60-year-old Turkish villager detained after questioning gov’t coup narrative


Date posted: November 21, 2017

Murat Gulen, a 60-year-old villager and a relative of Fethullah Gulen was detained after he was revealed questioning the government’s narrative over the July 15, 2016 coup attempt during a video interview by the pro-government Ihlas News Agency.

On Thursday, Ihlas published the video recording, filmed in Fethullah Gulen’s hometown of Korucuk village, and media reported the same day that Gulen was taken into police custody for questioning.

Turkish government accuses the Gulen movement of masterminding the failed takeover while the latter denies involvement. More than 130,000 were held in custody and some 60,000 of them were remanded in pretrial detention over Gulen ties so far.

Evidence of Gulen links include depositing money into the movement-affliated, now-defunct Bank Asya, as mentioned by the villager during the interview.

Many were earlier targeted for raising question marks over the government’s narrative.

Source: Turkey Purge , November 16, 2017


Related News

Bank Asya fights back against Erdogan attack

The government’s 10-month attack on Bank Asya has seen its share price slump by 50%, with the stock periodically prevented from trading on the Borsa, Istanbul’s stock exchange. The turmoil surrounding the bank has seen the failure of an agreed deal with the Qatar Islamic Bank, and an unwanted government-led attempt by state-owned deposit bank Ziraat, which recently created an Islamic unit, to absorb the privately owned Bank Asya.

Another new mother detained in Turkey over Gülen links

Büşra Öztürk, the mother of a 22-day-old baby, was detained in Ankara on Wednesday for alleged links to the Gülen movement. Turkish law requires postponement of the arrest of pregnant women until they give birth and the infant reaches the age of six months.

Turkey’s development agency spying on Gülen followers in Latin America

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) has been spying on Gulen followers in the Latin American countries. TIKA’s Colombia coordinator, Mehmet Özkan has admitted that the agency has been reporting the activities of Gulen movement in the Latin American countries to Turkey and Turkish embassies across the continent.

ECtHR urges Albania not to deport Gülen follower to Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg sent an official request to Albania asking it not to deport a Turkish citizen who is known to be a follower of the Gülen movement to Turkey as his trial has not been concluded in Albania, the Tirana Times reported.

Religious leader: I was told to blame Gülen movement for police banning my group meeting

Alparslan Kuytul, president of the Furkan Foundation and leader of a religious group critical of the Turkish government, said he was advised to put the blame on the faith-based Gülen movement for a police intervention in a meeting of his followers in April and that the government would ultimately clear the way for his group to operate freely.

[Hizmet’s] Prep schools and civilized debate

The prep-school debate has recently revisited Turkey’s agenda after periodically ebbing and flowing since the 1980s. For some time, the government has been mulling its plan to transform the prep schools. However, when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that they would shut down the prep schools, tensions skyrocketed.

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

Hizmet and the interfaith movement

Gülen’s lawyer: New arrest warrant for Gülen is unlawful

We the pious did not feel for the suffering of the Kurds

Turkish Charities accelerate Ramadan aid efforts worldwide

Fethullah Gülen: ‘I have no other goal than to please God’

Council of Europe warns against hate speech by senior state officials in Turkey

CHP leader calls on PM Erdoğan for explanation on action plan against Gülen movement

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News