Turkish justice has formally returned to court the sworn enemy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the imam Fethullah Gülen, claiming against him to 34 years in prison for terrorism, reported the pro-government news agency Anatolia.
The preacher, who lives in the US, is being prosecuted for “constitution of a criminal armed gang”, forgery and defamation by terrorism prosecutor of Istanbul, who also asked her incarceration, said Anatolia. Turkish justice had from December 2014 issued an arrest warrant against Mr. Gülen but the US has refused to extradite him.
Long time ally of the Islamic-conservative regime in power since 2002 in Turkey, the imam is accused Erdogan of trying to overthrow the piloting an extensive anti-corruption investigation launched in late 2013 against the current president and his family. The preacher, who runs a large network of schools, businesses and NGOs called Hizmet (“service” in Turkish), has always denied the allegations, denouncing a “witch hunt.”
In addition to Mr. Gülen himself, the Istanbul’s prosecutors also returned to court the owner of the TV channel Samanyolu, five former senior members of the police and 26 other people. All suspected of being close to the Gülen nebula, face up to 26 years in prison.
For nearly two years, the head of state has made many purges against followers of Hizmet, particularly in the police and justice or thousands of officials were transferred, dismissed or even imprisoned. His government has also launched numerous legal proceedings against what he calls a “parallel state”.
Earlier this month, police launched an operation against a holding close to the Gülen nebula, the Ipek media group. Wednesday, she also questioned the CEO of the industrial group Boydak, Boydak Memduh, which was released Thursday, reported the Doğan news agency.
Stéphane © armenews.com