Turkish court releases journalist who commemorated Fethullah Gülen under judicial control measures

Duvar English

A Turkish court on Oct. 22 issued a judicial control order upon journalist Aysın Komitgan for wishing condolences for the deceased leader of the Gülenist organization Fethullah Gülen.

Accordingly, the journalist is required to report to the local police station weekly and received a ban on leaving the country. Komitgan was detained on Oct. 21 after expressing condolences over the death of Gülen in a social media post. 

Komitgan said during the online program she produced, "The news of Fethullah Gülen’s death has come. He passed away yesterday. The news of his death has been confirmed by close sources and his nephew. What can we say? May he rest in peace."

The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office of the western Bursa province launched an investigation into Komitgan on charges of "terrorist organization propaganda."

After being detained, Komitgan was referred to court today following procedures at the Anti-Terror Branch Office. 

Her employer, a local website, announced they have dismissed Komitgan.

The journalist later issued a statement on her personal social media account, saying her message was misinterpreted. 

"To clearly express my feelings, it is absolutely impossible for me to wish peace for the death of the leader of FETÖ, who had treacherous plans against our country, regardless of my 40-year career as a journalist."

She continued, "Due to my inability to fully express my feelings during the live broadcast, I ended up using such a phrase. Since live broadcasts have no take-backs, I unfortunately chose this phrase among the hundreds of words that came to my mind. It is truly upsetting that a sentence spoken with human emotions has been distorted to this extent."

The Gülen movement is known for its expansion of education institutions not only in Turkey but also in the world, training and placing its own members for key state positions, especially in education and security. 

The Gülen movement was once close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), but their ties were strained in 2013 following a graft probe.

The Dec. 17-25, 2013 corruption investigations targeted figures close to the AKP and then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The probe broke the AKP's once-friendly ties to the Gülen movement as prosecutors purportedly close to the movement launched the wide-ranging probes.

Moreover, the Turkish government says Gülen and his movement organized the coup attempt of July 2016 and has designated his network as a terrorist group, dubbing it “Fethullahist Terror Organization,” or “FETÖ.”

More than 150,000 government employees have been dismissed or suspended from their jobs since the failed coup in 2016, in what the AKP government says is an effort to cleanse the state apparatus of Gülenists, though among those purged have included high numbers of Kurds, leftists, and union members.

The movement is not publicly active in Turkey anymore, with most of its members being jailed.