Taraf daily to sue PM Erdoğan over treason accusations


Date posted: December 8, 2013

Daily Taraf has announced that it will file a criminal complaint against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on charges of attempting to influence due process after the Turkish leader called on the “judiciary to do its duty” against the newspaper for exposing a plan to eliminate the Gülen movement.

Taraf said Erdoğan had filed a criminal complaint against the daily’s Mehmet Baransu for leaking secret state documents but then went further by saying “the judiciary must do its duty” during a meeting.

A lawyer for the daily, Veysel Ok, will file the criminal complaint this week, the daily said today.

“Erdoğan’s words mean ordering prosecutor and judges what to do, and it’s a damage to the judiciary. These are crimes under the Turkish Criminal Code’s 228th Article,” Ok was quoted as saying by Taraf.

Erdoğan slammed Taraf last week for revealing a document from a 2004 National Security Council (MGK) meeting, accusing Baransu of “treason.”

“Revealing state privacy is not called freedom, it is sheer treason,” Erdoğan said, addressing a crowd in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ during a mass opening ceremony on Dec. 7.

The statement comes a day after prosecutors launched investigations Baransu and Taraf. Separate criminal complaints were filed by the Prime Ministry, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the National Security Council (MGK).

The document, published by the newspaper on Nov. 28, revealed that the government had adopted an action plan against Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s movement during the MGK meeting. Its publishing further heated a row between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Hizmet (Service) movement, which erupted after a reform to close test prep schools was announced. Many of the schools are run by members of the Hizmet movement.

In a subsequent report, also based on documents leaked by Baransu, Taraf claimed that the Turkish government had profiled a number of groups based on religion and faith through the MİT, many of them affiliated with the Gülen movement, and monitored their activities until 2013.

On Dec. 7, Baransu said via Twitter that he found a hidden camera and a receiver in his apartment. “My source who told me that intelligence officers were following me warned me of this,” he said.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News , December 8, 2013

Tags: | | | |


Related News

The Guardian view on the week in Turkey: coup – and counter-coup?

Now, with the European convention on human rights suspended and a six-month state of emergency that allows President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to rule without parliament – although thousands still turn out nightly in his support – some are beginning to wonder if the cure has turned out to be little better than the original threat.

Fethullah Gulen: Killing of Russian envoy ‘heinous act’

U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen on Monday condemned the assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey as a “heinous act of terror” and urged the Turkish government to identify anyone who aided the gunman.

Turkish gov’t jails yet another woman with 25-day-old baby

Ayşe Şeyma Taş, who gave birth 25 days ago, was jailed together with her newborn baby by the Turkish government led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday.

Gulen wants Anatolian [interpretation of] Islam

What does Gulen say? He says: “Work hard and earn money, but be honest. Allah will reward your hard work and honesty. But do not squander that reward. Turn it into an investment and help others.” It sounds a lot like the Protestant work ethic. This is the underlying vision of capitalism. The Gulen Movement looks a lot like the Ottoman-era Ahi movement. It is a kind of a solidarity group that provides people with jobs, education, and reintegration into society.

Does the Gülen (Hizmet) Movement Deny the Armenian Genocide?

We have certainly been scapegoated, and enduring an ongoing collective trauma, with no end in sight. The fact that the Turkish state could label innocent people guilty, and punish them for their association (even tangential) with the Gülen Movement, opened the majority of our eyes. If they could do this to us, it must be true that they did it to other minority groups (Kurds, Alevis) and certainly to the Armenians.

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.

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

Turkish schools helped start trade with Turkiye

Fethullah Gülen’s message to Turquiose Harmony Institute “Peace and Dialogue Awards”

Court imposes punitive fine on author for libeling Gülen family

Tariq Ramadan says Erdoğan should practice what he preached to Mubarak

International students celebrate Prophet Muhammad in Gaziantep

Kimse Yok Mu’s Ramadan packages for Filipino families

GYV calls on President Gül to investigate interference with judiciary

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News