Fethullah Gülen’s Lawyers: Gülen Movement Has No Link With Zarrab Case In US


Date posted: November 29, 2017

The lawyers of US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen said on Tuesday that the Gülen movement has no link to the case of Iranian-Turkish businessman Reza Zarrab in the US.

In a statement from @fgulenav Twitter account on Tuesday, Gülen’s lawyers has said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government under the rule of Turkish autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and news reports in the pro-Erdoğan media aim at associating the Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab case carried out by the US Federal Judiciary to the Gülen movement.

Gülen’s lawyers said that “Gülen movement is a civic movement that embraces universal human values and the rule of law, and its sole attitude regarding the judicial process in Turkey or any country in the world, is demanding a trial according to the Universal Declaration and the European Convention on Human Rights. Apart from that, there cannot be any expectation or request.”

Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader whose prosecution in Manhattan has drawn sharp criticism from President Erdoğan, has pleaded guilty and has been cooperating with the American authorities, a federal prosecutor disclosed in court on Tuesday, according to a report by the New York Times.

Zarrab was the prime suspect in a major corruption investigation, which had also incriminated the his cabinet ministers and President Erdoğan’s family members, became public in December 17/25, 2013.  Turkish prosecutors accused Zarrab and high-ranking Turkish officials of involvement in facilitating Iranian money transfers via gold smuggling, leaked documents at the time showed.

President Erdoğan, then prime minister, cast that investigation as a coup attempt orchestrated by his political enemies. Several Turkish prosecutors were removed from the case, police investigators were reassigned, and the investigation was later dropped.

However, 9 people including Zarrab, Turkey’s Halkbank Deputy General Manager Mehmet Hakan Atilla, Turkish Economy Minister Mehmet Zafer Çağlayan and former Halkbank General Manager Süleyman Aslan have been criminally charged with conspiring to violate US sanctions on Iran in the case in New York.

Source: Stockholm Center for Freedom , November 28, 2017

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Well-known sociologist says Gülen’s name on terrorist list ’alarming’

The chairman of the philosophy department at Texas Tech University, prominent sociologist Mark Webb, has said that the branding of Fethullah Gülen as a terrorist, is a “very alarming development.”

Pulitzer Prize equals five years in prison in Turkey

The statement in the headline belongs to Bülent Arınç, deputy prime minister and spokesperson for the Turkish government. Moreover, he is responsible for the government’s media policy. For Western readers, I should clarify that he was not joking when he said, “A journalist might win the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting, but he should face the consequence of five years in prison.”

Is the Hizmet movement statist or populist?

In the last three years the AK Party established their new “center” with the new statism away from the periphery. The Hizmet movement viewed this change as a new centralization and thus a new statism and tutelage with new political and capitalist actors. Due to this change in attitude, the Hizmet movement broke faith with Erdoğan and the AK Party.

The story of the boy who cried wolf

The Sabah newspaper greeted the news of the 10-hour National Security Council (MGK) meeting with the headline “Parallel structure added to red book.” But this was, of course, a complete lie. For a long time now, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been indicating that the Hizmet movement — which he refers to as the “parallel structure” — would be officially added to the National Security Strategy Concept Paper as a “domestic threat.” This is a part of his personal vendetta and Erdoğan has kept up this propaganda war even as president of Turkey.

Canada’s Turkish community on edge as government crackdown continues

In the aftermath of the failed coup — and the subsequent purge of thousands of workers accused of being dissidents — Canada has seen a spike in asylum claims from Turkey. The 55,000-strong Turkish-Canadian community has also become increasingly polarized, with distrust and accusations of witch hunts against anyone deemed to be a sympathizer and supporter of the Gulen Movement.

Couple offering wedding feast to Syrian refugees surprised by feedback

A Turkish couple who have made their way onto major newspapers around the world for spending their wedding day feeding 4,000 Syrian refugees in the southern province of Kilis on the Syrian border have said they never thought they would receive so much positive feedback for their action.

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

Government allegedly plots to blame Bingöl attacks on Hizmet movement

How Kyrgyzstan and Turkey quarreled about Gülen

Newly launched book tells stories of purge victims after Turkey’s July 15 coup

Coup Commission members: Now is similar to Feb. 28 coup period

Inside Turkey’s Purge

Experts speak on role of digital media in society in İstanbul

Fethullah Gulen’s message to the “Ijma” symposium

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News