Indonesian government discontinues activities of Gülenist NGO

Activities of the Gülen Movement-affiliated nongovernmental organization Pacific Countries Social and Economic Solidarity Association (PASIAD) in Indonesia has been discontinued in the country, in another blow to the movement's global network.

Sources indicate that the Indonesian government decided to terminate the activities of the nongovernmental organization, due to the movement's being accused in Turkey of seeking to overthrow the government and infiltrating top state institutions, including the police and judiciary, and wiretapping thousands of people including senior officials, journalists, actors, heads of nongovernmental organizations and others. It is also expected that several other countries in the region plan to discontinue operating licenses with nongovernmental organizations linked to the movement.

On Oct. 26, the international law firm of Amsterdam & Partners LLP in Washington announced their engagement on behalf of the Republic of Turkey to assist in the investigation into the global activities of the movement.

The Gülen Movement, which operates a vast network of schools on six continents, operates a large number of charter schools in the U.S. Many schools disavow any links to the movement, however, especially after a terror probe was launched in Turkey against it.

In 2014, the FBI raided 19 charter schools affiliated with the movement in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois for reasons allegedly related to unfair education contracts. Their schools have also faced closures elsewhere in the world. Azerbaijan, a close ally of Turkey, shut down schools the movement operates in the country shortly after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited, as did Gabon and Senegal. In January, Tajikistan announced that it will not extend the agreement it made with the Gülen Movement for permission to operate schools in the country. Kosovo, Congo, Kazakhstan, Japan and Somalia have launched processes to close the movement's schools.

Leader of the movement, Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. is accused of leading a criminal organization and officials have reported that sufficient solid evidence has been discovered proving the crimes he is accused of.