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Turkey’s crackdown on Gülen movement continues, returning asylum seekers puts them at risk, report warns

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Turkey’s crackdown on alleged members of the Gülen movement is continuing despite claims by some Western governments that the persecution of the group is easing, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing a new report by the Turkey Tribunal.

The report, authored by Professor Em. Dr. Johan Vande Lanote, warns that recent shifts in asylum policies, such as those by the Netherlands and Norway, are based on the mistaken belief that Turkey’s crackdown on alleged members of the movement has softened. Data and case studies show, however, that thousands continue to face arrest, prosecution and systemic social exclusion.

“Sending people back to Turkey, knowing the consequences they will face, is a violation of fundamental human rights,” the report said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations revealed in December 2013 implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan as well as some members of his family and inner circle.

Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began to target its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch in 2016 that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.

Despite claims by the Dutch and Norwegian governments that criminal prosecutions of Gülenists have decreased in intensity, the report presents data indicating that thousands of individuals continue to face detention and legal proceedings. It warns that deporting individuals accused of ties to the movement exposes them to continued persecution, including arbitrary detention, long prison sentences and social blacklisting.

Despite a decline in mass arrests compared to the immediate aftermath of the abortive putsch, Turkish authorities conducted 4,902 operations against alleged Gülen members in 2024 alone, detaining 6,727 people and arresting 935.

“The figures prove that persecution is ongoing and systematic,” the report states, noting that legal action against individuals linked to the movement remain at a high level. “The chances of prosecution for those not yet targeted have not diminished.”

The study revealed that Turkish authorities have not only continued detaining alleged members of the movement but have also expanded the scope of persecution to include individuals accused of financially or morally supporting families of imprisoned member of the movement.

One documented case in the report details how a man in Denizli was prosecuted after police placed him under surveillance for visiting the gravesite of a deceased member of the movement. Authorities monitored him praying at the site and deemed the act “suspicious activity.”

In another case, 48 individuals, including 14 teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 17, were detained in May 2024 for allegedly disseminating “terrorist propaganda.” The minors were interrogated without legal representation and detained for 15 hours, with the primary evidence against them being their attendance at tutoring sessions led by individuals with alleged Gülen ties.

There is also evidence that released prisoners — even those who have served their sentences — remain under constant surveillance by Turkish authorities. Police continue to track and profile former inmates, restricting their ability to reintegrate into society.

Furthermore, Turkish prosecutors continue to rely on evidence that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled to be insufficient and arbitrary, violating fair trial standards, including use of the ByLock messaging app, having accounts at the now-closed Bank Asya and membership in officially registered non-profits and labor unions.

In a landmark decision, the ECtHR ruled in 2023 that Turkey’s use of ByLock messaging app as well as bank accounts and labor union membership as criminal evidence to be unlawful. Yet, this and subsequent ECtHR decisions did not change Turkey’s judicial practices.

Turkish Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç openly rejected the ruling, saying Turkey would not apply it, and the Turkish Constitutional Court similarly dismissed its relevance.

Despite this, some European nations wrongly assume that Turkey’s judicial practices have improved, leading to policy shifts that put asylum seekers at risk of deportation and further persecution.

ByLock, once widely available online, has been considered a secret tool of communication among supporters of the movement since the coup attempt despite the lack of any evidence that ByLock messages were related to the abortive putsch.

The report also cites cases of individuals who, after serving their full sentences, were subjected to new legal proceedings with the accusation that they are part of efforts to restructure the Gülen movement in Turkey. Those providing financial assistance or social support to families of jailed Gülen movement followers have also been frequently targeted in recent judicial actions.

Individuals accused of links to the Gülen movement also face lifelong social and economic marginalization, according to the study, even if they are not convicted of any crime. Turkish authorities have assigned social security codes (Codes 36 and 37) to suspected member of the movements to prevent them from finding employment, accessing healthcare or enrolling their children in school.

This exclusionary policy amounts to systemic persecution, forcing many to seek asylum abroad. It warns that returning participants of the Gülen movement to Turkey constitutes a violation of Articles 3 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibit inhumane treatment and guarantee fair trials.

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