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

Journalist: I was threatened over not supporting government

Seasoned journalist Cüneyt Özdemir has said he was threatened by two members of pro-government media outlets and pressured to jump on the bandwagon by lashing out at the Hizmet movement and hosting a commentator who Özdemir said is a staunch supporter of conspiracy theories.

Fethullah Gulen’s stance on democracy 1994-2016

Mr. Gulen has reiterated his clear stance on democracy, in the wake of the coup attempt in Turkey. Here is what he had said back in June 1994: “I believe, from now on, both in Turkey and in the rest of the world, there will we no going back from democracy.”

Representatives of Abrahamic religions meet in Iftar in Antioch

Antioch Intercultural Dialog Association (AKADIM) and Kimse Yok Mu relief organization brought together representatives of three Abrahamic religions in a fast breaking event in Hatay (Antioch). The representatives gave messages of peace and brotherhood. Mayor Assoc. Prof. Lütfü Savaş noted in his talk that unless someone from outside comes and asks, in Antioch they do not know who is Muslim and who is Christian, “We are all tolerant to each other.

AST urges foreign governments to ensure safety for participants of Hizmet Movement

Since the attempted coup of July 15, 2016 the Government of Turkey has engaged in illegal extraterritorial and extrajudicial actions been taking strict measures to silence dissidents in other countries from various ideologies recently. Participants of Gulen Movement -known also as Hizmet Movement- have been the main target of this global witch-hunt and abductions.

Turkish PM heads to Brussels for tough talks with EU

Although the prime minister argues that an ongoing corruption and graft probe engulfing his own ministers is simply a plot hatched by an “illegal gang” that he describes as “parallel state” operated by Fethullah Gülen, a cleric in self-exile in the U.S., EU officials have made clear that such rhetoric has not been bought in Brussels.

11 Gülen sympathizers held hostage at Saudi hotel deported to Turkey

Eleven Turkish nationals who were reportedly detained in Saudi Arabia on March 15 have been kept in a hotel in Madinah for weeks, waiting to be deported to Turkey, according to a letter sent to Turkeypurge.com.

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

“The Broken Jug” now in the languages of the world

Ikbal Gürpınar Hospital is connecting Sudanese people to life

Egyptian professor impressed with Fethullah Gulen

Fethullah Gulen’s Message on New Defamation Efforts by Erdogan Regime

Fethullah Gulen and Gulen Movement discussed in New York

Hate speech in politics and media

Suspicious deaths, suicides become common occurrence in post-coup Turkey

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News