Turkey | Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Part 6
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Posted by Mary Chastain on August 05, 2016 3 Comments
A Turkish court has officially issued an arrest warrant for Fehtullah Gülen, an Islamic scholar who resides in Pennsylvania, over the failed coup a few weeks ago. The government insists he and his followers coordinated it even though they have not given out concrete evidence. Officials have sent extradition documents to the U.S. over Gülen at least twice.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on August 03, 2016 3 Comments
As a recent immigrant to Germany, it was all the more painful for me to watch 30,000 demonstrators in the city of Cologne -- majority of them second or third generation migrants of Turkish-origin -- marching in support of Erdogan’s takeover of Turkey. Thousands chanted ‘Allahu Akbar’ as they welcomed dignitaries belonging to Erdogan’s Islamist party AKP. For millions like them, more than 50 years of state-sponsored project of Multiculturalism has neither created a bond loyalty to their adopted home nor a sense of value for the liberties and freedoms that one so naturally enjoys in the West.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 02, 2016 13 Comments
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has continued his rhetoric that the West had a hand in the failed coup three weeks ago. Why is all of this important? Turkey is still a member of NATO and the U.S. uses their base to strike ISIS in Syria. He said:
"The West is supporting terrorism and taking sides with coups," Erdogan said, adding that forces unhappy with Turkey's rise as a regional power were behind the coup.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 31, 2016 11 Comments
On Saturday night, Turkish forces and protestors surrounded the Incirlik Air Base, which the U.S. uses to conduct airstrikes against ISIS in Syria. The government claims the incident was merely a safety inspection. https://twitter.com/Conflicts/status/759530079076712448

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 29, 2016 2 Comments
Turkish journalist Mahir Zeynalov spent this morning tweeting pictures and bios of some of the journalists detained by the Turkish government. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan seems to think they have connections to Fehtullah Gülen, who he blames for the coup, or at least that is the excuse for the round up. https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov/status/759021471045980160

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 28, 2016 6 Comments
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has shut down over 130 media outlets as he continues his crackdown on a failed coup two weeks ago. Erdoğan believes Fethullah Gülen's followers orchestrated a coup that failed miserably. Now anyone he suspects supports the scholar will lose their job or be detained without any proof.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 25, 2016 8 Comments
Turkey continues to purge people after a failed coup two weeks ago. Authorities said ambassadors are next while Amnesty International reported authorities have raped and tortured the detainees already behind bars. Turkey blames the Gülen Movement and have said everyone purged has connections to the group. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said they are no concentrating on his department:
"Some personnel in the ministry had been given answered questions... and some personnel were placed in key positions in the ministry," he told broadcaster France 24.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 23, 2016 5 Comments
The Turkish purge of academia, which has been ongoing long before the recent failed coup, has accelerated since the coup attempt. Over 1500 university Deans were dismissed, travel for faculty restricted, and faculty abroad ordered home. On Saturday, July 23, 2016, President Erdogan expanded the purge, as we reported earlier. The Christian Science Monitor further reports:
President Tayyip Erdogan tightened his grip on Turkey on Saturday, ordering the closure of thousands of private schools, charities and other institutions in his first decree since imposing a state of emergency after the failed military coup....

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on July 23, 2016 6 Comments
As Mary noted when she wrote about Erdogan's issuance of a three-month state of emergency, the purges have indeed continued and dramatically expanded beyond their initial scope: "What began as an effort to root out members of the military and security forces directly involved in the July 15 coup attempt has been extended to eliminate the Gulen movement’s influence from education, academia and the civil service." Reports are emerging that Turkey has moved forward with its plans to "purge" all purportedly Gulen-linked institutions and organizations. Bloomberg reports:
The Turkish government’s decision to shut down and seize the assets of organizations linked to the alleged mastermind of last week’s failed coup has come into force, and ministers continued to reassure foreign leaders and investors that the country isn’t backsliding on democracy and economic reforms.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 21, 2016 2 Comments
Yesterday I asked the question, in light of the academic purge in Turkey, Will anti-Israel academic boycotters now also boycott Turkish universities? As noted in that post, over 250 university presidents and major university associations have condemned the academic boycott of Israel. In particular, the December 2013 adoption of the academic boycott of Israel by the American Studies Association was condemned as violation of academic freedom. Read the dozens and dozens of statements describing how the ASA has violated academic freedom here.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 21, 2016 6 Comments
The Turkish parliament has formally approved a three month state of emergency after a failed coup last Friday. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promises its needed to protect Turkey's democracy:
“The aim is to rapidly and effectively take all steps needed to eliminate the threat against democracy, the rule of law and the people’s rights and freedoms,” Mr. Erdogan said.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 20, 2016 7 Comments
It was one of the most notorious statements of the academic boycott movement against Israel. Shortly after the American Studies Association adopted the academic boycott of Israel in December 2013, and a firestorm of condemnation by University Presidents and associations erupted, then ASA President Curtis Marez justified singling out Israel because "one has to start somewhere":
The American Studies Association has never before called for an academic boycott of any nation’s universities, said Curtis Marez, the group’s president and an associate professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, San Diego. He did not dispute that many nations, including many of Israel’s neighbors, are generally judged to have human rights records that are worse than Israel’s, or comparable, but he said, “one has to start somewhere.”
In that single phrase, "one has to start somewhere," was the hypocrisy and essential anti-Semitism of the BDS academic boycott movement laid bare.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 20, 2016 9 Comments
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reached out to President Barack Obama about extraditing Fethullah Gülen, who he blames for the failed coup on Friday. The White House said:
“The president made clear to President Erdogan that the United States doesn’t support terrorists and doesn’t support individuals who conspired to overthrow a democratically elected government,” according to White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on July 20, 2016 9 Comments
With terrorists associated to the Islamic State striking one European city after another, Secretary John Kerry went on CNN saying, the ISIS was “on the run.” The blood wasn’t yet washed off the pavements of Nice, France where an Islamist mowed down 84 people to death, an Afghan ‘refugee’ went on a stabbing spree in the southern Germany city of Würzburg. As German decision makers go deeper in denial and continue to plead helplessness in face of Islamist attacks, terrorism is fast becoming the 'new normal' for Europe. Just hours after the terrorist attack in Würzburg, Germany’s Refugee-Czar Peter Altmaier reassured the country that “refugees posed no increase security threat.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 19, 2016 18 Comments
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues to purge those allegedly involved in the failed coup on Friday. Today, the Education Ministry sacked 15,200 teachers, canceled 21,000 licenses at private schools, and asked deans at universities to leave:
“Our ministry is carrying out extensive efforts aimed at public personnel in central and rural districts who have connections to FETÖ. As of today, 15,200 public officials have been suspended and investigations were launched into them,” the statement released from the ministry’s Twitter account read.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 18, 2016 14 Comments
European Union commissioner Johannes Hahn told the media he believes President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made his purge list before the coup:
"It looks at least as if something has been prepared. The lists are available, which indicates it was prepared and to be used at a certain stage," Hahn said. "I'm very concerned. It is exactly what we feared."
The government has arrested more than 6,000 people, some who did not even know they participated in the coup. They claimed their commanders told them "they were taking part in military manoeuvres."

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 17, 2016 14 Comments
Turkish authorities have demanded the U.S. extradite Fethullah Gülen, leader of the Gülen Movement, because they believe he orchestrated the coup. They even said keeping him in the states is a "hostile act" towards the regime:
“I do not see any country that would stand behind this man, this leader of the terrorist gang especially after last night. The country that would stand behind this man is no friend to Turkey. It would even be a hostile act against Turkey,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım told reporters at a press conference on July 16 as the coup attempt has been foiled earlier in the day.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 16, 2016 3 Comments
*UPDATE* Turkey has resumed operations at Incirlik air base after they cut it off due to the failed coup. https://twitter.com/FranTownsend/status/754412322513358852 The U.S.'s airstrikes against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) have stopped due to Turkey's failed coup. Authorities stopped all flights from the Incirlik air base:
“At this time, Turkish authorities are not permitting aircraft to depart Incirlik,” an American military official said on Saturday morning.