Fatih Tezcan, a pro-government public speaker and columnist, said in a video message posted on social media on Friday that people should gather in front of Silivri Prison, which mainly hosts people jailed over links to the Gülen movement, and set it on fire, similar to the Madımak Hotel in Sivas when an angry mob in 1993 torched the hotel, killing 37 people, mostly members of the Alevi sect.
Tezcan, who is known for extreme and violent suggestions against followers of the Gülen movement, which the Turkish government accuses of masterminding a failed coup last summer, also threatened the lawyers of people held in Silivri Prison, saying he knows their citizenship numbers, bar registration numbers and addresses, implying he would give the information to pro-government people if they insist defending them.
Claiming that the child of a martyr was slapped by lawyers in front of Silivri Prison, Tezcan said at least 5 to 10 thousand people should gather there, adding “Do you need someone to text you to get organized? Do you need a provocation? Do you need an Aziz Nesin [an Alevi intellectual whose speech allegedly provoked the Madımak massacre] to say something in order to gather in front of a place?”
Earlier in March, Tezcan suggested that Turkey should “bomb Pennsylvania” to kill Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, whose views inspired the Gülen movement, and the people in his close circle.
Tezcan said Pennsylvania, where Gülen lives in self-imposed exile, should be bombed like the Kandil Mountains of northern Iraq, where hideouts belonging to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are located.
“He [Gülen] should be executed in the place he lives. Not only Fethullah Gülen [should be killed], if there is a need for a list [of the people in Gülen’s close circle], I can provide it, but the relevant authorities have that list. Around 20-30 people [should also be killed],” Tezcan says in the video message.
He says there are around 200 countries in the world and that none of these countries should be a safe haven for Gülen followers.
Despite Gülen’s consistent messages against violence, the Turkish government, led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), has accused him of plotting a July 15 coup attempt and labeling the movement “terrorist” in the absence of any violent action by its followers.
Gülen has been living in self-imposed exile since 1999 in Pennsylvania. Over the years, a significant yet unknown number of people from Turkey have been inspired by his teachings promoting education and the peaceful coexistence of different faiths and have opened schools and dialogue centers around the world.
Turkey has been pursuing a relentless purge against real and perceived sympathizers of the Gülen movement that gained momentum after July 15.