Islamic scholar Gülen sues Turkish PM for libel

ISTANBUL – Agence France-Presse

Media outlets close to the Gülen movement have slammed Prime Minister Erdoğan for using 'hate speech.' CİHAN photo

U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has sued Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for allegedly “denigrating and insulting” remarks.

Lawyers representing Gülen filed a complaint on Feb. 3 demanding 100,000 Turkish Liras in damages from Erdogan.

The prime minister has repeatedly accused Gülen’s Hizmet (Service) movement of orchestrating the deeply damaging graft corruption probes, which led to the resignation of three ministers whose sons were detained in raids carried out on Dec. 17.

The government has responded to the graft investigations by sacking or reassigning hundreds of police officers and prosecutors, which has been harshly denounced by the Gülen movement.

Media outlets close to the movement have also slammed Erdoğan for using “hate speech” and converting them into a target. 

The Gülen-affiliated Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) urged President Abdullah Gül to intervene in order to prevent “an important part of society from being subjected to political and social lynching” on Feb. 3.

A former ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Gülen movement entered into open conflict with the government following the latter’s move to shut down test prep schools (dershanes) on November.