Date posted: July 20, 2016
Prof. John Whyte’s comments on recent coup attemtp in Turkey.
Source: CTV Regina News
Tags: Defamation of Hizmet | Fethullah Gulen | Military coups in Turkey | Persecution of Hizmet by Erdogan |

As expected, the 11-article declaration by the Journalists and Writers Foundation, of which Fethullah Gülen serves as honorary chair, has attracted attention. The follow-up debates show that this has been remarkably positive and appropriate to prevent disorder.

The sweeping purges and mass arrests since last month’s failed military coup in Turkey have confirmed many of the worst fears about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government. They are the most recent in a long history of abuses. Over the last few years, Mr. Erdogan has harshly repressed the Turkish press and civil society, supported extremist militant groups in Syria

The petitioners submitted before the court that Pak-Turk schools had been imparting quality education to hundreds of Pakistani children. They said that the forced deportation of Turkish teachers and other staff members was illegal as they had been provided protection under the Constitution.

Detained in the southern province of Isparta, Turkey, as part of a post-coup investigation, a woman, identified with initials Ö.A., has been transferred to a prison 1,291 kilometers away from home. Her 6-mont-old baby reportedly accompanied her under detention as her husband was already in jail as part of an investigation in the aftermath of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

At least 4,167 people in 110 countries are being investigated in Turkey over their links to the Gülen movement, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday.

It appears that Fethullah Gülen, a U.S.-based Islamic preacher from Turkey who promotes peace and tolerance, and the schools associated with his religious Hizmet movement can’t get a break. Now, Gülen’s schools are being targeted in his home country by the Turkish government’s ruling Justice and Development Party, known as the AKP, which should dispel any notion in the U.S. that the AKP is somehow in cahoots with the Gülen movement.
