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

Is the March 30 referendum in danger?

It has become very evident that some businessmen who benefitted illegally in major state tenders acquired independent media, a person very close to Erdoğan was appointed as the editor-in-chief and that this media organ became a mouthpiece of Erdoğan. Independent civil society groups such as the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) and the Hizmet movement are constantly depicted as traitors and the puppets of international dark forces by Erdoğan.

Scapegoating: Turkish PM again blames Gülen movement for worsening economy

As the Turkish lira plunged even further on Friday, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım claimed the Gülen movement was responsible for the deterioration in the country’s economic outlook. According to Yıldırım, “separatists” and sympathizers of the Gülen movement are working hard to ruin the Turkish economy in the eyes of the world.

Alevi problems deeper than they seem, opinion leaders agree

On the first day of the 30th Abant Platform meeting on Friday on the Alevis issue in Turkey, Alevi and Sunni intellectuals and opinion leaders agreed that the problems date back to centuries ago and are more complicated than they seem. The event, titled “Searching for peace and a future together,” brought together representatives of various Alevi communities as well as Alevi and Sunni pundits, journalists and academics in an effort to have a comprehensive debate on one of the lingering problems of Turkish society.

Turkish Deputy PM rules out ‘ill will’ against Gülen community, unveils prep school draft details

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has announced September 2015 as the deadline for the “transformation” of private examination prep schools (dershanes) into private schools, while denying that the move represents hostility toward the “Hizmet” (Service) movement of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. Speaking after a 7.5-hour-long Cabinet meeting on Dec. 2, Arınç also announced January 2014 […]

Cagaptay: Turkey moves far beyond Europe

Recently, visiting Istanbul, I attended a conference on the Arab Spring organized by Abant Platform, a local NGO that gathers Turkish intellectuals of different stripes for policy debates. The conference – this time with attendees from Washington, Tel Aviv, London, St. Petersburg and Arab capitals in addition to Turks – debated Turkey’s leadership role in […]

Tanzanian students place first in Turkish Olympiad folk dance final

KÜBRA ENGİN, İSTANBUL A group of Tanzanian students won the final round in the 11th International Turkish Olympiad folk dance competition held at the İstanbul Sinan Erdem Sports Complex on Thursday night. Thousands of spectators were thrilled by the performances of foreign students in the folk dance finals as part of the Olympiad, a competition […]

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

Egyptian professor impressed with Fethullah Gulen

I am a teacher, not a terrorist

Astonishing questions about the failed coup attempt in Turkey

Erdoğan’s scapegoats: the West and Gülen

Sajjanhar: Dialogue urges one to excel in one’s own faith

Turkish NGO Kimse Yok Mu handed over 296 houses for flood affectees

Indialogue’s Iftar Dinner: Role of Religions in Empowering Women

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News