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.
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A group of police officers has been waiting outside of private Hizmet Hospital in Istanbul’s Bahcelievler district in order to detain a woman who gave birth to her third child just several hours ago, according to Turkish media.
Gülen’s lawyer denies client facing arrest warrant or extradition
Nurullah Albayrak, lawyer for Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, has said that there is no criminal investigation, pending prosecution or any other judicial process ongoing in Turkey related to his client, refuting claims raised once again by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about Gülen’s possible extradition from the US, where he now lives.
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Gülen-linked journalists organization voices concern over profiling claims
The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), one of the most prominent institutions affiliated with Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, released a statement expressing its concerns over the government’s claimed profiling of citizens, civic groups and public employees. “It is worrisome to witness developments that echo the said “National Security Board decision, such as the plan to ban prep schools, the profiling of public employees or the purging of bureaucrats who are affiliated with certain communities,” the statement published on the institution’s website said.
President Gul says debates over prep schools should not lead to ‘resentment’
Turkish President Abdullah Gül has said ongoing debates over a recent controversy over the government’s move to shut down prep schools should not lead to “resentment.” The government’s plan to ban private tutoring institutions that train students for high school and university entrance exams has divided society and led to fear among some segments of the public that socioeconomic differences may further affect students’ academic achievement after the closure.
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Erdogan also accused the movement of being behind several recent audio recordings posted on various social media networks that disclosed several conversations allegedly between himself and his son Bilal Erdoğan discussing how to get rid of large sums of money cached in their homes and those of their relatives.
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