Turkish undersecretary says he was threatened by Gülenists over promotion in 2013

TRABZON

An Education Ministry undersecretary said on Dec. 31 that he was threatened not to accept the promotion that brought him to his current post back in 2013 by a minister of the time, who added that if he did accept the promotion he would be “humiliated.”

Undersecretary Yusuf Kenan Tekin said he had faced a “denigration campaign” after January 2013, when he was delivered a “greeting from Fethullah Gülen.” He said he was told that if he accepted the promotion given to him by then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Gülen’s followers would make him face such humiliation “that he would not be able to go out in public.”  

Tekin said he had been publicly stating that “this monopoly [of the Gülenists] is a serious betrayal to the country’s independence and future. They are alienating this country’s children and youth through brainwashing at their private tutoring courses.” 

Upon the undersecretary’s claim, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Istanbul deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu has issued a parliamentary inquiry to be responded by Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, asking if he knew what minister Tekin was referring to.

Tanrıkulu asked if Tekin “had given information to the prime minister of the time about this incident and whether he shared this information with prosecutors probing the Gülen organization.” He also questioned why Tekin had chosen to reveal this information now rather than at that time of the threat.