No investigation into Islamic scholar Gülen

While government newspapers and TV stations join a chorus saying that a criminal investigation has been launched into US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen over allegations of “staging a coup” against the state, sources close to the judiciary deny any probe.

A day after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that his government will seek extradition of Gülen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999, government dailies said the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has started an investigation into him. Sources close to the prosecutor's office, however, denied any investigation, saying that the prosecutor has only examined petitions lodged by pro-government people against Gülen.

For a criminal investigation, legal experts point out, strong evidence is needed. And the prosecutor is examining content of complaints forwarded by Erdoğan supporters based on reports of the government media, as part of routine process designed to find any viable accusation backed up by evidence. To move on and launch criminal investigation, prosecutors need to deem the complaints sufficient in legal terms. In this case, no investigation has been launched yet, as most of complaints filed by Erdoğan supporters only include government media reports on Gülen and the Hizmet movement.

Published on Today's Zaman, 30 April 2014, Wednesday

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