The cases were both riddled with claims of irregularities, though many defendants were either sentenced to life in prison for attempting a coup or charged while in jail.

[70], On 25 December, the same day that the HSYK ruled that the government's demands were unconstitutional, prosecutor Muammer Akkaş issued an arrest warrant for 30 more individuals on charges of corruption, yet the Istanbul Directorate of Security refused to make the arrests. Bilici said Erdogan uses media, state and religious institutions, and schools to try to control the minds of Turkish society. Friends! Despite claiming that the recordings were forged and vowing to bring forward evidence to prove this to be true, the government failed to bring forward proof in the first few days after a recording. Prosecutors dealing with the sledgehammer and Ergenekon trials were also involved in the mass overhaul. [8][9], The Gülen Movement's leader, Fethullah Gülen, managed to maintain a large number of supporters worldwide through the use of sympathetic media outlets, events, religious schools and charities.

[19] The government's response to the protestors were criticised internationally, with the United States condemning the disproportionate violence and the European Union stalling Turkey's accession negotiations. The two successfully redesigned the Turkish government system to allow for religion.
[117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129], In a balcony speech declaring the AKP's victory, Erdoğan claimed that the population had given him a mandate to continue his fight against the parallel structure. The movement - known in Turkey as Hizmet, or service - runs schools all over Turkey and around the world, including in Turkic former Soviet Republics, Muslim countries such as Pakistan and Western nations including Romania and the US, where it runs more than 100 schools. The accusation that MİT lorries were carrying weapons into Syria created yet another scandal, especially at a time when the government in the centre of international controversy for their policy of inaction against Islamic State militants. “İlhan İşbilen, who is 74 years old and has been in isolation in Sincan [Prison] for years, has been hospitalized due to COVID-19.

Gulen refused this and the movement is now paying the price of independence,” Aslandogan said. A week before the 2014 local elections, Twitter and YouTube were blocked using the new powers given to the TİB. [77][78][79], On 31 December, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, who was later himself accused of being a supporter of Gulen, claimed that the events of 17 December 2013 had been a mini-coup attempt. With 42.87% of the vote, the AKP won the elections with a significant proportion of councillors and mayors up for election. 249 Turks were killed resisting the coup. The Gülen movement is a terrorist organization under the assigned names Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO) and Parallel State Structure (PDY). ", "CHP TÜBİTAK'ın 'montaj' kararını Meclis'e taşıdı", "TİB: 2012 ve 2013'de 509 bin kişi dinlendi", "Yasa dışı dinleme soruşturmasında 7 kişi serbest bırakıldı, 4 kişi tutuklandı", "Kriptolu telefon dinleme iddiasına 4 tutuklama", "Erdogan's AKP wins most of Turkey's mayoral elections", "As it happened: PM Erdoğan declares local poll victory amid fraud claims", "Widespread fraud reports mark local elections", "Mansur Yavaş Ve Melih Gökçekten Açıklama Haberi ve Son Dakika Haberler Mynet", "Taner Yıldız'dan elektrik kesintisi açıklaması", "AKP'nin oy desteği ne yüzde 45, ne yüzde 43; yüzde 36! [19][20] These were seen as the first major signs that the alliance between the AKP and the Gülen Movement were waning. However, the CHP has been historically heavily critical of the Gulen Movement, having been strongly against the judicial misconduct during the Sledgehammer and Ergenekon trials. VideoC$1m cash seized in 'illegal casino' mansion raid, Millions on the move in post-lockdown China, The voice of Johnson and Trump on Spitting Image. However, the top court ruled against the demand of İşbilen’s lawyers, saying that the situation of the former deputy did not constitute an imminent risk for him to be released. He is regarded by followers as a spiritual leader and sometimes described as Turkey's second most powerful man. Legal proceedings began into Kılıçdaroğlu for broadcasting the recording to Parliament, with him being accused of acquiring the recording through illegal methods. Once a well-known businessman, İşbilen was diagnosed with COVID-19 in mid-September but was just put in isolation without being taken to a hospital. (32), a sympathizer of the Gülen movement who live in the Netherlands’ Tilburg city was sentenced by a Dutch court. Followers of Gulen run schools in Turkey and around the world, with more than 100 in the US alone. [73], On 26 December, Prime Minister Erdoğan claimed that Akkaş had disgraced the judiciary by issuing such a statement and claimed that the HSYK had committed a crime by refusing the government's demands to notify senior ministers of investigations. They were alleged to have helped Iran bypass international financial sanctions against it by sending the regime in Tehran gold in return for oil and natural gas. On the evening of 25 February 2014, a recording was posted on YouTube allegedly featuring Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan telling his son Necmettin Bilal Erdoğan to 'nullify' all the cash kept in their home due to the ongoing operations occurring in other government ministers' homes. Since then, Ankara has referred to Gulen’s movement as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation, or FETO, for short.

Such individuals included several military officers and journalists, including former Chief of General Staff Çetin Doğan. the Gulen Movement) and committed to beginning legal proceedings into the recording, as well as proving that it was a forgery. Shortly afterwards, however, Turkish police carried out dawn raids against leading businessmen and allies of the prime minister.

I have stated that we have no right or authority to harm a living being. 149 of these children are under twelve months old, and there are many others under the age of eighteen. Their crime? Fethullah Gülen’s (and Gülen movement’s) position on violent extremism is based on a comprehensive, thorough and robust understanding and reading of the spirit and teachings of Islam’s primary sources, the Qur’an and Sunna – the same foundations on which its core teachings are based.… [139] In January 2015, the EU Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle called on Ankara to restore judicial independence in order to make progress in its accession negotiations. [74] A day later, the Turkish Council of State voted down the government's demands, with Erdoğan subsequently issuing a statement saying 'what needs to be done will be done, and then you will see' and claiming that the judicial changes proposed in the 2010 constitutional referendum had been a mistake. [31][32] In response to Zaman's campaign, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated that his cabinet had agreed to put the new legislation to Parliament in November 2013. The prosecutor Aziz Takçı, who ordered the lorries to be stopped and searched for weapons after receiving a tip-off, was later removed from his position and branded as a member of Gulen's 'parallel structure'.
The conflict has caused widespread controversy both politically and internationally, mainly revolving around Erdoğan's political polarising response and the uncertainty of the future of Turkish judicial independence. © 2020 BBC. The so-called "prep-schools" were "weekend courses that prepare high school students for university exams". [12] The main opposition Republican People's Party was accused of maintaining informal links with the movement during the 2014 local elections. But Gulen leadership believe it was actually Erdogan that planned the “staged” coup as “an excuse…to expand the persecution,” according to Aslandogan. [39], In response to the leaking of MGK documents, Prime Minister Erdoğan made a statement reiterating his decision to abolish cram schools, while slamming the leak as an act of national treason.[40][41][42]. C$1m cash seized in 'illegal casino' mansion raid.