Muammer Karabulut, who stands accused in the investigation into Ergenekon — a clandestine terrorist group that sought to undermine democratically elected government — has been convicted and sentenced to one year in prison for insulting Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen.
Karabulut wrote in his book “Protestan Kur’an” (Protestant Quran) that Gulen is “changing” the Muslim holy book, the Quran, and Islam by protesting against it and doing this through his “money empire” that “feeds from blood.”
The Ankara 2nd Court of First Instance handed down a one-year prison sentence to Karabulut and said the suspect had committed a “hate speech” crime. The court noted that Karabulut was convicted on charges of “insulting” because there is a legal loophole regarding hate speech in the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The decision said the remarks on Gulen went beyond criticism and did not aim to inform the public.
The court converted Karabulut’s sentence into TL 14,600, which he can opt to pay in lieu of serving more time in prison, and elected not to suspend the suspect’s sentence because he did not express regret for his crime.
The way the AK Party has proposed new laws to increase government control over judges and prosecutors and how many investigations have slowed down have raised suspicions that the government might be trying to hide corruption. The censorship of Turkish media and the recent attempts to change laws about the Internet to easily increase censorship are raising concern.
Why is Erdoğan hostile to Turkish schools?
The Hizmet movement has had considerable successes in the field of education. While its share in the Turkish education sector is not colossal, the quality of its services stands out.
Legal action against Gülen in the US: A golden opportunity for Gülen
No one will be able to say members of the movement are complaining about Erdoğan in the US. They will defend themselves against Erdoğan’s attorneys who are paid millions of dollars. Thus, Erdoğan has placed a red carpet in front of the movement. The rest is up to how the movement performs…
Nigerian Federal Government ignores Turkey’s request to close Turkish schools
The relations between Nigeria and Turkey have been traditionally cordial, and bilateral trade has grown over the years between them. The annual trade volume between Turkey and Nigeria was $1.2 billion by second quarter of 2016, and this consists of clothing, food, engines and automobile parts, as well as pharmaceuticals.
Turkey, ‘The Devil’s Advocate’ and ‘Titanic’
Questions to challenge the primary and unjustified premise: What judicial (or other) process determined that these corruption investigations were a coup attempt against the government? What proof or evidence do you have to support this most serious claim? What disciplinary process did you undertake to determine that the people that were purged were members and culprits of this ‘coup’? In the absence of evidence and disciplinary process how did you determine these people’s association with Hizmet? When is government corruption not a judicial coup? How can you have the right to unilaterally determine the intent and purpose of these ongoing judicial investigations when your government is implicated in them? If your government can purge over 7,000 police officers (and thereby affect and prevent these investigations) without evidence, due process or disciplinary procedure, do you not set a precedent for every future potentially corrupt government to follow?
Erdogan purge far worse than the McCarthy era
What is happening in Turkey right now makes the McCarthy era in the US look like a picnic. When communists were targeted under McCarthyism they were blacklisted; hundreds were jailed, and many were compelled to leave the country. In Turkey it is not communists, but Gulenists. Anyone remotely associated with the Gulen movement is being rounded up and jailed – not by the hundreds, but by the tens of thousands.
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