Terrorist charges like the ones used to convict the two women have become commonplace in Turkey, especially since a failed attempt by parts of the military to overthrow President Tayyip Erdogan in 2016. S'ensuit une véritable purge au sein notamment de la police et de la justice visant des adeptes du mouvement, le pouvoir accusant Hizmet d'être un "Etat parallèle" qui cherche à le renverser. Migrant Deal Into Question. Two of the civilians involved appear to have seen Mr Gulen in America only days earlier. For Erdogan and his Islamist-leaning government, Gulen is a former ally who betrayed them in 2013, spawning a bitter rivalry and a struggle for control over state institutions that has played out for at least two and a half years. But beyond establishing schools, charities and non-governmental organisations, Gulenist sympathisers also have a “dark side,” Turkish columnist Mustafa Akyol recently wrote. Owing to those complications and others, some observers remain wary of the government’s account of the coup plot, and the near wholesale blame put on the Gulenists. Erdoǧan, it may be argued, is not merely positioning himself as an Ottoman sultan or Middle Eastern dictator, but as Turkey’s messianic saviour, if not a judgmental, angry, all-powerful deity to whom one should submit; decisively brandishing his nefis or ego. Turkish officials now say the attempted coup was a preemptive strike in response to a plan to remove roughly 100 military officers suspected of ties to Gulen. There is good reason to believe that a majority of the officers promoted after 2008-2009 have been Gulenists.”, Complicating the government’s narrative is evidence that the coup plotters joined forces with secular Kemalist officers, those who adhere to the principles of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic.
“Now we don’t have to, because we know they are all pro-government.”, reporting by Reuters staff, editing by Janet McBride. The official version, in which Gulenist sleeper cells in the armed forces awoke to take over the country all on their own, seems as watertight as a teabag. The schools do not engage in direct religious teachings, but they will all offer a Turkish language option and give students and parents a chance to take a subsidised trip to Turkey. “They were really well hidden,” says the official in a phone interview. At the same time Gulenists make a useful target for Erdogan—blaming them avoids a possible confrontation with the staunchly secular and nationalist military leadership whose predecessors have staged previous coups in Turkey far more successful than the one attempted earlier this month.
No one, however, is worse placed to preach about the dangers of Gulenism than Mr Erdogan, whose government was once joined at the hip with the movement. But relations between Erdogan and Gulen were not always so volatile.
The Interior Ministry said last week that 402 people had been detained for “baseless and provocative posts” about the pandemic. The Turkish president repeatedly said the coup-plotters were being directed “from Pennsylvania,” a reference to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader’s rival, US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Turkey’s strongman responded by declaring war on the cemaat and removing its loyalists from the bureaucracy. Gulen and Erdogan were once allies against absolute secularism, which was put in place by the founder of the modern state of Turkey Mustafa Ataturk. Gulen, meanwhile, has denied any involvement in the attempted coup, accusing Erdogan of using it as a pretext to attack him and his supporters. "We will not let those who divide the nation off the hook in this country," Erdogan said at the time. Erdogan blamed U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen for orchestrating the failed 2016 coup and set about purging his supporters from public office. At least 45% of Turkey’s roughly 21,000 judges and prosecutors now have three years of experience or less, Reuters calculated from Ministry of Justice data.
But it was only when Mr Erdogan and his Justice and Development party came to power in 2002 that it started to flourish. However, they express their religiosity in very different ways, unsurprising given their respective roles as politician and religious leader. “It is not easy to declare illegal a movement and its schools that you have supported for more than 20 years,” he said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he says the suspected officers, including generals, had been recruited by the Gulen movement as much as 20 or 30 years ago and worked their way up through the ranks. founding partner Robert Amsterdam said at the time, Former Nasa scientist returns to US after years of detention in Turkey, Turkey sentences 121 people to life in prison over 2016 coup attempt, Turkey sentences US consul staffer to nine years' prison for aiding 'terror group', Erdogan calls on US to extradite preacher Gulen in Istanbul speech, Turkey's Erdogan call coup 'treason' and blames Gulen supporters. They were sentenced to up to three years in jail.
There is no one who would stand by Gulen. It is active in the fields of education, dialogue, relief work and media in more than 160 countries around the world, according to the Centre for Hizmet Studies, a London-based non-profit organisation affiliated with Gulen. Mass arrests followed.
Maybe even higher,” Sengun said. Critics say the Ergenekon case was merely a pretext to target dissidents. Rodrik said Erdogan was preparing to purge the army of Gulenist officers, meaning that they “had a motive, and the timing of the [coup] attempt supports their involvement”. The Humanitarian Aid group under the Turkish Cultural Center (TCC) held a meat drive on Monday, August 3rd for Eid al Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) at the Turkish Cultural Center on Revere Street. Hendrick told MEE that since these schools are technically public, they must offer the curriculum requirements set by the districts they are operating in. A central way Gulen has extended his influence is by establishing schools inside Turkey and gradually setting up public and private academic institutions in other countries. She called her trial a sham. That means that at least 45% of Turkey’s roughly 21,000 judges and prosecutors have three years of experience or less.
The summit is now taking place on July 27, moved up by a few days in response to the failed coup attempt. “The chief judge was changed four times as well,” said Aydin, a human rights lawyer and chair of the local bar association.