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
Sacrificing Gülen, however, will not bring Turkey in from the cold. While the pretext might have been rooting out Gülen’s followers, the reality is that Erdogan has used the purge to target secularists, liberals, and those officers whose training and experience in NATO he believes make them prone to oppose his vision and goals for Turkey.
Perinçek: I have Erdoğan’s support in fighting Gülen movement
Doğu Perinçek, the Workers’ Party (İP) leader who was given a life sentence in 2013 as part of a trial concerning the Ergenekon terrorist organization, has said he has been “fighting a battle” against the faith-based Gülen movement since the 1970s and that now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is supporting him and the İP in the fight.
Hakan Şükür’s resignation: Rebellion of a conscience
Take a look at his wedding photo: on one side of a table is Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and on the other is Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. That photo reflects the feelings of millions. Şükür’s resignation is a sign that to him, that photo was torn up. If the government continues to keep up its hostile attitude against the Hizmet movement led by Gülen, millions will experience the same feeling. The real risk is here.
Trustees seize control of schools in government-led move
A judge in İstanbul has ordered that trustees be appointed to 12 companies, including the FEM and Anafen prep schools established by people sympathetic to the faith-based Gülen movement for allegedly being affiliated with Kaynak Holding.
Neither conservative nor democrat
Media campaigns, accusations and the prime minister’s statements about the leader of the movement are of unprecedented scale in Turkey. Filing records on sympathizers of the Gülen movement, removing them from public offices they happen to occupy, attacking its financial institutions; none of this has ever been seen in the past regarding Islamic movements.
Erdoğan’s ‘non-precious’ loneliness
The US and Europe now use Erdoğan’s level of aggression against whomever he targets as an indicator to measure the degree of democratic culture of the Turks. For this reason, as Erdoğan and his government intensify their aggression, the Hizmet movement becomes more respectable and prestigious in the world.
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