ahlam1399
07-18-2016, 04:16 AM
What was once a marriage of convenience has become a bitter and damaging fight between two men that threatens to damage Turkish democracy and change its face forever.
When a group within Turkey’s military launched a coup on Friday night, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wasted little time in blaming Fethullah Gulen and his followers, which he describes as a terrorist organisation.
Gulen, an Islamic preacher and former imam, is the spiritual leader of the moderate Islamic Hizmet movement that spans dozens of countries. He has firmly denied any involvement.
His soft power in Turkey with thousands of followers, often called Gulenists by their opponents, offered Erdogan a base of supporters during the early years of his premiership from 2003.
The two men’s divorce in 2013 is often blamed on Erdogan’s efforts to reconcile with the Kurds in the southeast and his *****down on the schools run by the movement called dershanes where students get extra help to pass the university entrance exam.
The authorites detested the Gulen-run school system, fearing it was creating thousands of bright but loyal students who would take top positions in the police and judiciary.
They also saw Gulen’s hand in the 2013 protests over the Gezi Park development in Istanbul, which s**wballed into anti-government demonstrations across the country.
With Erdogan **w pressing the United States to extradite Gulen in the wake of the coup, their falling-out has **w taken on an international dimension that could damage Washington-Ankara ties.
According to Anthony Skinner, head of political risk at Verisk Maplecroft consultancy, the two men’s friendship was based on challenging the control by the then secular establishment.
The two groups wanted to weaken the military which had prior to Friday conducted three successful coups and forced the then-government out of ****** in 1997.
“They wanted greater control of the state. This was a burning priority for both the ruling AKP and the movement.”
Once in charge of the country, Skinner said there was a greater struggle for power, with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) having the upper hand.
Gulenists became antagonised when AKP began to taste greater success in elections, said the analyst, especially over Erdogan’s rule and efforts towards forging a peace deal with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party).
“We saw friction over the engagement with the PKK and the peace process,” he said, **ting it was the pro-Gulen press who in 2013 broke the news on secret talks between the two sides. Gulenists at the time said they supported peace but had concerns about the approach, Skinner said.
But critics say they had concerns over the threat to their network and influence in the Kurdish southeast.
The alliance unravelled in 2013 as Erdogan closed dershanes affiliated to Gulen. But the gauntlet was really thrown down in December 2013 with a massive corruption scandal that threatened to engulf Erdogan.
Three government ministers were forced to resign over the affair which the government described as a Gulen-inspired coup attempt.
Since the investigation, the two appear to have been involved in tit-for-tat attacks with social media leaks of alleged recordings of Erdogan and allies exposing corruption within the government, which they denied vehemently.
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When a group within Turkey’s military launched a coup on Friday night, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wasted little time in blaming Fethullah Gulen and his followers, which he describes as a terrorist organisation.
Gulen, an Islamic preacher and former imam, is the spiritual leader of the moderate Islamic Hizmet movement that spans dozens of countries. He has firmly denied any involvement.
His soft power in Turkey with thousands of followers, often called Gulenists by their opponents, offered Erdogan a base of supporters during the early years of his premiership from 2003.
The two men’s divorce in 2013 is often blamed on Erdogan’s efforts to reconcile with the Kurds in the southeast and his *****down on the schools run by the movement called dershanes where students get extra help to pass the university entrance exam.
The authorites detested the Gulen-run school system, fearing it was creating thousands of bright but loyal students who would take top positions in the police and judiciary.
They also saw Gulen’s hand in the 2013 protests over the Gezi Park development in Istanbul, which s**wballed into anti-government demonstrations across the country.
With Erdogan **w pressing the United States to extradite Gulen in the wake of the coup, their falling-out has **w taken on an international dimension that could damage Washington-Ankara ties.
According to Anthony Skinner, head of political risk at Verisk Maplecroft consultancy, the two men’s friendship was based on challenging the control by the then secular establishment.
The two groups wanted to weaken the military which had prior to Friday conducted three successful coups and forced the then-government out of ****** in 1997.
“They wanted greater control of the state. This was a burning priority for both the ruling AKP and the movement.”
Once in charge of the country, Skinner said there was a greater struggle for power, with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) having the upper hand.
Gulenists became antagonised when AKP began to taste greater success in elections, said the analyst, especially over Erdogan’s rule and efforts towards forging a peace deal with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party).
“We saw friction over the engagement with the PKK and the peace process,” he said, **ting it was the pro-Gulen press who in 2013 broke the news on secret talks between the two sides. Gulenists at the time said they supported peace but had concerns about the approach, Skinner said.
But critics say they had concerns over the threat to their network and influence in the Kurdish southeast.
The alliance unravelled in 2013 as Erdogan closed dershanes affiliated to Gulen. But the gauntlet was really thrown down in December 2013 with a massive corruption scandal that threatened to engulf Erdogan.
Three government ministers were forced to resign over the affair which the government described as a Gulen-inspired coup attempt.
Since the investigation, the two appear to have been involved in tit-for-tat attacks with social media leaks of alleged recordings of Erdogan and allies exposing corruption within the government, which they denied vehemently.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/WgusB7FCevI
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~3/WgusB7FCevI/135702-Erdogan-and-Gulen-uneasy-allies-turned-bitter-foes)