Prosecutor seeks up to 34 years for Gülen in Tahşiye case

After the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office concluded a probe as part of the Tahşiye case and its allegations against key figures affiliated with the Gülen Movement, an indictment seeks a sentence of 19 to 34 years in prison for U.S.-based fugitive imam Fethullah Gülen. In addition, Samanyolu Media Group Chairman Hidayet Karaca and former police commissioners Tufan Ergüder, Ali Fuat Yılmazer and Yurt Atayün may also be found guilty of being members of a terrorist organization, forging official documents and libel.

Gülen is also a prime suspect in two other cases, including the 2010 Public Personnel Selection Exam (KPSS) cheating scandal and alleged illegal wiretapping activities of the Gülen Movement in state institutions. All three cases were previously merged, and Ankara has asked Interpol to issue a Red Notice for Gülen, who already has three arrest warrants for him in Turkey.

While the Tahşiye group is recognized as a branch of the Nur Movement, its leader Mehmet Doğan, who goes by the name "Molla Muhammet," was in the spotlight due to his remarks and actions against the Gülen Movement. The name Tahşiye was first issued by Gülen in 2009.

After the police launched an operation into the Tahşiye group in 2010 based on the accusation that the group is a threat to Turkey's national security, which was first expressed by Gülen a year earlier, 122 suspects were detained and Doğan was jailed for 17 months. After Gülen stoked the flames of an anti-Tahşiye campaign, media outlets close to the Gülen Movement, the Zaman daily being in the front rank, pressured the group and paid special attention to the issue.

A TV series called "Tek Türkiye" (One Turkey) televised on Samanyolu TV, a Samanyolu Media Group channel whose chairman is also accused in the aforementioned indictment, presented the Tahşiye group as a terrorist organization.

After being released from prison, Doğan pressed charges against members of the Gülen Movement who allegedly fabricated evidence against him. One of the most important pieces of evidence in the ongoing operation came from a raid on an alleged terror cell affiliated with the Tahşiye group. Fingerprints of alleged Gülenist police officers who conducted the operation were found rather than the fingerprints of the suspects.