The new Turkey
Timeline Gulen movement/FETÖ September 2018

Medical professor, caught while fleeing from Turkey to Greece, gets 15.5 years in jail

The chief physician of the now-closed Turgut Ozal University Hospital, identified as M.Y., was given15.5 years in prison.M.Y. and his wife U.Y., also a medical professor, were caught red handed while they were attempting to escape from Turkey’s post-coup witch-hunt to Greece in Nov, 2016.The couple were allegedly on their way to take a boat on Evros river to illegally cross the Turkey-Greek border.

Gendarmerie who first intercepted the couple in the border province of Edirne found fake passports and ID cards on them as their original passports had been earlier revoked over ties to the Gulen movement.

Appearing before the court for their final hearing on Aug 29., M.Y. was given 10.5 years on charge of membership to the movement and another 5 years for “forgery of official documents,” while his wife was sentenced to 3 years on charge of aiding the movement and another 5 years for forgery.” Source

Detention warrants issued for 13 at Naval Forces Command over Gülen links

Turkish prosecutors have issued detention warrants for 13 officers at the Naval Forces Command over their alleged links to the Gülen movement, which is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a failed coup attempt in July 2016, the gazeteduvar news website reported on Monday.

One of the officers for whom a detention warrant was issued is a major, according to the report. On Monday, Turkish police teams conducted operations across eight provinces to detain the officers as part of the Ankara-based operation.Source

18,128 people in Turkey detained over Gülen links in last 8 months

The Turkish Interior Ministry announced on Monday that 153 people were detained last week as part of investigations into the faith-based Gülen movement, bringing the total number of people detained in the first eight months of the year to 18,128.

A total of 17,085 people had been detained over alleged links to the movement by the end of July 2018. Source

Detention warrants issued for 13 at Naval Forces Command over Gülen links

Turkish prosecutors have issued detention warrants for 13 officers at the Naval Forces Command over their alleged links to the Gülen movement, which is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a failed coup attempt in July 2016, the gazeteduvar news website reported on Monday.

One of the officers for whom a detention warrant was issued is a major, according to the report.

On Monday, Turkish police teams conducted operations across eight provinces to detain the officers as part of the Ankara-based operation.

The Turkish government has dismissed over 40,000 military personnel including gendarmerie and military cadets over alleged links to the Gülen movement since the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the tr724 new website reported on Aug. 4. Source

Detention warrants issued for 25 soldiers over FETÖ links

An Ankara prosecutor on Sept. 4 issued detention warrants for some 25 officers with the Gendarmerie General Command, according to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. The soldiers - all serving lieutenants - are suspected of communicating with “covert imams” of FETÖ, the group behind the July 2016 defeated coup.

The suspects were sought by police in 16 provinces across Turkey. So far, 23 of the suspects have been detained in the Ankara-based operations. Source

Yet another 12 teachers detained as part of Turkey’s post-coup investigations

At least 12 teachers were taken into custody as part of an investigation into the Gulen movement in Turkey’s several cities.

Media said Tuesday that an Antalya prosecutor issued warrants for 15 people over their alleged ties to the movement. 12 of the suspects, who used to work as teachers before their licenses were revoked were rounded up in Antalya, Aydin, Manisa and Ordu provinces.

Turkish government accuses Gulenists of being behind the July 15, 2016 failed coup while the latter denies involvement. More than 90,000 people were put in pre-trial detention over Gulen links so far. Source

Turkish courts slap prison sentences on 22 FETO members

Turkish courts convicted 22 Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) members, judicial sources said on Wednesday.

In capital Ankara, a former Justice Ministry official accused of being an imam of the terror group was sentenced to eight years in prison for being a member of an armed terrorist organization. The convict used ByLock, an encrypted cellphone app used by FETO members during and prior to the 2016 attempted coup.

A court in the central province of Eskisehir convicted 21 people in an investigation on the terror organization’s infiltration of the gendarmerie forces.

Three convicts sentenced to between four and six years in prison were released due to the time they spent in detention. The remaining convicts received sentences of between three and six years in prison. Source

Balıkesir parents arrested on coup charges, 3-year-old left in intensive care: HDP deputy

Gülistan Karabulut and Erol Karabulut, two Turkish citizens and the parents of 3-year-old old Ekrem Karabulut, have been sent to a prison in Balıkesir province over alleged links to Turkey’s Gülen group, which is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a coup attempt in July 2016.

According to Mehmet Ali Aslan, a former pro-Kurdish deputy, Ekrem is left alone in the intensive care unit of Ege University Hospital. The former deputy also said in a tweet on September 3 that the mother, Gülistan Karabulut, is pregnant with a second child.

The couple is being sought over “membership in an armed terrorist organization” and “attempting to destroy the unity of the state and nation.”

Turkish police detain 12 suspected of Gülen links as part of post-coup crackdown

Turkish police detained 12 people on Friday in Kayseri and Tokat provinces as part of the government’s post-coup witch hunt targeting alleged members of the Gülen movement.

According to a report by the state-run Anadolu news agency, counterterrorism police conducted an operation on Friday at a vineyard in central Kayseri province, where 10 people were detained.

The detainees, who were reported to have been previously released by a court pending trial in a case involving their alleged links to the Gülen movement, are suspected of trying to re-establish connections with other alleged members of the movement. Two people were also detained in Tokat province on Friday over their alleged links to the movement. Source

Turkish prosecutors issue warrants over soldiers’ alleged links to Gülen movement

Turkish prosecutors have issued arrests warrants for 102 current and former members of Turkey’s armed forces, state-run Anadolu news agency said on Monday. The suspects are being sought over alleged communications with members of the outlawed Gülen movement, which the Turkish government accuses of being behind a failed coup attempt in July 2016.

Fifty-six of the suspects have so far been arrested in Istanbul.

In a separate development, Anadolu said a prosecutor in the Turkish capital of Ankara issued warrants for 13 colonels, three of them in active service. The warrants are part of a crackdown launched by the government following the coup attempt. Tens of thousands have since been imprisoned and more than 100,000 have lost their jobs.

Turkish officials say the crackdown is needed to purge those associated with the Gülen movement from positions of influence. Others suggest the Turkish government’s actions are aimed at silencing and intimidating all dissenting voices within Turkish society, pointing to the often flimsy nature of the evidence used to support accusations and charges. Source

51 soldiers, 9 civilians detained over Gülen links in post-coup investigations

Turkish authorities on Monday detained 51 soldiers and nine others over alleged links to a US-based cleric who Ankara claims orchestrated a failed coup in 2016 against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Reuters reported, citing the İstanbul police.

Those detained were among 89 suspects whose detention was ordered in an investigation launched by İstanbul prosecutors and spread over nine provinces, it said.

In a separate legal action, Ankara prosecutors issued detention warrants for 13 senior officers, all with the rank of major and of whom three are on active duty, according to the Hürriyet newspaper.

Since the abortive putsch, more than 400,000 people have been investigated by Turkish prosecutors over alleged Gülen links. According to Justice Ministry data, in excess of 30,000 people with alleged links to the movement are in prison.

Meanwhile, the Ankara 16th High Criminal Court handed down jail sentences to 115 people who were arrested as part of an investigation into the movement’s alleged infiltration in the Turkish Air Forces.

239 people detained in a week over Gülen links

The Turkish Interior Ministry announced on Monday that 239 people were detained last week as part of investigations into the faith-based Gülen movement.

A total of 18,128 people had been detained over alleged links to the movement by the end of August 2018.

Turkey arrests 85 active-duty soldiers over Gülen links

The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in the Turkish capital of Ankara issued on Friday warrants for 110 soldiers of the Turkish Air Forces Command and 85 soldiers have been arrested, Anadolu Agency reported .

The soldiers have been arrested suspected over links to Gülen movement, a religious group Turkish government accuses of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016 

The arrest warrants have been issued for three colonels, two lieutenant colonels, six squadron leaders, three captains, 18 first lieutenants, a second lieutenant and 77 sergeants, the prosecutor’s office said.

6 soldiers, who were stationed in NATO's İncirlik airbase in the southern Turkish province of Adana, have also been arrested as a result of the Ankara-based operations initiated in 16 cities across Turkey.

total of 19 suspects were detained in counterterrorism operations across Turkey for their alleged links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).

An arrest warrant had been issued for some 20 soldiers by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Ankara.

The soldiers -- all serving lieutenants -- are suspected of communicating with "covert imams" of FETÖ.

FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader

Detention warrants issued for 61 FETÖ-linked officers

Prosecutors issued detention warrants for 61 suspects, all military officers, for links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). Operations are underway across Turkey to detain the suspects. Eighteen among the suspects are serving officers while the rest were retired or dismissed from the army previously. Among them were members of Land Forces and Naval Forces.

Detention warrants issued for 36 active duty, 25 former military officers over Gülen links

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday issued detention warrants for 36 active duty and 25 former military members as part of an investigation into the faith-based Gülen movement, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

According to the report, the prosecutor’s office is also seeking 10 people who are claimed to be links between the movement and the officers.

Thirty-three of the officers and six civilians have been detained in police operations in 23 provinces, while 32 are still at large.

In a similar development last Friday and Monday, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued detention warrants for 171 active duty and purged military officers over alleged links to the movement.

Military judges, prosecutors sentenced over FETÖ links

A court in the capital Ankara handed down prison terms to 26 defendants for membership in the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) at a hearing yesterday. The defendants were former military judges and prosecutors.

Fourteen defendants were sentenced to seven years and six months in prison while 12 others were sentenced to six years and three months. A separate trial will be held for five other defendants.

Turkish courts arrest 88,000 people over alleged links to Gülen movement since 2016 coup bid

The Turkish government has investigated over 445,000 people and arrested some 88,000 as part of its massive post-coup witch hunt targeting alleged members of the Gülen movement since a controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016, according to data compiled by the Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF).

With at least 36,495 people still held in prison over their alleged links to the Gülen movement, human rights violations and maltreatment perpetrated by the Turkish government have been routine vis-a-vis alleged members of the movement.

Prosecutor asks for life sentences for 31 in coup attempt trial

A pprosecutor yesterday asked for aggravated life imprisonment for 31 defendants and prison terms up to 15 years for 35 others in a trial of putschists who tried to seize power during the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

The defendants in the trial in the capital Ankara are members of the Special Forces Command, an elite unit of the Turkish army. They were deployed at the Command's headquarters in Ankara when putschists loyal to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) moved to seize power. All defendants are accused of the takeover of the headquarters and were captured by anti-coup forces after the putsch was quelled.

Col. Ümit Bak and Lt. Col. Mehmet Ali Çelik commanded the takeover as the highest-ranking officers at the headquarters at the time of the coup. The other defendants are lower-ranking officers. The indictment against them says they tried to persuade and force other troops at the headquarters to join them.

Zekai Aksakallı, head of Special Forces Command, was the target of the putschists. The general was not at the base at the time and managed to escape abduction when putschist officers tried to grab him from his car. Aksakallı then phoned other top officers in the Command, trying to convince them not to join the coup. Ümit Bak responded to a phone call by Aksakallı, saying his new commander is Semih Terzi.

Terzi, a brigadier general stationed in southeastern Turkey, flew to Ankara to assume the command of the Special Forces on behalf of the putschists. Ömer Halisdemir, a non-commissioned officer who served as an aide to Aksakallı, shot Terzi dead but was killed by Terzi's entourage. Halisdemir is hailed as one of the heroes of the coup attempt that killed 251 people as the Special Forces Command was a key location to capture for the putschists. Source