The political conflict between the AK Parti-ruled Turkish government and the Gülen movement began in 2013.

With similarities in ideology, the AK Party and the Gülen Movement have long maintained a mutual non-aggression pact, with the latter using their judicial influence to limit opposition from Turkey's secular establishment to the AK Party's religious conservatism. Traditionally cosy relations between the AK Party government and the Gülen Movement turned sour in late 2013 after Gülen criticised the government's response to the Gezi Park protests, the corruption scandal and the government's policy of closing down Gülen's private "prep-schools".The so-called "prep-schools" were "weekend courses that prepare high school students for university exams".

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-AK Party 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.

Background

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 Saylorsburg, 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.

The Gülen Movement's leader, Fethullah Gülen, managed to maintain a large number of supporters worldwide through the use of sympathetic media outlets, events, schools and charities. Several companies and organisations were affiliated with the movement until they were shut down, such as Samanyolu TV and Bank Asya. The movement is also supported by numerous political parties, mostly by the AKP between 2002 and 2013. Smaller parties such as the Democratic Progress Party and the Nation and Justice Party have also been accused of being sympathetic to Gülen's cause. The main opposition Republican People's Party was accused of maintaining informal links with the movement during the 2014 local elections. Independent ex-MPs, such as Hakan Şükür, are also seen as staunch followers of the movement.

Belligerents

Turkish state Gülen MovementGovernment and state 61st Government of Turkey 62nd Government of Turkey General Directorate of Security Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors National Intelligence Organisation (MİT) Political parties and organisationsJustice and Development Party (AKP) 1,043 private schools Republican People's Party 15 universities Victory Party 1229 charities Patriotic Party 35 medical institutions Independent Turkey Party 19 trade unions Homeland PartyMedia and companies Sabah Zaman Yeni Şafak Taraf Yeni Akit Bugün Star Millet Türkiye Cihan Haber Ajansı Akşam Bank Asya TRT Samanyolu TV TRT Haber Samanyolu Haber Milat Mehtap TV Beyaz TV Kanaltürk TV8 Burç FM NTV Bugün TV Kanal 7 Samanyolu Haber Radyo ATV Ebru TV Kanal D Sızıntı A Haber Samanyolu Avrupa Show TV Aksiyon CNN Türk Dünya Radyo Star TV Yeni Ümit Daily Sabah Today's Zaman Milliyet Dünya TV Hürriyet Radyo Mehtap Habertürk Irmak TV Ülke TV Kanaltürk Radyo TGRT Haber Cihan Radyo 24 Radyo Bamteli Haber Global MC EU TV Key people Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Fethullah Gülen Binali Yıldırım Enes Kanter Freedom Ahmet Davutoğlu Ekrem Dumanlı Abdullah Gül Hidayet Karaca Emrullah İşler Erhan Bilgili Bülent Arınç Bekir Bozdağ Hakan Şükür Kenan İpek İdris Bal Hakan Fidan İdris Naim Şahin

Start of the conflict

2012 allegations The first signs of a conflict came in February 2012, where the request for the National Intelligence Organisation (MİT) undersecretary Hakan Fidan to give evidence regarding the promotion of several AKP politicians known to be close to the Gülen Movement. In response to these claims, AKP deputy leader Hüseyin Çelik claimed that 'crows would laugh' at allegations that the Gülen Movement had taken over the state.

Gezi Park protests

After environmentalists protests in Gezi Park, Taksim Square turned into general protests against government authoritarianism in June 2013, Gülen began making statements from Pennsylvania that were regarded as some to be critical of the government's perceived heavy handed response. These were seen as the first major signs that the alliance between the AKP and the Gülen Movement were waning. The government's response to the protestors were criticised internationally, with the United States condemning the disproportionate violence and the European Union stalling Turkey's accession negotiations.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan refused to negotiate with protestors, calling them 'a handful of looters' and accusing several protestors of backing violent terrorist groups such as DHKP-C. In response, Gülen released a statement claiming that the future of a park was not worth a life, calling for both sides to end their respective struggles and negotiate in a peaceful manner.

Cram school (dershane) crisis

The conflict between the AKP and the Gülen Movement was fully underway after the government proposed a new law that would force several private cram schools, many of which are owned by the Gülen Movement, to close. In response, the pro-Gülen media began a strong campaign against the government's proposals. The Zaman newspaper, which is the most prominent pro-Gülen newspaper in Turkey and also one of the most widely circulated, carried headlines such as 'An educational coup' and 'Such a law was never even seen in the coup years'. Furthermore, the paper claimed that not even the employment sector wanted the colleges to be forcefully closed and also printed 1.5 million copies of a special edition accompanied by an additional brochure entitled 'Cram School' (Dershane). In response to Zaman's campaign, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated that his cabinet had agreed to put the new legislation to Parliament in November 2013. Ekrem Dumanlı, the general circulation manager of Zaman, wrote an open letter to Erdoğan in his column on 25 November 2013. On the same day, Fethullah Gülen himself released a statement entitled 'We will go on without stopping!'.

The law received parliamentary approval in February 2014 and took effect a year later in February 2015.

2004 MGK controversy

While the controversy was ongoing, editor Mehmet Baransu from the Taraf newspaper wrote an article on 28 November 2013 claiming that the decision to bring down the Gülen Movement had in fact been taken during a National Security Council (MGK) meeting in 2004. The article claimed that the formal decision to end the movement's political influence had been signed in August 2004 by both Prime Minister Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül. Erdoğan's chief advisor Yalçın Akdoğan denied the claims, but his denial failed to convince the pro-Gülen media. Samanyolu TV alleged that a decision for the National Intelligence Organisation to maintain surveillance on individuals was included in the leaked documents.

In response to the leaking of MGK documents, Prime Minister Erdoğan made a statement reiterating his decision to abolish cram schools, while slamming the leak as an act of national treason.

Resignation of AKP MPs The cram school crisis created a split within the AKP's parliamentary group, with pro-Gülen MPs openly voicing their concern over the new educational legislation. These included İdris Bal, who vocally criticised his party's policy on cram schools and was subsequently referred to the party's disciplinary board for suspension. In statements made to the press, Bal had claimed that closing cram schools would mean many youths would be unable to make it to university. When his imminent suspension became certain, Bal resigned from the AKP. He later formed the Democratic Progress Party (DGP) in November 2014, with many media outlets describing the party as the party of the Gülen Movement. Before the June 2015 general election however, Bal resigned as the leader of his new party, accusing the pro-Gülen media of limiting his party's ability to reach out to voters. This cast doubt over initial claims that the DGP was a pro-Gülen political party.

Another key resignation was that of Hakan Şükür in December 2013, who is openly a follower of Gülen and strongly critical of his party's cram school policy. Şükür revealed after his resignation that he had been to visit Gülen on numerous occasions while still an AKP Member of Parliament, telling Gülen that he wanted to resign from his party. He claimed that Gülen had delayed his decision.

2013 government corruption scandal

17 December operations On 17 December 2013, a wave of arrests targeting businessmen, bankers and most notably the sons of four serving cabinet ministers in Erdoğan's government were arrested during an anti-corruption operation. The allegations that a banknote counting machine had been found in serving Interior Minister Muammer Güler's son's house, as well as the revelation that large amounts of money had been hidden in shoe boxes in the house of the CEO of Halkbank caused a media storm. A total of 80 people were arrested, with 24 formally charged.

Following the anti-corruption operations, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç issued a statement saying that the government knew who was behind the operations and that any intervention of a group within the governance of the state would be dealt with accordingly. Erdoğan called the arrests a 'dirty operation'.

On the same day as the operation, five branch managers from the Istanbul Directorate of Security were removed from their posts. Two new prosecutors, Ekrem Aydıner and Mustafa Erol, were assigned to deal with the corruption cases, alongside the existing two prosecutors Celal Kara and Mehmet Yüzgeç due to the extensiveness of the case. Kara and Yüzgeç, the two existing prosecutors, were late removed from the case. Mustafa Erol later resigned from the case. The entire corruption investigation was subsequently dealt by a single prosecutor, namely Ekrem Aydıner. The fact that only one prosecutor was now presiding over a case where two prosecutors had originally been assigned due to a heavy workload led to allegations that Aydıner was acting on the in favour of the government's demands.

Following the operation, the government branded the investigation as a 'planned psychological attack', 'an illegal group within the state' and 'dirty games being played within and outside the Turkish state'. While the government did not name the Gülen Movement specifically, Gülen recorded a message full of religious imprecations. Most media and political commentators claimed that the government's accusations were clearly directed at either the Gülen Movement, or a segment within the Gülen Movement. The movement had by now been branded a 'parallel structure' operating within the state.

Cabinet reshuffle and resignations