Former Gülenist columnist implies Dec. 17-25 was coup attempt, nothing to do with graft
by Daily Sabah
ANKARAAug 19, 2014 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah
Aug 19, 2014 12:00 am
The Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 operations launched by prosecutors linked to the Gülen Movement, seen by many as an effort to topple the government, had nothing to do with bribery claims, said Hüseyin Gülerce, a columnist within the movement
A well-known figure of the Gülen movement, Hüseyin Gülerce, made striking comments about the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 coup attempts in which he pointed out the timing of the operations, refusing to call them bribery and corruption investigations.
As one of the prominent members of the movement and former columnist for the pro-Gülen newspaper Zaman, Gülerce evaluated the last presidential election and the latest developments in a TV broadcast on Sunday night. During the program, Gülerce stressed that the public does not believe the claims of bribery and corruption, and said, "no one can convince him, though." "Those [Dec. 17 and 25 operations] were never bribery and corruption investigations for me. It was the third step after the Feb. 7 MİT [National Intelligence Agency] crisis and Gezi Park events. I have a clear conscience about that," said Gülerce, and underlined the timing of the probes. "The AK Party [Justice and Development Party] is in power for 12 years.
In the first decade, there was no bribery, corruption or unearned income case, but then these honest prosecutors and police noticed that ministers and their sons are doing such things. They even go further attempting to arrest the prime minister's son. Nobody can say this is a corruption case."
About the rumors that claim that Prime Minister and President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will be an authoritarian leader, he pointed out that Erdoğan was elected president by the people in Turkey's first direct presidential election. "He may use warrants if they have been given in the Constitution as a strong president, and it is not true to reflect this situation as becoming authoritarian," he said. Gülerce also harshly criticized the people who disregard the AK Party's success in elections, and who despise AK Party voters. "They are also those who support the tutelage system," he said.
About Fethullah Gülen's sermon after the election, Gülerce indicated that he cannot associate maledictions with democracy. "Because there is no result as you wished from the boxes and the elections, you do not have a right to insult voters and their will. It is nonsense to affront half of society," he said.
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