Teacher Abducted From Kenya Could Serve 15 Years In Jail, Turkis Prosecutor Recommends.
According to the Kronos news website, a Turkish prosecutor has recommended that a teacher who was forcibly returned from Kenya to Turkey last year due to his affiliation with the faith-based Gülen movement be sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of terrorist organization membership.
Selahaddin Gülen, the nephew of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, was returned to Turkey in May 2021 by agents from Turkey’s intelligence agency (MIT). An Ankara court arrested him in June on charges of establishing and running an armed terrorist organization.
The Turkish government accuses the Gülen movement of masterminding a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, and labels it a “terrorist organization,” despite the movement’s vehement denial of any involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
On Tuesday, the prosecution submitted its opinion in Gülen’s trial at a high criminal court in Ankara, saying Selahaddin Gülen’s activities constitute the crime of terrorist organization membership rather than establishing and running a terrorist organization, as originally alleged in the indictment.
For establishing and running a terrorist organization, the indictment sought a prison sentence of up to 22 years and six months for Gülen.
Since the December 17-25, 2013, corruption investigations that implicated then-Prime Minister Erdoan, his family members, and his inner circle, President Recep Tayyip Erdoan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement.
Seriyye Gulen, a Kenya-based Turkish teacher whose husband was kidnapped in Nairobi on May 3rd
After dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began targeting its members. Following the failed putsch on July 15, 2016, he stepped up his crackdown on the movement.
According to a Freedom House report on global transnational repression in 2021, the Turkish government’s campaign targeting dissidents abroad has increased in intensity, geographic reach, and suddenness, with Turkey ranking first among countries that have conducted renditions from host states since 2014.
According to the report, Ankara’s campaign has primarily targeted members of the Gülen movement, but the government has begun to employ the same tactics against Kurdish and leftist individuals living abroad.
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According to the Freedom House report, the Turkish government has pursued its perceived enemies in at least 30 host countries spread across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia since a failed coup attempt in 2016.
Since the attempt, Turkey has sent 800 extradition requests to 105 countries, and more than 110 alleged members of the movement have been brought back to Turkey as part of the government’s global campaign.
Selahadden’s uncle, Fethullah Gulen (pictured), denies involvement in a botched coup in 2016
Teacher Abducted From Kenya Could Serve 15 Years In Jail, Turkis Prosecutor Recommends.
