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

Tags: Human rights | Persecution of Hizmet by Erdogan | Turkey |

Related News

Turkey’s Changing Freedom Deficit

Erdoğan’s government is by no means the first to compel Turkish citizens to hide their preferences and beliefs. Under the secular governments that ruled Turkey from the 1920s to 1950, and to some extent until 2002, pious Turks seeking advancement in government, the military, and even commerce had to downplay their religiosity and avoid signaling approval of political Islam.

Parallel vs. Persian structure within the Turkish state

Despite all these accusations, the Erdoğan government has not produced any evidence to substantiate his allegations of a parallel structure within the judiciary, police or any other state institution, nor of officials receiving orders from anywhere other than their own legal superiors, nor has he or his government brought any of these charges to court.

Which is the bigger threat, Turkey’s coup or Erdogan’s response?

Erdogan’s counter-coup may do more to change Turkish politics than the coup plotters ever sought, completing the country’s transformation from secular democracy to what’s fast becoming the new favorite government for aspiring dictators — one where the media is strictly controlled, conformity is entrenched through the schools, elections bring little change, and presidents can rule for life.

Pregnant behind bars with a two-year-old kid

Elif Aydın, 31, is one of the educators arrested in Turkey over the past three years. She was two-months pregnant when she was sent to prison. The pregnant woman stayed by sharing the same bed with his son in prison for months.

Hizmet will continue its mission regardless of attacks

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who, along with the faith-based Hizmet movement, has been subjected to numerous attacks from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said the movement will continue to perform its mission regardless of circumstances.

Erdogan’s religious counsel issues fatwa for civil war, ordinary crimes

Prof. Hayrettin Karaman, Erdogan’s close friend and religious counsel, and AKP’s main Islamist theologian, has issued a fatwa that legitimizes certain crimes during a civil war. He said, “soldiers who commit ordinary crimes during a wartime shall not be punished.”