{"id":1955,"date":"2017-11-27T14:59:20","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T15:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.com\/senior-gulenist-captured-by-turkish-agents-in-sudan\/"},"modified":"2017-11-27T14:59:20","modified_gmt":"2017-11-27T15:59:20","slug":"senior-gulenist-captured-by-turkish-agents-in-sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/senior-gulenist-captured-by-turkish-agents-in-sudan\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior Gulenist captured by Turkish agents in Sudan"},"content":{"rendered":"

madaresharghi<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

A high-ranking member of the movement of Pennsylvania-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, whom the Ankara government accuses of having masterminded the failed July 2016 coup, has been captured by Turkish intelligence agents in a joint operation with their Sudanese counterparts.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\n

\n\tSecurity sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Memduh Cikmaz, who is referred to as the \u201cmoney vault\u201d of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), appeared at a court hearing in the northern city of Corum\u00a0via video link as he was being transferred to Bakirkoy Court in Istanbul from the city\u2019s Ataturk International Airport.<\/p>\n

\n\tCikmaz told the court he had been living in the Sudanese capital city of Khartoum, and was a partner in a brick factory.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe court remanded him in custody, saying there was “strong evidence of crime” and suspicion “he may flee.”<\/p>\n

\n\tCikmaz was sought with an arrest warrant for “leadership of an armed terrorist group.”<\/p>\n

\n\tThe security sources said agents from Turkey\u2019s National Intelligence Organization (M\u0130T) found about the whereabouts of \u00c7\u0131kmaz two months ago. He has apparently transferred millions of dollars to FETO from Sudan.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso on, Istanbul\u2019s 26th Heavy Penal Court\u00a0began the trial of 50 former soldiers accused of attempting to occupy a municipality building during last year\u2019s botched putsch.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe assault left 14 people, including professor Ilhan Varank, the older brother of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s Chief Adviser Mustafa Varank,\u00a0dead.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, a Turkish court has ordered an academic, who is on hunger strike in protest against her dismissal after last year’s failed coup, to stay in prison despite the prosecutor’s call for her release.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe court decided to keep Nuriye Gulmen, who is on trial on terror charges, behind bars even though the prosecutor had stated that there was no risk of her absconding.<\/p>\n

\n\tHer lawyer Omer Faruk Eminagaoglu said he did not know why Gulmen was kept in custody after the judges at her trial at Sincan prison complex in Ankara province gave no explanation.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThey gave their decision and soon after left the courtroom, because of this, it is not possible to understand why they made this decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe development comes after last month’s release of teacher Semih Ozakca, who is also on hunger strike and facing similar charges as those of Gulmen.<\/p>\n

\n\tGulmen and Ozakca first began a protest late last year after their dismissal in the wake of last year’s failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They started the hunger strike in March.<\/p>\n

\n\tTurkish official arrested the pair in May on charges of affiliation to the far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) militant group. They both deny the charges and describe them as fabricated.<\/p>\n

\n\tOzakca was released on October 20, but was ordered to remain at home and only allowed outside for any approved hospital visits or to attend court hearings.<\/p>\n

\n\tHuman rights activists have warned against the heath condition of the academics, who have been on hunger strike for 264 days.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey say the hunger strikers only consume salty or sugary water, herbal tea and vitamin B1.<\/p>\n

\n\tGulmen was transferred into intensive care in September. Her family claim this was against her will.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn July 15, 2016,\u00a0a faction of the Turkish military declared that it had seized control of the country and Erdogan\u2019s government was no more in charge. The attempt was, however, suppressed a few hours later.<\/p>\n

\n\tTurkey also accuses\u00a0Gulen of being behind a long-running campaign to topple the government via infiltrating the country\u2019s institutions, particularly the army, police and\u00a0the judiciary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tGulen has denounced the \u201cdespicable putsch\u201d and reiterated that he had no role in it.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAccusations against me related to the coup attempt are baseless and politically-motivated slanders,\u201d he said in a statement in July.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cleric has also called on Ankara to end its \u201cwitch hunt\u201d of his followers, a move he said was aimed at \u201cweeding out anyone it deems disloyal to President Erdogan and his regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTurkish officials have frequently called on their US counterparts to extradite Gulen, but their demands have not been taken heed of.<\/p>\n

\n\tTurkey, which remains in a state of emergency since the failed coup,\u00a0has been engaged in suppressing the media\u00a0and opposition groups\u00a0suspected to have played a role in the botched coup.<\/p>\n

\n\tTens of thousands of people have been arrested in Turkey on suspicion\u00a0of having links to Gulen and the failed coup. More than 110,000 others, including military staff, civil servants and journalists, have been sacked or suspended from work over the same accusations.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe international community and rights groups have been highly critical of the Turkish president over the massive dismissals and the crackdown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

madaresharghi A high-ranking member of the movement of Pennsylvania-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, whom the Ankara government accuses of having masterminded the failed July 2016 coup, has been captured by Turkish intelligence agents in a joint operation with their Sudanese counterparts. Security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Memduh Cikmaz, who is referred to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[296,118,28,31,159,639,178,56,213,84,95,82,68,22,23,27],"yoast_head":"\nSenior Gulenist captured by Turkish agents in Sudan - madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/senior-gulenist-captured-by-turkish-agents-in-sudan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senior Gulenist captured by Turkish agents in Sudan - madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"madaresharghi A high-ranking member of the movement of Pennsylvania-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, whom the Ankara government accuses of having masterminded the failed July 2016 coup, has been captured by Turkish intelligence agents in a joint operation with their Sudanese counterparts. 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