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To ease Turkish pressure on Saudis over killing, White House weighs expelling #Erdogan foe #Gulen

November 15, 2018 By administrator

“Once they realized it was a serious request, the career guys were furious,” a U.S. official said of request tied to Khashoggi killing.

By Carol E. Lee, Julia Ainsley and Courtney Kube

WASHINGTON — The White House is looking for ways to remove an enemy of Turkish President Recep Erdogan from the U.S. in order to placate Turkey over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to two senior U.S. officials and two other people briefed on the requests.

Trump administration officials last month asked federal law enforcement agencies to examine legal ways of removing exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen in an attempt to persuade Erdogan to ease pressure on the Saudi government, the four sources said.

The effort includes directives to the Justice Department and FBI that officials reopen Turkey’s case for his extradition, as well as a request to the Homeland Security Department for information about his legal status, the four people said.

They said the White House specifically wanted details about Gulen’s residency status in the U.S. Gulen has a Green Card, according to two people familiar with the matter. He has been living in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s.

Career officials at the agencies pushed back on the White House requests, the U.S. officials and people briefed on the requests said.

“At first there were eye rolls, but once they realized it was a serious request, the career guys were furious,” said a senior U.S. official involved in the process.

A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to comment. The FBI also declined to comment.

The State Department, Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

A lawyer representing Gulen declined to comment.

A Turkish official said the government does not link its concerns about the Khashoggi murder with Gulen’s extradition case.

“We definitely see no connection between the two,” the official said. “We want to see action on the end of the United States in terms of the extradition of Gulen. And we’re going to continue our investigation on behalf of the Khashoggi case.”

The secret effort to resolve one of the leading tensions in U.S.-Turkey relations — Gulen’s residency in the U.S. — provides a window into how President Donald Trump is trying to navigate hostility between two key allies after Saudi officials murdered Khashoggi on Oct. 2 at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.

It suggests the White House could be looking for ways to contain Erdogan’s ire over the murder while preserving Trump’s close alliance with Saudi Arabia’s controversial de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The kingdom, after initially denying any role in Khashoggi’s disappearance, reversed course and admitted that Saudi officials were responsible for the killing. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s top prosecutor recommended the death penalty for five out of the 11 suspects charged with killing Khashoggi. A total of 21 suspects have been arrested in connection with the case, according to Saud al-Mojeb.

Erdogan, meanwhile, has kept the pressure up by leaking pieces of evidence and repeatedly speaking out to accuse Prince Mohammed of orchestrating the murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and outspoken critic of the Saudi leadership.

Saudi Arabia is critical to Trump’s Middle East policy. The White House’s relationship with Prince Mohammed is key to Trump’s goals of countering Iran and helping to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. Turkey is a NATO ally in possession of evidence about Khashoggi’s murder that positions Erdogan to stoke international outrage over Riyadh’s culpability in and cover-up of Khashoggi’s murder.

Erdogan has for years demanded the U.S. send Gulen back to Turkey. The Turkish leader accuses the elderly cleric of being a terrorist who was behind a failed coup against Erdogan’s government in 2016. After the coup attempt, Ankara made a formal request to the U.S. for Gulen’s extradition.

One option that Turkish and Trump administration officials recently discussed is forcing Gulen to relocate to South Africa rather than sending him directly to Turkey if extradition is not possible, said the U.S. officials and people briefed on the discussions. But the U.S. does not have any legal justification to send Gulen to South Africa, they said, so that wouldn’t be a viable option unless he went willingly.

Trump and Erdogan also recently discussed another option to relieve tensions — the release of Turkish banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who was sentenced in May to 32 months in prison by a U.S. federal judge for his role in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, two people familiar with the discussion said. Erdogan has criticized the case against Atilla as a political attack aimed at undermining his government.

The U.S. and Turkey have been engaged in negotiations over a series of sensitive diplomatic issues over the past few months, including a deal for last month’s release of an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was imprisoned in Turkey and an agreement for joint U.S. and Turkish military patrols in Manbij, Syria.

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. for almost two decades, denies any involvement in the failed coup in Turkey in 2016. A one-time ally of Erdogan, he’s become an influential cleric with a wide network of followers known as “Gulenistas.” His movement includes a host of nonprofit organizations, businesses and schools, in the U.S., as well as South Africa.

After Khashoggi’s murder, Erdogan appeared to see an opportunity to ratchet up pressure on the Trump administration over Gulen, the U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.

Turkish officials made clear to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his Oct. 17 meeting with Erdogan in Ankara that they wanted the Trump administration to turn over Gulen, the U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.

“That was their number one ask,” said a person briefed on the meeting.

Pompeo asked if Erdogan had new evidence of Gulen’s involvement in the failed coup, prompting the Turkish leader to try to make the case that Gulen has terrorist ties, a senior U.S. official briefed on the meeting said.

In remarks to reporters traveling with him, Pompeo acknowledged having discussed Gulen with the Turks. “We did talk about Fethullah Gulen and we talked about the set of issues surrounding that organization as well,” Pompeo said. “It’s something that the Turks remind us of often, and we’re mindful of places that we can work with them to make sure that we all have a shared set of facts as well. But it’s mostly not a State Department issue; it’s mostly a Justice Department issue.”

The Turkish official wouldn’t discuss details of Erdogan’s conversation with Pompeo but said, “The Gulen issue is a part of any diplomatic conversation that we’re having with our American counterparts.”

Pompeo, who also met with Saudi leaders in Riyadh on that same trip, briefed Trump on his discussions after returning to Washington.

The Trump administration later sent word to Erdogan that officials would re-examine the Gulen issue, the U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.

Justice Department officials responded to the White House’s request saying the review of Turkey’s case against Gulen two years ago showed no basis for his extradition and that no new evidence to justify it has emerged, the U.S. officials and others familiar with the requests said.

Trump administration officials then asked for other options to legally remove him, the U.S. officials and others said.

They said the White House specifically wanted details about the terms under which Gulen resides in the U.S. Officials from the law enforcement agencies informed the White House there is no evidence that Gulen has broken any U.S. laws, the U.S. officials and others familiar with the requests said.

The requests on Gulen in mid-October mark at least the second time the Trump administration has re-examined Turkey’s extradition request since taking office. In the weeks after Trump’s inauguration, the White House asked the Justice Department to review Gulen’s case, NBC has reported.

Some officials have described the first request as a routine part of a new administration reviewing its relationship with a key ally. The request, however, took place under Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, whose ties to Turkey came under scrutiny in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling. Flynn, who resigned in February 2017, entered into a plea agreement with Mueller last December and has been cooperating with the investigation.

Turkey provided boxes of materials to the U.S. in 2016 that Erdogan says shows Gulen was behind the failed coup. But officials at the Justice Department and FBI didn’t find evidence that met the standard for extradition, which requires U.S. prosecutors to determine that someone committed crimes abroad that would also be illegal in the U.S.

Relations between U.S. and Turkey have been strained under Trump.

Khashoggi’s disappearance after entering Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul introduced new friction. Turkey publicly accused Saudi Arabia of flying in an assassination team to murder Khashoggi. The two countries have long been rivals.

Amid Saudi denials over Khashoggi’s disappearance, Turkey ramped up international pressure on Riyadh by leaking its possession of evidence, including recordings from inside the consulate that Turkey officials say show the Saudi government murdered Khashoggi.

After nearly a month, Saudi Arabia admitted its government officials carried out a premeditated murder of Khashoggi. The government, though, has insisted Prince Mohammed knew nothing of it in advance. Some officials from the U.S. and other countries have said they believe otherwise.

Erdogan said this past weekend that he’s given Turkey’s audio recording of Khashoggi’s murder inside the consulate to U.S., U.K., Saudi, French and German government officials. His comments were a public reminder of the evidence Erdogan could expose at a time of his choosing, if he wanted to put pressure on the U.S. or Saudi Arabia. .

John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser, said Tuesday that U.S. officials who listened to Turkey’s recording assessed it does not implicate Prince Mohammed.

Saudi Arabia has yet to disclose the location of Khashoggi’s remains, and Turkey continues to put public pressure on Riyadh.

Trump has expressed reluctance to respond too strongly given Saudi Arabia’s economic and strategic value to the U.S. At a news conference last week, Trump said he is working with Turkey, Congress and Saudi Arabia to determine next steps and will have a “much stronger opinion” on Khashoggi’s killing over the next week.

Following the Saudi prosecutor’s announcement Thursday, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against 17 people for their suspected role in Khashoggi’s murder.

The group includes Consul General Mohammed Alotaibi, who was in charge of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, as well as senior Saudi officials and members of the suspected assassination team who arrived in Istanbul in the hours before Khashoggi disappeared.

The 17 were sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act, which bars foreign officials from entering the U.S. and freezes any assets they have in American banks.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Erdogan, expelling, foe, Gulen, Trump

West Springfield Mayor Claims Prospective New Charter School’s Purported Ties To Turkish Cleric Are Troubling

April 4, 2018 By administrator

West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt  says allegations 'deeply concerning'

West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt says allegations ‘deeply concerning’

The mayor of West Springfield, Massachusetts doesn’t like the prospect of a new charter school opening in his city because of the challenge it presents to public schools there. But he says he also finds possible ties to a Turkish cleric who has been accused by the Turkish government of trying to overthrow it “deeply concerning.”

William Reichert, mayor of West Springfield, a city of about 28,000, is trying to rally opposition to the proposed new western branch of Hampden Charter School of Science, a charter school founded in 2009 in Chicopee, a city about five miles away.

A book alleges that the charter school and similar schools in Everett and Chelsea have ties to Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric and billionaire who lives in Pennsylvania and whom Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has identified as an instigator of a coup attempt in 2016.

Gulen, 76, advocates a moderate brand of Islam, though he has also been accused of supporting replacing the secular government of Turkey with an Islamist state. He has denied trying to overthrow the Turkish government.

The chief executive officer of the western Massachusetts charter school, Tarkan Topcuoglu, a native of Turkey, told MassLive.com that the school is public, not religious; that it focuses on preparing students for college; that it has no financial ties to any movement; and that the new campus will complement the West Springfield public schools.

He also says the new campus, which would occupy grounds that formerly housed a Roman Catholic church, school, convent, and rectory, is needed because there are far more applicants for the existing Chicopee campus than there is room.

Charter schools are publicly funded but privately run, and generally do not include union members as teachers. Public school advocates often complain that charter schools drain nearby public school of public funds and students.

Source: http://newbostonpost.com/around-new-england/mayor-claims-prospective-new-charter-schools-purported-ties-to-turkish-cleric-are-troubling/

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Gulen, Public Charter schools

Turkey issues arrest new warrants for 243 over affiliation to Gulen network

March 10, 2018 By administrator

Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 243 people, including 92 teachers, on suspicion of affiliation to a movement led by US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the Ankara government accuses of having masterminded the failed July 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Judicial sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Offices in the central province of Konya issued warrants for 84 people on Friday, Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency reported.

The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in the capital Ankara also ordered another 92 people detained suspected of similar ties.

Separately, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutors Office issued arrest warrants for 57 Gulenist suspects.

The teachers, targeted in an operation in 20 provinces, had worked in schools previously closed for affiliation to Gulen movement.

Earlier, gendarmerie forces had apprehended eight people for alleged links to Gulen in operations across five provinces, while police arrested a school teacher in the northwestern province of Balikesir.

During the botched putsch, a faction of the Turkish military declared that it had seized control of the country and the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was no more in charge. The attempt was, however, suppressed a few hours later.

Ankara has since accused Gulen of having orchestrated the coup. The opposition figure is also accused of being behind a long-running campaign to topple the government via infiltrating the country’s institutions, particularly the army, police and the judiciary.

Additionally, the Ankara government has outlawed his movement, and has branded it as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

Gulen has denounced the “despicable putsch” and reiterated that he had no role in it.

“Accusations against me related to the coup attempt are baseless and politically-motivated slanders,” he said in a statement.

The 76-year-old cleric has also called on Ankara to end its “witch hunt” of his followers, a move he said is aimed at “weeding out anyone it deems disloyal to President Erdogan and his regime.”

Turkish officials have frequently called on their US counterparts to extradite Gulen, but their demands have not been taken heed of.

Turkey, which remains in a state of emergency since the coup, has been engaged in suppressing the media and opposition groups suspected to have played a role in the failed coup.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in Turkey on suspicion of having links to Gulen and the failed coup. More than 110,000 others, including military staff, civil servants and journalists have been sacked or suspended from work over the same accusations.

The international community and rights groups have been highly critical of the Turkish president over the massive dismissals and the crackdown.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: arrest warrants, Gulen, Turkey

Pocketed U.S. Politicians Exposed: The Most Powerful Criminal Organization… “Video Must see and share”

February 8, 2018 By administrator

 Politicians who are the enablers of the Gulen Movement and their “front groups.” From Gulen Schools to Gulen’s Interfaith Groups, these politicians knowingly or sometimes naively have accepted campaign contributions, honors(snicker, giggles) or the famous FREE trips to Turkey. Thanks to all of you for submitting, lets put the message out to Politicians, if you sell out Americans we will vote you out.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: charter schools, Gulen

The Bizarre American Lobbying War Over Turkish-Run U.S. charter public schools

February 1, 2018 By administrator

exiled cleric Fetullah Gulen.

The government of Turkey is seeking to discredit a network of U.S. charter schools linked to exiled cleric Fetullah Gulen.

By LIZ ESSLEY WHYTE

A law firm hired by the government of Turkey is lobbying state officials across the U.S. about what it alleges is a suspicious network of American charter schools run by a dangerous Turkish opposition leader.

Federal records show Turkey’s lawyers requested meetings in January 2018 with politicians in 26 states and the District of Columbia, including attorneys general, influential legislators and at least one governor — Michigan’s Rick Snyder. The legal team has already sat down with an official in the Arizona attorney general’s office, worked on legislation in Texas and attended school board meetings in California, Louisiana and Massachusetts.

It’s the latest move in a curious propaganda war playing out in America’s state capitals between Turkey’s ruling party and a secretive religious movement that the Center for Public Integrity previously revealed has funded scores of international trips for state lawmakers from places such as Texas and Tennessee. Nonprofits associated with what is commonly called the Gulen movement — named for the elderly Turkish cleric Fetullah Gulen — sponsored subsidized trips to Turkey for at least 151 state lawmakers, the Center for Public Integrity reported last year. Some of the state lawmakers who took the trips later introduced resolutions supporting the movement — or even backed some of the nearly 200 American charter schools linked to it.

“It’s such nonsense what’s going on in these schools,” said Robert Amsterdam, whose firm is leading the government of Turkey’s campaign to inform state leaders of what it calls “suspect” hiring of Turkish teachers and contractors, among other matters. “We think it’s very important for us to get the word out.”

Turkey retained Amsterdam and Partners LLP, an international law firm with offices in London and Washington, D.C., that specializes in cross-border disputes and white-collar crimes, in 2015 as the Gulen movement was falling out of favor with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party. Following a failed coup attempt in July 2016, Turkish leaders sharpened their rhetoric, calling Gulen a terrorist and demanding the U.S. extradite him from the compound in Pennsylvania’s Poconos where he lives in exile.

Turkey then made headlines last fall when former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn was reported to be under investigation for helping to plan to kidnap Gulen and return him to Turkey. The White House has stayed mum about the request, and the Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment about the status of the extradition request.

Within Turkey, the ruling party has jailed more than 40,000 alleged supporters of Gulen and shut down related institutions ranging from news outlets to a bank. Stateside, Turkey has paid at least $1.8 million funding Amsterdam and his team in the effort to undermine the Gulen movement and the schools.

A spokesman for Gulen, Alp Aslandogan, denies that either Gulen or his followers had any involvement in the coup attempt. He said they are not worried about Amsterdam’s efforts with state officials because he is pushing “a toxic brand” — Erdogan. “The moment they realize it they will see the political and monetary motivation behind this,” he said. “Robert Amsterdam is not interested in the education of American kids.”

While spokespeople for the schools have said they aren’t affiliated with Gulen, Aslandogan acknowledged they were “started by individuals who are sympathetic to the Gulen movement.” He said the schools should be judged by their performance, and “by and large, they are doing a very good job.”

Some of the schools, such as those in the Harmony chain in Texas, indeed have won awards and recognition, while others have just mediocre test scores. Still, the schools have been dogged by accusations of financial irregularities and extensive hiring of Turkish citizens.

The new revelations of Turkish lobbying come at a delicate moment for U.S.-Turkey relations. In recent weeks, the two countries have found themselves on opposite sides in Syria, after the Turkish government attacked a Kurdish militia that is supported by American forces. Tensions grew after Turkish officials disputed the White House’s account of a phone call between President Donald Trump and Erdogan.

One of the Turkish government’s lobbying targets is Illinois’ powerful Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan. John Martin, a lawyer representing Turkey, wrote him an email last week requesting a meeting.

Madigan may seem a surprising choice. He was among those who went on trips to Turkey guided by a Gulen nonprofit — in his case, four trips total. He paid for his hotels and flights and contributed to the cost of the trips, said his spokesman Steve Brown, but state records show he also disclosed at least one of the trips as a gift worth more than $500. Madigan has also appeared in a promotional video for one of the schools linked to the movement, Brown said.

Martin, the lawyer representing Turkey, acknowledges the “awkwardness” of reaching out to state officials such as Madigan who have already had positive experiences with the Gulen movement. “One of our intended messages is, ‘Hey, look, you may have taken a trip with these folks or you may have even received a political contribution,’” he said. “‘We’re here to inform you and let you know who these people are so that the next time your eyes are wide open.’”

But others find such efforts unusually aggressive.

“The zeal with which the Erdogan administration wants to root out and suppress the Gulen movement is surprising to me,” said William Martin, a friend of the Gulen movement and a professor at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. “That is characteristic of an authoritarian regime and not a democratic regime.”

The lobbying team has also tried influencing legislation and law enforcement in Texas, which has around 40 Gulen-linked schools and at least 10 state lawmakers who have gone on trips to Turkey with the movement. “In Texas, there are a network of charter schools where there have been serious allegations of, or highly suspected activities of financial mismanagement, suspected fraud, apparent self-dealing,” John Martin wrote in an email in January 2018 requesting a meeting with the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Harmony Charter Schools in Texas, one of the school chains targeted by Amsterdam, points out that another state agency already dismissed an investigation instigated by the firm. “Since then the school has only grown in popularity, with an annual waiting list of about 30,000,” said Timothy Lankford, a spokesman for the school. “It clearly indicates the quality and efficiency of our organization. Harmony is a transparent organization.”

Turkey’s legal team also hired Texas lobbyist Jim Arnold at a rate of $20,000 per month, according to filings required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Last year, Arnold, a Republican strategist who ran Rick Perry’s campaign for lieutenant governor in 1998, attempted to drum up legislative support for bills to require more transparency from charter schools, but the measures failed to pass.

“I have had numerous complaints from many of my constituents about the Harmony schools,” said state Rep. Dan Flynn, a Republican who sponsored one of the bills. “I don’t think they have the same accountability as our other public schools.”

The Texas lawmaker received $250 in political contributions from Arnold’s firm since the lobbyist began working for Turkey. Flynn said Arnold, who did not respond to requests for comment, is a longtime supporter.

The Texas Charter School Association, an advocacy group that says it represents more than 90 percent of Texas’ public charter school students, defended the schools’ performance.

“Harmony provides high quality teaching and learning at Harmony, perhaps best exemplified by their May 2017 nomination as a Broad Prize finalist for the best public charter school system in the nation,” charter school association spokesman Seth Winick said in an email.

Still, Dan Flynn said he will try again to pass the transparency legislation when the Texas Legislature reconvenes next year.

Carrie Levine contributed to this story.

Source: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/01/the-bizarre-american-lobbying-war-over-turkish-run-schools-216562

 

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Erdoga, Gulen, Public Charter schools, Turkey

Turkey issues arrest warrant for former CIA official Graham Fuller over coup attempt

December 1, 2017 By administrator

Toygun Atilla – ISTANBUL

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Dec. 1 issued an arrest warrant for Graham Fuller, the former vice-chairman of the National Intelligence Council of the CIA, over his alleged involvement in the July 2016 coup attempt.

The arrest warrant alleges that Fuller was in Turkey during the coup attempt on July 15, 2016 and left the country after the failure of the attempted military takeover.

The warrant accuses Fuller of “attempting to overthrow the government of the Republic of Turkey and obstructing the duties of the Republic of Turkey,” ”obtaining state information that must be kept secret for political and military espionage purposes,” and “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.”

It also states that Fuller was in contact with American academic Henri Barkey, who was also previously subject of an arrest warrant in Turkey, as well as other figures who played a role in the coup attempt.

Barkey is accused by prosecutors of organizing and coordinating the coup attempt in a meeting on Istanbul’s Büyükada island between July 15 and July 16, 2016.

Prosecutors claim that Fuller also participated in this meeting.

The arrest warrant comes after notorious Russian strategist Alexander Dugin had claimed during a recent TV broadcast in Turkey that both Barkey and Fuller attended the meeting on Büyükada. Dugin also stated that Russian intelligence agencies had “concrete evidence that CIA agents commanded the failed coup attempt.”

In 2006 Fuller wrote a letter supporting the U.S. green card application of Fethullah Gülen, who Turkey considers the coup’s mastermind.

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-issues-arrest-warrant-for-former-cia-official-graham-fuller-over-coup-attempt-123392

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: CIA, Graham Fuller, Gulen, Turkey

Erdogan Suggests Release of Jailed U.S. Pastor in Exchange for Gulen Extradition

October 1, 2017 By administrator

ANKARA, Turkey—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested that Ankara will free detained American pastor Andrew Brunson if Washington extradites exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

“‘Give us the pastor back,’ they say. You have one pastor as well. Give him to us…then we will try him and give him to you,” Erdogan said during a speech to police officers at the presidential palace in Ankara on Sept. 28, RT reported.

Turkey accuses Gulen of being behind last year’s failed coup attempt in the country.

“The [pastor] we have is on trial. Yours is not—he is living in Pennsylvania. You can give him easily. You can give him right away,” Erdogan went on.

Brunson was detained in Turkey on terrorism charges last October. As the pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church—a small Protesant church with about 25 congregants—Brunson was applying for Turkish permanent residency, having lived there 23 years, when he was imprisoned on Oct. 7, 2016, accused of being a member of the Gulen movement.

The U.S. says the pastor has been wrongfully imprisoned and has called for his release. According to a letter to the president of Turkey signed by 78 members of the U.S. Congress in February, “There appears to be no evidence to substantiate the charges against him for membership in an armed terrorist organization.”

U.S. President Donald Trump also asked Ankara to return Brunson to the U.S. in May, according to a statement released by the White House.

 

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Erdogan, exchange, Gulen, pastor

We will behead traitors’, says Turkey’s Erdoğan at ceremony marking July 15

July 16, 2017 By administrator

Welcome to Beheading Turkey

On Saturday (July 15), Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech before a large crowd gathered at the Bosporus Bridge in İstanbul to mark the first anniversary of the failed putsch.

Praising on the ‘heroic acts’ of the people who had come out to the streets on the night of the attempt on 15 July 2016, Erdoğan said: “That night, I had also headed towards here (İstanbul) with my energy minister and with my wife. We had found out that the traitor gang of FETÖ was behind it (the coup plot). Our nation had immediately stepped up. And, with the calls made by my prime minister and by myself, millions of our citizend had filled up the streets, squares, and in front of barracks against the coup plotter… 36 of our citizens got martyred by the tanks that had blocked this bridge… Just as it is the case today, my citizens had on their hands just the flag (of Turkey). And, they had even more effective weapon next to that. And, that weapons was their faith! On one side, there were my faithful people, on the other side, there were the unfaithful plotters… This is the difference between people who gather randomly and those who have a common past. The former takes the risk of sacrificing their lives when necessary. That night, we saved the future of 50 million people of Turkey. We cannot checkmate without crushing the pawns. So, we are first going to behead those traitors.”

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: beheaded, Erdogan, Gulen

Turkish Imam Gulen charter school abuse in US subject of new expose

May 15, 2017 By administrator

Lawyer Robert Amsterdam in the middle says book detailing Gulen movement school fraud and abuse in the US due out this July

Report By Anatolia news, We have to emphasize here that Anatolia also is piece-mouth of Erdogan 

Lawyer Robert Amsterdam says book detailing Turkish imam Gulen school fraud and abuse in the US due out this July,

NEW YORK 

The way the group blamed for last year’s coup bid in Turkey also abuses and exploits the U.S. charter school system is the subject of a new book-length expose.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, lawyer Robert Amsterdam said the book about the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its ringleader Fetullah Gulen, called the “Empire of Deceit,” should come out this summer.

FETO and the U.S.-based Gulen are accused by Turkey of being behind the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which martyred 249 people and left some 2,200 injured. It is also accused of infiltrating educational and other institutions both in Turkey and worldwide for its own ends, including subverting the state.

Amsterdam’s book is set to detail how FETO has exploited the U.S. charter school system to illegally funnel money to its leadership, fraudulently provide jobs to its followers, and discriminate against students.

“The story of Gulen in America, it will be a really shocking expose of Gulen’s abuse of the American charter school system, and the American taxpayer. It is the first of a series of books we’re going to be putting out about Gulen,” said Amsterdam, the founding partner of Amsterdam & Partners, a law firm investigating the Gulen’s movement’s activities.

“I am the writer, along with my staff. Many of us want to remain anonymous because many of us have been threatened, including myself. We’re negotiating with the publisher because we’re still just finishing the book and it’s only the first volume and our hope [for publication] is July,” he added.

“We have come to believe that the Gulen’s organization is a major security threat to mankind, not just the U.S. or Turkey,” he said, adding that the law firm’s investigation took it to 26 of the 50 U.S. states.

“It’s really quite shocking, the level to which the Gulenists have managed to exploit the American taxpayers, engaged in systematic criminal activity,” Amsterdam explained. “It is almost beyond the imagination to believe that a foreign organization could penetrate the U.S. this way.”

‘No limit to what Gulen could do’

Amsterdam said that Gulen’s movement controls around 70,000 students in 162 U.S. charter schools across the United States through front companies.

“There’s no limit to what Gulen could do in the U.S. especially under [former] President [Barack] Obama. Gulen’s political donations — he donates everywhere, but he had a real leaning to Obama and the Democrats, now he’s hiring every Republican,” he said.

According to Amsterdam & Partners’ website, the FETO-affiliated Harmony Public Schools in Texas has engaged in widespread abuse of the U.S.’ H1B visa program, misappropriation of public funds, and discrimination against certain students and families.

According to a fraud complaint the law firm filed with the Texas Education Agency on July 11, 2016 — just days before the defeated coup — Harmony, financed by over $250 million in U.S. federal and state tax money annually, hired a firm called Charter School Solutions (CSS) for $44 million to manage its buildings and properties.

But the complaint alleges that CSS, far from being an independent company, was actually managed by a Harmony employee.

“For the purpose of new buildings to be rented by Harmony schools, an additional $18.4 million was paid to CSS,” said the law firm’s statement, calling the financial malfeasance “shocking”.

Amsterdam & Partners filed a formal complaint in May 2016 against Harmony, urging Texas to conduct a full investigation based on a widespread pattern of fraud, discrimination, and abuse in the Harmony network.

According to the law firm, Harmony operates seven charter school districts serving 46 charter campuses in Texas and has links to FETO.

FETO is headed by Gulen, who runs a network of schools and commercial enterprises around the globe, including Harmony in Texas.

In the months since the coup, Turkey has been trying to root out FETO supporters based in Turkey, as well as encourage governments worldwide to do the same.

Turkey has also submitted extradition documents to Washington, pressing for Gulen’s return to Turkey to face justice for organizing the coup and other offenses.

*Reporting by Betul Yuruk and Mustafa Keles; Writing by Satuk Bugra Kutlugun.

Source: http://aa.com.tr/en/americas/feto-charter-school-abuse-in-us-subject-of-new-expose/816545

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: book, Gulen, Lawyer Robert Amsterdam, Turkey

Riyadh extradites 16 Turkish nationals over alleged Gulen links

May 6, 2017 By administrator

Saudi Arabia, on Ankara’s request, has extradited 16 Turkish nationals, who allegedly had links to an outlawed organization run by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, the nationals were detained by the Ankara police department’s counter-terrorism units upon arrival in the Turkish capital on Saturday, a few hours after Saudi authorities deported them to the Anatolian country on an aircraft.

Anadolu, citing unnamed Turkish sources, said the detainees had allegedly been organizing Hajj pilgrimage events in Saudi Arabia and had been transferring the income to Gulen’s movement, branded by the Turkish government as the “Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).”

Ankara accuses Gulen, an opposition figure, of orchestrating and masterminding the mid-July 2016 failed coup. He is also accused of being behind a long-running campaign to topple the government via infiltrating the country’s institutions, particularly the army, police and the judiciary. Gulen, however, has denied the accusations that he had a role in the abortive coup.

Since the attempted putsch Ankara has arrested some 40,000 people and sacked or suspended 120,000 others from a wide range of professions, including soldiers, police, teachers, and public servants, over alleged links with Gulen and his large movement.

On April 17, Turkey’s cabinet extended a post-coup state of emergency in the country for another three months, the third such measure since the failed putsch.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s highest judicial regulatory body issued warrants for the arrest of 17 judges and six prosecutors over “membership in an armed terror organization,” apparently FETO. The suspects were among 107 judges and prosecutors, who were dismissed from public service on Friday as part of an ongoing probe into Gulen’s banned movement.

Anadolu also reported that Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag would on Monday meet US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to discuss Ankara’s request for the extradition and provisional arrest of Gulen. It added that Bozdag, in his visit to Washington, would share new evidence with his American counterpart on Gulen’s case. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also due to visit the United States on May 15-17.

Turkey has on several occasions threatened that it would reconsider its ties with the United States if Washington fails to hand over Gulen. The White House has so far refused to extradite him, citing a lack of substantial evidence by Turkish authorities against him.

The international community and human rights groups have been highly critical of the Turkish president over the massive dismissals and the post-coup crackdown.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: extradiets, Gulen, Saudi Arabia, supporter

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