D.C.-based law firm gathers intel on U.S. residents for Turkey – WSJ


Date posted: November 15, 2019

The Turkish government has employed a Washington D.C.-based law firm to gather information on its critics, including U.S. residents, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The Journal reviewed documents showing that the Turkish Embassy had employed the Saltzman & Evinch law firm to gather intel on associates of Fethullah Gülen, an Islamist preacher living in self-exile in Pennsylvania whose religious movement Turkey blames for a coup attempt in 2016.

The firm, which specialises in matters related to Turkey, compiled information on suspected Gülenists using public databases and social media for Turkey’s foreign and justice ministries, the Journal said.

The firm’s principal Gunay Evinch is a co-chairman of the Turkish-American National Steering Committee, a U.S.-based lobbying group. A lawyer at the firm, Rümeysa Kalın Karabulut, is the daughter of Erdoğan spokesman İbrahim Kalın while associate attorney Rachel Cerqueira Denktaş is married to the son of Turkish Republic of North Cyprus founder and former president Raif Denktaş.

Once an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government, the Gülen movement became one of its most reviled adversaries after the government blamed Gülenist prosecutors for launching a corruption probe on top ministers in 2013.

The movement was widely believed to have seized influential positions in state institutions, but Erdoğan dismissed or jailed tens of thousands of suspected Gülenists in a series of purges after the July 2016 coup attempt.

The purge has also taken place on a global scale, with Turkish authorities pressuring governments around the world to shut schools linked to the movement and hand over alleged followers of Gülen.

Source: Ahval , November 14, 2019

Tags: | | | |


Related News

A Turkish family has disappeared in Pakistan, and suspicion turns to intelligence agencies

“The police are expressing ignorance about the picking up of Mr. Mesut, so who did this?” asked Muhammed Zubair, a doctor whose children attended the PakTurk school in Peshawar and who represents the parent-teacher association. “This is a dangerous trend and will send a negative image of Pakistan abroad.”

Rule of law casualty of AKP-Gulen conflict

The AKP government thinks that by labeling corruption investigations and operations as a “coup” and calling those behind them as “parallel state” that it has found a justifiable way to interfere with the judiciary. Otherwise the government would not have submitted a draft bill to the parliament that totally eliminates the functional independence of the judiciary bureaucracy and promotes the minister of justice, who represents the executive branch, to the status of single decision-maker.

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.

Turkish IT Technician Found Dead While Fleeing To Greece

The body of a Turkish IT specialist, who was fleeing Turkish crackdown, was recovered from a river that divides Turkish-Greek territory. Mr. Zumre is not the only one who tried to cross the Meric river into Greece. Hundreds of professors, journalists, and sacked public employees crossed the river to reach Greece. Many of them are living in Greek refugee camps.

Turkey’s New Anti-Americanism (NY Times Editorial)

The Turks need to be reminded that Mr. Gulen has a legal right to be in the United States, and that the Justice Department would have to go through a rigorous process before deciding whether he could be handed over, especially to a country where due process is increasingly unlikely and torture is reportedly used against detainees.

Kimse Yok Mu and UN launch relief project for Syrian refugees

UN funded 3,5 million Turkish Liras (around 1,75 million USD) to the project while KYM will organize the delivery of the money to the bank accounts of 17000 Syrian refugees in amount of TL 100 throughout January and February.
Speaking about their commonly organized project with UNHCR, Head of KYM’s İstanbul office Celal Türkoğlu stated that they are frequently in touch with the UN while KYM is accredited to the UN’s Economic and Social Council.

Latest News

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

After Reunion: A Quiet Transformation Within the Hizmet Movement

Erdogan’s Failed Crusade: The World Rejects His War on Hizmet

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

In Case You Missed It

Kimse Yok Mu’s Ramadan packages for Filipino families

Turkey’s latest bombing will help its president amass more power

Alevi demands remain unfulfilled as their disappointment grows

The Gulen Movement Is Not a Cult — It’s One of the Most Encouraging Faces of Islam Today

Silencing Taraf daily

AKP Twitter troll asks gov’t to kill all Gülen sympathizers in jail

British Lords introduced to Fethullah Gülen’s concepts

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News