Vision-impaired journalist, under arrest for 7 months, denied access to Braille books in prison
Date posted: February 7, 2018
Visually impaired Turkish journalist Cüneyt Arat, under arrest over alleged ties to the Gulen movement since July, last year, has said in a letter that he was denied access to Braille books as well as audio-described movies.
Arat was sentenced on Feb. 22, 2017 to 6 years 3 months in prison on charges of membership to the Gülen movement while also getting 10 months and 15 days of jail time for promoting a “terrorist” organization. He was put behind bars after an upper court upheld one of his convictions, on July 10, 2017.
“They have yet to give me my Braille books, audio-described movies and my talking clock,” said a script from his letter, published on his Twitter account on Feb 3.
Arat said he has 90-percent vision loss and that he had someone else to type the letter for him.
Denying the corruption accusations that brought his party under a disconcerting spotlight, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been lamenting press attempts to “throw the mud and see if it sticks.” He indirectly accused the judiciary of being taken over by the Fethullah Gulen religious movement, as well as acting as a subcontractor to foreign powers who, out of envy for Turkey’s political and economic success, manufactured this corruption plot to finish him off just as they tried to do at the Gezi Park protests in June.
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“In the big picture, Erdogan knows that the EU needs Turkey and will come back begging for a new agreement on the migrants. That’s why he will play a game of brinksmanship,” said Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Turkish program at The Washington Institute.
In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, Fethullah Gulen admitted meeting a key figure in Turkey’s July 2016 attempted coup. But the Turkish cleric said that a mere visit from one of his followers isn’t proof he orchestrated the failed coup.
Why are they becoming terrorists?
Whatever the reason or the motivation for the horrible terrorist attacks in Paris, it is obvious that it is against the basic principles of Islam and should be strongly condemned by Muslims throughout the world.
Criminal complaint filed against prosecutor accusing Hizmet of being terrorist
A criminal complaint has been filed against Ankara public prosecutor Serdar Coşkun, who prepared an indictment in which by using false testimonies as evidence he accused several people of conducting organized crime under the Hizmet movement which he claimed to be a terrorist organization.
Will Erdoğan succeed in wresting away the reins of religion from civilian hands?
I am going to talk about a situation similar to the process by which the tools of production become state possessions. These are concepts far removed not only from Western culture but from socialist ideologies as well.
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