Contrary to accusations made by President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan and the Turkish government, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament has concluded that Fethullah G\u00fclen and the movement he inspired as a whole were not behind a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15.<\/p>\n
The committee concluded that \u201cGiven the brutality of the events of 15 July, the severity of the charges made against the G\u00fclenists, and the scale of the purges of perceived G\u00fclenists that has been justified on this basis, there is a relative lack of hard, publicly\u2013available evidence to prove that the G\u00fclenists as an organisation were responsible for the coup attempt in Turkey. While there is evidence to indicate that some individual G\u00fclenists were involved, it is mostly anecdotal or circumstantial, sometimes premised on information from confessions or informants, and is\u2014so far\u2014inconclusive in relation to the organisation as a whole or its leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
A statement issued Saturday morning by the FAC as it released its report said, \u201cThe Committee took evidence from the G\u00fclenists, including an oral hearing which stands as a rare example of the movement being scrutinised in public,\u201d and that in contradiction to claims made over the past two years by Erdo\u011fan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, \u201cThe FCO [The Foreign & Commonwealth Office] did not have evidence to justify the designation of the G\u00fclenists as a terrorist organisation by the UK, and the Committee agrees with this assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n
A report titled \u201cThe UK\u2019s relations with Turkey\u201d and issued on Saturday by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee also elaborated on the issue.<\/p>\n
Underlining that \u201cnine months after the coup attempt, neither the UK nor Turkish governments can point the FAC to one person who has been found guilty by a court of involvement in the coup attempt, let alone anyone being found guilty with evidence of involvement with G\u00fclenist motives,\u201d the report said: \u201cWe also note that, despite Turkey purportedly submitting 80 boxes of \u2018evidence\u2019 to the US to achieve the extradition of Fethullah G\u00fclen on the basis that he masterminded the coup attempt, the US judiciary has not yet moved to deport him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cG\u00fclenists are unlikely to have been the only elements involved in the coup attempt. Kemalist elements within the military, those who opposed the AK Party, or those who simply wished to preserve their own positions, are also likely to have been involved. Some, especially in the lower ranks of the military, appeared to have taken part, at least initially, without realising that they were involved in a coup attempt,\u201d the report added.<\/p>\n
After statements from Germany and the US<\/strong><\/p>\n The UK Parliament statement came a week after Germany rejected Erdo\u011fan and the Turkish government\u2019s accusations against the G\u00fclen movement about July 15.<\/p>\n Last week the head of Germany\u2019s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), Bruno Kahl, said Turkey could not convince them that US-based Turkish-Islamic scholar G\u00fclen was behind a failed coup attempt on July 15.<\/p>\n Similarly, Devin Nunes, chairman of United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he has not seen any evidence showing G\u00fclen\u2019s involvement in the failed coup attempt in Turkey.<\/p>\n Democratic culture and human rights undermined<\/strong><\/p>\n In the statement, the Foreign Affairs Committee also affirmed the importance of Turkey as an international partner for the UK but raises concerns about the weakening of both democracy and human rights in the country as the UK moves to strengthen the bilateral relationship.<\/p>\n Expressing that the UK was right to support Turkey against the threat posed by the coup attempt, the FAC, however, underlined: \u201cThe actions undertaken by the Turkish government under its current State of Emergency undermine democratic culture and human rights in Turkey. In the effort to secure its wider interests, the UK risks being perceived as deprioritising its own values in human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the scale of the threat faced by Turkey, the committee concluded that the Turkish government\u2019s response has been disproportionate.<\/p>\n Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Crispin Blunt MP, commented:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cTurkey is an important strategic partner facing a volatile period. It needs and deserves our support, but that support needs to include our critique where Turkish policy is not in its own, or our joint long-term interests: these are regional security and stability as well as strong and accountable institutions in Turkey.<\/em> <\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: Turkish Minute<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Contrary to accusations made by President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan and the Turkish government, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament has concluded that Fethullah G\u00fclen and the movement he inspired as a whole were not behind a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15. The committee concluded that \u201cGiven the brutality of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[1667,1870,1308,5523],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u201cThe current purges by the Turkish government amount to a root-and-branch attempt to eradicate the G\u00fclenist movement from positions of public influence, but they have also extended beyond that to affect opposition and pro-Kurdish activists.<\/em>
\n\u201cLarge numbers have been punished on the basis of a broad and vague definition of \u2018terrorism\u2019 and a worryingly low threshold of evidence. Many of those dismissed and detained have been punished without trial or access to the evidence against them. There are alarmingly inadequate avenues for redress.<\/em>
\n\u201cThese purges risk undermining Turkey\u2019s reputation, its economy, the UK\u2019s ability to trade there, and the capabilities of the Turkish military against shared enemies such as ISIL. More fundamentally, they undermine the values of human rights and democracy in Turkey, already significantly weakened before the coup.<\/em>
\n\u201cWe met President Erdo\u011fan during our visit, and he has made himself as central to twenty-first century Turkey as Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk was in the twentieth century. But now is a profound moment of decision for him and his divided country. Whether he secures an executive presidency or not, the choices that President Erdo\u011fan now makes will determine whether Turkey will be a repressive or a recovering state. Avoiding catastrophe, and instead shaping a positive outcome, is clearly in the interest of the UK\u2019s economy, security, and values.<\/em>
\n\u201cThe FCO must help Turkey reinforce accountable state institutions, while also developing ties far beyond them: the UK needs a deeper and therefore more durable relationship with the Turkish people, whichever background they hold, while working to uphold the values of human rights and democracy that benefit them all.<\/em>
\n\u201cThe Foreign Affairs Committee visited Turkey in January 2017 and put questions to the senior political leadership, including President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan. It heard from a wide range of activists, journalists, and analysts \u2013 as well as business leaders and young Turkish citizens.<\/em>
\n\u201cThere is an intolerance of alternative narratives in Turkey, with the Turkish government broadly suppressing, discrediting, or punishing those who contradict its authorised accounts of sensitive events. The powers afforded by the State of Emergency\u2014combined with a vaguely-framed definition of terrorism, a pliant media, and a politicised judiciary\u2014have allowed the government to silence a broad spectrum of critics by labelling them as \u2018G\u00fclenists\u2019 or \u2018terrorists\u2019 on the basis of light evidence or broad interpretations. While the Committee supports the British Government\u2019s effort to win itself a voice to help deliver a positive future for Turkey, it must not forget its responsibilities to promote our democratic values. And therefore it recommends that Turkey is listed as a Human Rights Priority country.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n