The number of people affected by the Turkish government’s crackdown on the Gülen movement has already surpassed 1 million, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said.
During a TV program on Monday Kılıçdaroğlu slammed the ever-widening government operations against sympathizers of the movement. Underlining the significance of the principle of individual criminal responsibility, Kılıçdaroğlu said there are people victimized by the ongoing purge in every district of Turkey’s 81 provinces.
“There are people who were suspended from their jobs just because they had sent their children to schools affiliated with the movement. There are people who have been fired. But Turkey has a Cabinet minister who himself graduated from a movement-affiliated school,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in reference to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law and current Energy Minister Berat Albayrak.
Kılıçdaroğlu complained that one of his advisers had also been arrested over alleged links to the movement, which the government accuses of masterminding a coup attempt on July 15. More than 40,000 people have been detained and 24,000 arrested over ties to the movement since July 15.
“Were they all involved in a coup? Are they all putschist?” asked the CHP leader.
According to party sources, the CHP has received 37,143 applications in which citizens complained about unfair treatment during the coup purge, since July 15. (Turkey Purge)