National Security Council intended to arrest Fethullah Gülen in 1997

Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen
Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen


Date posted: September 10, 2012

2 September 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, ISTANBUL

Meral Akşener, a Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy and vice president of Parliament, who was interior minister at the time of the Feb. 28 coup, claimed that The National Security Council (MGK) actually discussed a total of 24 decisions, which included the recitation of the call to prayer in Turkish, the arrest of Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, reducing the number of theology faculties and the closing down of imam-hatip (religious) schools. However, these four articles were not adopted.

The National Security Council decided during its latest meeting last week to remove the confidentiality designation of MGK documents in the run-up to the Feb. 28, 1997 military coup and send them to a parliamentary commission that investigates military interventions, media reports said on Sunday.

In its last meeting on Tuesday, MGK members agreed to send the documents of the controversial MGK meeting in 1997 which led to the resignation of a coalition government led by a conservative party.

Parliament’s Coup and Memorandum Investigation Commission’s sub-commission, which is investigating the Feb. 28 coup in particular, earlier requested relevant documents from the Presidency and the Prime Ministry.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) issued a memorandum on Feb. 28, 1997, strongly criticizing the government led by the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP) and claimed that the government had failed to take necessary measures to fight what the army called “reactionaryism.” The MGK made a total of 18 decisions during a meeting on Feb. 28 and presented them to then-Prime Minister and RP leader Necmettin Erbakan for approval. Erbakan was forced to sign the decisions. He subsequently resigned, handing over the Prime Ministry to his coalition partner, Tansu Çiller.

The decisions taken at the MGK meeting on Feb. 28 and signed by Prime Minister Erbakan were interpreted by many at the time as military interference, thus inhibiting the basis for democracy. The Feb. 28 coup introduced a series of harsh restrictions on religious life, with an unofficial but widely practiced ban on the use of the Islamic headscarf. The military was purged of members with suspected ties to religious groups.

Meral Akşener, a Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy and vice president of Parliament, who was interior minister at the time of the Feb. 28 coup, earlier claimed that the MGK actually discussed a total of 24 decisions, which included the recitation of the call to prayer in Turkish, the arrest of Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, reducing the number of theology faculties and the closing down of imam-hatip (religious) schools. However, these four articles were not adopted.

The sub-commission will examine the 1997 MGK documents in an attempt to shed light on the Feb. 28 coup.

Source: Today’s Zaman http://www.todayszaman.com/news-291195-mgk-decides-to-declassify-controversial-1997-meeting.html


Related News

Dismissed police officer dies of heart attack in German refugee camp

Ali Ünlü, a 42-year-old former police officer who was earlier dismissed from his job as part of the government’s post-coup crackdown, died of heart attack in a refugee camp in Stuttgart, according to media and people with knowledge of the incident.

Local NGOs urge Georgian gov’t to avoid returning Turkish teacher back home

Eight non-governmental organizations have called on the Georgian government to refrain from returning detained Turkish teacher to back home where “he will be possibly subjected to political persecution, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. “[He] will have no access to fair trial,” said a statement, released on May 31.

Inmates claim torture in Turkish prison

John Dalhuisen, Europe Director for Amnesty International, said that reports of abuse, including beatings and rape while in detention, in Turkey, are extremely alarming.

Dismissed policeman detained while applying to post-coup rights commission

I.K., a former deputy police chief in Gaziantep’s Sehitkamil district who was dismissed in the government’s post-coup crackdown, was detained when he visited a local State of Emergency (OHAL) commission in Sivas to reclaim his rights.

Turkish Prisons Are Filled With Professors — Like My Father

A Turkish professor who was my father’s colleague and frequently visited our house is now incapable of counting right amount of money to pay for a bottle of water at a prison canteen. He is traumatized as a result of days of harsh treatment during the interrogation. He is sharing a prison cell with my father, longtime friends, in western Turkey.

Bulgaria, the state sentenced to compensate Turkish journalist

The European Court of Human Rights condemned Bulgaria for the 2016 extradition of a Turkish journalist, hastily handed over to the Turkish authorities who accused him of being part of the Fehtullah Gülen movement, in violation of national and international rules.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Kurdish theologian: Gülen’s ideas best antidote to ISIL

Turkish trade’s center of gravity shifting in TUSKON bridges

Feb. 28 postmodern coup and sins of collaborative media

Arabs, Turks attempt to redefine Arab uprisings, political trajectories

The Gülen movement: advocators of interfaith activities in Turkey

Judge says judiciary still under tutelage, implies gov’t responsible

Kimse Yok Mu delivers aid to people living in Turkey’s southeast

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News