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.
AK Party criticizes Hakan Şükür’s sudden resignation
Turkish media claimed that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the leader of the AK Party, said, “He [Şükür] resigned on an order [from the Hizmet movement], this is not a decision he can make alone.” However, AK Party spokesman Hüseyin Çelik denied the prime minister had made those comments. “I have spoken to the prime minister, everybody should know that he has not made such a statement,” Çelik said.
Gulen factor in Turkey’s turmoil
Gulen Movement is a unique case of global social innovation based on the sanctity of education and inter-faith dialogue in a number of respects.
Der Spiegel: Turkish consulate officials involved in spying activities not only in Germany
“The espionage agents around the Turkish religious authorities go beyond Germany,” the article read adding that “not only were the names of persons transmitted” but also activities by the Gülen movement-affiliated schools, day-care centers, cultural and student associations reported to Turkey.
Pro-AKP media flop as corruption charges swell
This may be a Gulen Movement attack on the government. However, one cannot help but ask who gave the Gulen Movement so much access in the government to begin with? Also, the government has been screaming “show us evidence” to all questions of financing and allegations of corruption. Now it seems there is some sort of evidence — should not those be dealt with first? Shouldn’t the AKP come clean with the Turkish public first, and then fight its battle with the Gulen Movement or other “foreign” provocateurs?
UN Human Rights: Turkey should promptly end its protracted state of emergency
Routine extensions of the state of emergency in Turkey have led to profound human rights violations against hundreds of thousands of people – from arbitrary deprivation of the right to work and to freedom of movement, to torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary detentions and infringements of the rights to freedom of association and expression, according to a report* issued by the UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday.
State Islam versus civic Islam
Using the Hizmet movement, AK party wants to create a common enemy that would be recognized as such by different social groups. It demonizes the movement and makes it a target of the social opposition. But all these tricks and methods do not eliminate one basic truth. There is an unusual experience in Turkey. There is an ongoing war between “state Islam” and “civic Islam.”
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