

Parallel state hunt makes McCarthyism look like child’s play

Why Turkey wants to silence its academics

The Anatolians are coming

The Encyclopedia of Islam and hate speech

Turkish Twitter war over education

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News