Arrest warrant for Gülen politically motivated, lawyer says

Nurullah Albayrak, a lawyer representing Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Islamic scholar, said on Tuesday that Gülen's arrest warrant is politically motivated.

Speaking to Today's Zaman, Albayrak stated Justice Minister Kenan İpek's recent remarks to the pro-government Sabah daily, in which İpek said the ministry will do everything necessary to bring Gülen back to Turkey from the US, has proven that the investigation into Gülen is not being conducted in compliance with the law.

"İpek's statement proves that including Gülen's name on a list of terrorist leaders is a politically motivated move instead of being in compliance with the law, and also shows that the claim that Gülen has links to terrorism is a plot, set up by pro-government media aiming to defame him," Albayrak noted.

Underlining that the recent arrest warrant violates penal laws in Turkey, Albayrak went on to say: "So far, Gülen has not been called to testify related to any charge. His address is known and clear. According to international law, he can give a statement to the security officials in the US. The conditions for issuing a warrant against a person living abroad are defined by the law. However, all of these conditions are absent in the case of Gülen. My client and I expect the Turkish judicial officials to act according to international law by running the judicial process in an open, transparent and timely manner."

Published on Today's Zaman, 17 November 2015, Tuesday