Date posted: October 8, 2016
Nowadays, most articles about Turkey, Erdogan and Gulen have a default sentence: “Erdogan and Gulen were former allies”. It is said and written so many times that eventually became a fact. However, the reality is not that simple.
This 2 minute-video illustrates Gulen-Erdogan history.
Tags: Fethullah Gulen | Hizmet (Gulen) movement | Hizmet and politics | Turkey |

The purge by the Turkish government has led to the arrest of thousands, including many academics. In addition to the purge, the government has invoked military law, set curfews and limited social media.

Turkish American community paid visit to Fethullah Gülen to greet him for the Eid al Adha, which is a major Islamic festival. Following the supplication, Gülen talked to his guest briefly and said: “Let’s pray for each other with deep iman (belief), ma’rifa (Spiritual Knowledge of God), and mahabba (love); let’s include all humanity in our prayers, starting from the people in closest circles; let’s be inclusive and embracing in our prayers.”

Under arrest as part of an investigation into the Gulen movement since Nov 3, 2016, history teacher Özlem Meci gave birth to her third child in prison. Özlem delivered her third child, named Murat, on Feb 15, 2017 but her requests for trial without arrest have remained inconclusive so far.

Mr. Biden ought to candidly tell his host that the US did not instigate the coup and that it will not relinquish Mr. Gulen to a witchhunt. Mr. Erdogan may not want to hear it, but he also should be reminded that crushing the rule of law will dim Turkey’s prospects. Mr. Erdogan may bask in the crowds today, but using the coup as a pretext to purge the media, academia and other spheres of independent voices will not strengthen the nation in the long run.

The Hizmet schools were in the original list of those institutions which met all the criteria for eligibility to receive financial incentives to accept these students. Announced on Monday, the schools were listed on the ministry’s website until Thursday afternoon, when they were taken off without any explanation. However, an official written notice sent from the ministry to governorates on Thursday said: “It was not deemed proper to give such incentives to education institutions whose managers are under fiscal investigation and interrogation within the scope of the Law No. 5549 on the Prevention of Laundering of Crime Revenues and those that had received punishments fiscal irregularities after due inspections before,” and asked the governorates do what the notice requires.
