Judge suffering cancer jailed in Kocaeli, wife under detention in Tokat
Date posted: July 25, 2017
Mustafa Babayiğit, a Turkish judge who reportedly suffers from thyroid cancer, has been sent to jail by a Kocaeli court, while his wife, Songül Babayiğit who is also a judge, has been held in custody in Tokat.
The judge couple is accused of having links to Turkey’s Gülen group, which the Turkish government accuses of masterminding a coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
The group denies any involvement.
Both Mustafa and Songül Babayiğit were previously dismissed from profession with decrees issued by the Turkish government after the coup attempt.
The purged judges have reportedly two kids.
Turkey survived a coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed over 240 people. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
At least 120, 117 people were detained or investigated and 56,114 people were arrested, according to statistics reported by the Turkeypurge.com
The school administration believes that the action is taken to appease Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who believes that the school promotes and teaches his arch-rival and cleric Fetullah Gulen’s teachings. “We have gone through the school curriculum during our time and have not found them imparting any extremism ideology or anything that goes against the interests of Pakistan,” said one of the graduates.
Parallel hearts…
It is unfair to accuse a movement whose only goal is to win hearts of seizing the state through bureaucracy. It destroys the world of the Anatolian people who are now holding hopes that they would be able to deal with their fate in the world. The goal and purpose of the Hizmet movement is not to create a parallel structure; its goal is to establish parallel hearts and a universal chorus of peace.
Amnesty: 500,000 Kurds displaced in Turkey’s Southeast due to curfews, crackdown
Tens of thousands of residents of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Sur are among an estimated half million people forced from their homes as a result of a brutal crackdown by Turkish authorities over the past year which may amount to collective punishment, said Amnesty International in a new report.
Growing Corruption Inquiry Hits Close to Turkish Leader
In building his political career, Turkey’s powerful and charismatic prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, relied heavily on the support of a Sufi mystic preacher [Fethullah Gulen] whose base of operations is now in Pennsylvania. Mr. Gulen’s followers “never approved the role the government tried to attain in the Middle East, or approved of its policy in Syria, which made everything worse, or its attitude in the Mavi Marmara crisis with Israel,” said Ali Bulac, a conservative intellectual and writer who supports Mr. Gulen.
Gülen, Erdoğan’s new agenda item with the West
Yet, no matter how strong of views he might voice to his interlocutors about the Gülen movement (Cemaat) he can’t save himself from the problem of credibility. While he was giving assurance in Brussels that he is not interfering with the judiciary, the fact that the very same day the pressure exerted by the undersecretary of the Justice Ministry to the chief prosecutor in his investigation on a corruption case was revealed through documents will lead the EU to approach these assurances with suspicion.
Comments on Turkey coup attempt by Prof. John Whyte
Prof. John Whyte’s comments on recent coup attemtp in Turkey.
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
Turkey’s extradition adventure undermined Kosovan rule of law – Expert
Turkish opposition: Enquiry against Gülen politically motivated
Turkey’s Opposition Fails a Critical Test: To Challenge Erdogan
Turkish-American community grapples with Turkey coup’s aftermath
Gülen has strongly rejected comparison to Iran’s Khomeini time and again
Local NGOs urge Georgian gov’t to avoid returning Turkish teacher back home
Return to Turkey or lose citizenship, gov’t tells Gülen followers
