“No room for the traitor!” an assailant shouted after attacking with a mop stick a Çanakkale man who was detained as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement, which the government accuses of masterminding a coup attempt on July 15.
Top government officials have called on people to lend a hand in its all-out war against sympathizers of the movement, a call that seems to have resonated within some segments of society.
Waited his target until he got out of medical control at the Çanakkale State Hospital, an angry man lunged at one of 35 others who were detained over their links to the movement, on Thursday.
Hitting the head of the man with an iron mop stick, the assailant heatedly shoted: “No room for the traitor!”
While the victim was taken into hospital for another medical check, the assailant was reportedly detained by police.
Came a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said no place is safe for Gülenists, the Çanakkale attack was the latest of such incidents as the Turkish government has gradually geared up its discriminatory discourse against the followers of the movement since July 15.
In mid-August, Turkey’s consul general in Rotterdam called on people to “do their part” against Gülen followers. An Amsterdam-based Gülen follower was attacked a day after the statement of the consul general.
A furniture shop owned by Ekrem Gök, the president of the Kırıkkale Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was assaulted with gun early early on September. Gök had earlier been arrested over his alleged ties to the movement.
Several stores across Turkey that sell books of Gülen were earlier been reported to have been looted by angry mobs. (Turkey Purge)