A National Security Council (MGK) plan — dated Aug. 24, 2004, titled the “Plan to Crack Down on the Fethullah Gülen Group in Turkey” and undersigned by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, ministers and military commanders of the time — is already being implemented.
Though the government claims it was not put into action, there are several indications to suggest that the MGK plan is in effect. 1) The plan says: Legal arrangements to bring about heavy sanctions for Gülen-affiliated institutions should be adopted. To this end, the government has made a plan to shut down prep schools and force Bank Asya into bankruptcy. 2) The plan says: Gülen’s group should be closely monitored by public servants who are assigned abroad. To this end, Prime Minister Erdoğan ordered ambassadors during the sixth Ambassadors’ Conference in January to talk about the “unlawful activities” of the Gülen group abroad. 3) The plan says: The Interior Ministry should be watchful of efforts by Gülen’s group to make new members. To this end, the ministry removed from duty around 6,000 police officers who reportedly are sympathetic toward the group and reassigned them to lower positions.
Closing down prep schools another poor education policy decision
We are not convinced that shutting down prep schools will either improve quality of education in Turkey or increase educational equality,” said Batuhan Aydagül, director of the Education Reform Initiative (ERI or Eğitim Reformu Girişimi, ERG).
Prep school students dominate LYS university entrance exam
FEM, Körfez and Maltepe dershanes associated with faith-based Hizmet Movement (also known as Gülen Movement) dominated top spots in this year’s exams. Ö. Furkan Parmak, who received the highest score in the TM (Turkish-Math)-1, TM-2 and TM-3 categories in the LYS exam, studied for the exam at the Maltepe prep school in Ankara.
UN demands access to 3 Turks forcibly returned from Malaysia
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has urged Turkey to confirm the whereabouts of three Turkish nationals who were detained in Malaysia at Ankara’s request due to their ties to the faith-based Gülen movement, a statement by the Brussels-based Intercultural Dialogue Platform said.
New York Times Editorial Board: Turkey’s Relentless Attack on the Press
The family that owns Dogan Holding has long been influential in Turkey’s secular establishment and ran afoul of Mr. Erdogan’s Islamist-based A.K.P. Party in 2009. With the company targeted again and fearful of losing more assets, the newspaper Hurriyet is widely seen as pulling punches to appease Mr. Erdogan by firing journalists and quashing even mildly critical news stories.
Gülen says he could be blamed for assassination of an MHP, CHP politician
US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen said on Monday that the possible assassination of an important politician from either the Republican People’s Party (CHP) or the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in the coming days might be blamed on him by pro-government circles.
Gursel Tekin: Gulen’s remarks on the third bridge are valuable
Hüseyin Keleş Republican People’s Party Deputy Chairman Gursel Tekin gave the daily Zaman noteworthy statements on Turkey’s heated agenda. Speaking of the controversies over naming the third bridge as “Yavuz Sultan Selim”, Tekin expressed his support for Fethullah Gulen’s remarks, saying, “Let’s not sacrifice all the bridges to build one. To me, we should not ruin the order […]
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