German Greens MEP backs Gülen school official’s plea against extradition


Date posted: July 17, 2017

TBILISI, DFWatch–The head of the Greens faction in the EU parliament calls on Georgia not to extradite a school manager to Turkey.

“To be a teacher is not a crime,” said Rebecca Harms, a German politician who is current head of the Greens-European Free Alliance in the EU parliament.

She was speaking at a press conference in Tbilisi after visiting Mustafa Emre Cabuk in prison on Sunday.

Cabuk was detained in May. The Demireli School in Tbilisi where he works is part of the educational network of the US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom Turkey blames for the failed coup attempt in July, 2016.

Lawyers warn that he may face inhumane treatment in Turkey if extradited.

Last week, Cabuk asked for political asylum in Georgia, but the Georgian government turned down his request. Harms urged authorities to offer him refugee status.

She was appearing alongside Cabuk’s wife and lawyers at another Gülen-linked school, called Skhivi.

“I am convinced that @governmentGeo @coe & EU memberstates must be principled. Extradition to Turkey is impossible,” Harms wrote on Twitter.

Mukhtarli’s abduction

Harms also met with Leila Mustafaeva, wife of Azerbaijani investigative journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, whose abduction in Tbilisi in May sparked outrage, particularly about the alleged involvement of Georgian law enforcers. Harms called on Georgian authorities to conduct a fair and independent investigation into the case.

Source: Democracy & Freedom Watch , July 17, 2016


Related News

Policeman, teacher wife and premature baby under arrest over Gülen links

Fatma Cetin, an Erzurum teacher who was earlier dismissed from public school as part of the post-coup crackdown against the Gülen movement, has been under arrest along with her premature baby, Sozcu columnist Emin Colasan revealed.

‘Escape from Turkey’ recounts stories of post-coup crackdown victims fleeing Turkey

A recently published book titled “Escape from Turkey” tells the first-hand story of two people who were forced to flee the country to avoid a crackdown launched by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government on Gülen movement members following a failed coup in 2016, local media reported on Monday.

Gülen movement’s silent majority

After all, it is not difficult to understand that the reasons pushing so many people so far from home have been a love of service and a love of their own country. During the course of my travels, I also had the chance to meet a few of the teachers dedicated to their service and to teaching in these schools. Most of them had sacrificed some of their own opportunities so that they could simply contribute to the schools at which they are working.

First International Science Projects Olympiads of Indonesia organized by the Turkish schools

Turkish schools in Indonesia organized an International Science Projects Olympiads in the country for the first time. Turkish schools affiliated with PASIAD, Pacific Social and Economic Solidarity Association, have been organizing national science Olympiads, ISPO, since they were founded.

Former Daimler chairman: Turkey’s purge reminds of me beginning of Nazi era

Edzard Reuter, the son of the first mayor of West Berlin Ernst Reuter and the former chairman of the German automaker Daimler-Benz, said Turkey’s post-coup purge recalls what happened during early years of Nazi regime at his home country.

Closing prep schools as a new form of official tyranny

Thanks to the prep school system, with reasonable payments, the children of the “Black Turks” or “Mountain Turks” gain the chance to compete with the children of “White Turks” under equal standards. They, after graduating from good universities, become judges, teachers and academics and act as a catalyst in undermining pathological ways of thinking like labeling people as reactionary.

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

Gulen movement’s three pillars

What Bishop Welby’s appointment reminds: Are we responding to God’s calling?

Hizmet movement and Kurdish question in Turkey

NTIC Student Bags Int’l Young Inventors Olympiads, Beats US, UK, Others

Why so merciless on yourself?

Dutch police arrest Erdogan backer for threats after failed Turkish coup

4th International Panel for Sharing Coexistence Experience in Korea

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News