Fethullah Gulen’s “old friend” detained by İzmir police despite suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s disease


Date posted: January 23, 2020

An 81-year-old Turkish man, who is known as a “longtime friend of Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, was detained by police in the Turkish province of İzmir on Monday due to his links to the Gülen group.

According to the Gulen-friendly tr724 news website, Yusuf Pekmezci, who suffers from advenced Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure and osteoporosis, was in hiding for three years.

He is currenlty being held in police custody.

Pekmezci came to public attention with a 2014 interview he gave in which he talked about his love for the movement and Fethullah Gülen.

Source: Turkey Purge , January 22, 2020


Related News

Deviation, crisis and opportunities…

The recent crisis going on between the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the Hizmet movement is indeed not just a struggle between the two actors. It means much more than that. This fight represents a struggle between democracy and autocracy, freedom and oppression and a harmonious society and a polarized society.

Secretary Tillerson: Evidence against Gulen provided by Turkey inadequate, while voluminous

Mr Gulen denies any role in the failed coup in July, and US officials have privately said the evidence provided by Turkey has been inadequate, while voluminous. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim recently described the delay as a joke on Turkey.

D.C.-based law firm gathers intel on U.S. residents for Turkey – WSJ

The Turkish government has employed a Washington D.C.-based law firm to gather information on its critics, including U.S. residents, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Victim: We are being a subject to genocide

There’s a dramatic increase spotted in the number of victims of Erdoğan’s authoritarian regime in Turkey, aimed at extermination of the followers of so-called Hizmet Movement.

Turkey’s business world weary of gov’t pressure, says Kalkavan

The businessman Kalkavan said that the government’s way of dealing with the corruption allegations has been “incomprehensible,” and that he had difficulty explaining to his foreign associates about recent purges of hundreds of police officers and dozens of investigators.

Don’t lose the plot

Turkey’s attempted coup shocked an already tense society. At least 240 people were killed, and the country narrowly averted a disastrous military takeover. The plot was led in part by followers of the Gulen movement, a secretive Muslim sect that runs a global network of schools, charities and businesses and has infiltrated the Turkish state. It is only natural that Turks should be determined to identify and punish the conspirators.

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

Turkish Government Imprisons One More Mother With Her Baby Over Links To Gülen Movement

Is Gulen the scapegoat of Ankara crisis?

Nigerian Turkish schools denies links to Turkey coup

New York Times : Hundreds of Police Officers Reassigned in Turkey

A dirty war in the run-up to the elections

Experts speak on role of digital media in society in İstanbul

The Anatolians are coming

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News