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

Lawyers highlight attempt to pin unsolved murders on Gülen

The decision by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to re-examine cases of unsolved murders that took place between 2000 and 2013 is an attempt to pin the murders on Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement, a grassroots civil society organization inspired by Gülen, the scholar’s lawyers have said.

Fethullah Gulen Calls Crackdown ‘Dark Pages’ in History – Responses to World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

In videotaped remarks to the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, Fethullah Gulen said the Turkish government is using the attempted coup to justify persecuting his followers, who he said are being “subjected to oppression and tyranny, molestation and unlawful acquisition of their private properties.

Approval rate of Turkish schools abroad at 78 percent

Research company Veritas conducted a survey in July 2013 with 4,296 people in face-to-face interviews in 42 provinces in an effort to measure the approval rate of the Turkish Olympiads that are organized annually.
Accordingly, 67 percent of the respondents expressed a positive opinion of these language olympiads while only 8 percent expressed a negative view.

Arab Students in Turkey Facing Arbitrary Arrest

Arab students who have previously studied at universities considered by Turkish security forces to have been influenced by the U.S-based cleric Fethullah Gülen are being arrested and threatened with deportation by police. Many such students have already been deported.

Kyrgyz President Atambayev: Ankara should not threaten us with coup

If someone wants to help Kyrgyzstan, this help should be unconditional, the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev said. “If you set some conditions; then, please, do not help us at all. We are not dictated anything… Do not tell us what we should do. We do not need such aid; then, take it away,” the president added.

Turkey’s New Constitution Would End Its Democracy

In practice, a revised constitution would make it much easier for Erdogan to consolidate power entirely, taking Turkey out of the democratic column and making it into a dictatorship, pure and simple.

Latest News

Sacramento leaders gather for Iftar dinner in celebration of Ramadan

SEO Skill Suite: Tools for Keyword Research, Technical & Backlink Analysis

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

In Case You Missed It

Turkish Gov’t Seizes 965 Gülen Movement Affiliated Firms With $11.3 Billion Worth

Portrait of the Gülen Brotherhood, sworn enemy of Turkey’s President Erdogan

Not appearing in the worst selfie in history

Turkey’s Erdogan and July 15 coup

Brazil’s top court denies extradition of [Gulen-linked] Erdogan opponent

Turkish Schools inspired by Gulen becoming global brands

Targeted by dictator, Turkish family seeks refuge in Albany

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News