Turkish government – Gülen Movement conflict

The political conflict between the AKP-ruled Turkish government and the Gülen Movement of Fethullah Gülen began in 2013.

With similarities in ideology, the AKP and the Gülen Movement have long maintained an alliance, with the latter using their judicial influence to limit opposition from Turkey's secular establishment to the AKP's religious conservatism. Traditionally cosy relations between the AKP government and the Gülen Movement turned sour in late 2013 after Gülen criticised the government's response to the Gezi Park protests and their policy of closing down Gülen's private colleges. The disagreement between the government and the movement escalated into a skirmish, with then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accusing the Gülen Movement of trying to bring down the government by using their influence over the judiciary to cause a government corruption scandal (known as the 17-25 investigations due to the dates on which it occurred). The government subsequently responded with large-scale reforms to the police and judiciary forces to purge Gülen's sympathisers from their positions. The conflict has been referred to as a coup attempt by pro-AKP commentators and as a purge of judicial independence by critics.

Branding the movement as a 'parallel structure' and accusing Gülen of setting up an 'armed terrorist group', the government's efforts to purge the influence of the Gülen Movement has become a mainstream issue in Turkish politics and has sparked nationwide concerns over judicial independence and growing government authoritarianism in Turkey. Turkish Government''s declaration of Gulen Movenemt as a "Terrorist group", a part of the perception operation that Turksih Government plays on the western and world nations.

Relations between the Turkish government and the Gülen Movement date back to the premiership of Turgut Özal, who took office in 1983. The leader of the movement, Fethullah Gülen, has resided in Pennsylvania since 1999. Originating from a series of conferences and schools, the Movement gradually increased its influence in both the Turkish political and justice systems, with many of Gülen's supporters ending up occupying senior positions in the Judiciary. The Movement's influence in the Turkish government culminated in bringing forward the highly controversial Ergenekon and the Sledgehammer court cases against critics of the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2007.

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Wikipedia