Before the failed coup, in which more than 240 people were killed, the authorities had already seized Islamic lender Bank Asya, taken over or closed several media companies and detained businessmen on allegations of funding the cleric’s movement.
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In a 2,527-page indictment approved by prosecutors in the Usak region of western Turkey, Gulen is charged with “attempting to destroy the constitutional order by force” and “forming and running an armed terrorist group” among other accusations, the Anadolu news agency reported.
After a Cabinet meeting in Ankara Monday afternoon, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus announced a set of new government decrees targeting suspected Gulen supporters who have been dismissed from government jobs, including stripping some of them of their titles. “But, my valuable citizens, we won’t act in the spirit of vengeance”, Yildirim said during his weekly address to his ruling party’s legislators.
Last week, Tayyip gave the United States an ultimatum regarding the preacher’s rendition.
The government owns 49 percent of Turkish Airlines, which employs more than 16,000 people, and has a controlling vote on the board.
The prime minister’s comments marked a change in tone after Erdogan said earlier this month that if the Turkish public wanted a return to capital punishment, then political parties would follow their will. No doubt, those responsible for the blood of our martyrs will be brought to account.
Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday demanded two life sentences plus 1,900 years in prison for US -based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara has blamed for masterminding a failed coup bid last month, local media said.
The attack targeted a traffic-police station on a highway linking the city of Diyarbakir and the town of Batman, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Enis Feyzioglu, who was head of aircraft and corporate finance at Turkish Airlines before his contract was terminated on July 24, said he also opened a case at the Istanbul court.
Western allies worry that President Tayyip Erdogan is using the putsch and the purge that has followed to tighten his grip on power.
On Tuesday, Turkish prosecutors requested two life sentences and a further 1,900 years in prison for Gulen.
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The group has used foundations, private schools, companies, student dormitories, media outlets and insurance companies to serve its goal of taking control of all state institutions, it added.
