Cübbeli Ahmet's claims about the Furkan Movement on CNN Türk

In a television programme, nine separate accusations were listed one after another. They all share the same feature: no trial has yet begun. A statement said to have entered an investigation file is not thereby true or proven of itself; the existence of an offence is established before an independent court, with evidence obtained lawfully, and by a final judgment.

Article 38 of the Constitution says this in a single sentence: no one may be held guilty until guilt is established by a judgment. Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights gives the same guarantee. Even news reports pass these accusations on with the reservation "claim", "it was alleged", "it was reflected in the file"; for a commentator to turn the same sentences into a settled verdict is to try to shape opinion before the judiciary does.

The screen is not a courtroom; the guest on a programme is not a prosecutor, and a commentator is not a judge.

The claims listed, and the answers to them

The three headings below are taken up on this site for the first time; each is answered in detail on its own page. You can open them by clicking on the headings.

"The foundation has companies"

There is no commercial company belonging to the Furkan Foundation. It is ordinary that among the people who attend the lessons and support the activities there should be tradespeople and company owners; a person in business coming to a foundation's lesson does not make their company that foundation's company. Presenting religious or social closeness as a relationship of commercial ownership is not evidence but an error of reasoning. That measures were applied to certain companies within the scope of the investigation does not prove that those companies belong to the foundation either.

"They are laundering money in Germany"

Money laundering is a grave and technical accusation; for it to be uttered on screen, concrete evidence and a final judgment are required. That there are people abroad who hold the same view does not show that there is an unlawful financial organisation among them. There is no joint financial structure of the kind claimed.

"Salafi, pro-Iranian, pro-PKK, supporter of FETÖ"

These labels are inconsistent among themselves: the attempt to link the movement at one and the same time with structures that are incompatible with one another intellectually, politically and in matters of belief is itself proof that what is at hand is not evidence but denigration. What has to be asked is plain — with which organisation, on what date, through whom, and what kind of contact? While these questions go unanswered, the labels listed carry no weight.

Qurban and zakat donations

It is ordinary for foundations, associations and religious communities to carry on their activities with voluntary donations; the existence of donations is by itself neither an offence nor a taint. The real question is where what is collected goes and what it is used for, and the scholarly, social and humanitarian work carried out is open to public view. A vague sentence such as "they have serious income" is not enough for an accusation of crime.

Criticising the government

That those who govern can be criticised is a requirement of public oversight; in Islam too, reminding a ruler of what is right and just has been counted a responsibility. Not a single piece of concrete evidence has been produced showing that the breaking up of the country, harm to the nation or the collapse of its institutions was wanted.

"Furkan Intelligence Organisation", "Execution Squad", sharia court

No unit founded under such a name exists; the accounts that a court was set up within the movement, that people were tried there and that punishments resembling the bastinado were carried out are rejected. The question is plain: is there a final court decision about these accusations? Can a single person be pointed to who went through this or who did it?

"A Hizbullah-like structure"

This is not a legally defined accusation but a comparison chosen to awaken associations of violence and terror in the memory. The activities carried out for years consist of conferences, panels, talks and scholarly lessons; the ideas have been set out not in secret cells but from open platforms.

FETÖ and 15 July

Even in the period when the government and the Gülen structure were close, the movement criticised the ideas and practices of that structure which it saw as wrong. Some passages from assessments belonging to the time before 15 July and to the course of the coup attempt have for years been put into circulation torn from their context. The earlier trial on this matter ended in acquittal; repeating the same accusations despite a judgment of acquittal is not compatible with the principles of law.

Declaring a "criminal organisation" before the trial has begun

Arrest is not a punishment but a temporary protective measure whose conditions are laid down in law; a decision to arrest does not mean that the offence has been established. The power to give judgment belongs not to television commentators, newspaper headlines or social media accounts, but to independent and impartial courts that will weigh the evidence.

What is in the records

Some of these claims have been examined before and have entered the official records. The relevant parts of reports originating from the police, TEM and MİT are in the Details section at the bottom of the page. The Furkan Foundation is an institution that has been commended with a plaque by the police force for its social and community work.

Notice to publish a retraction

The programme's moderator Ahmet Hakan and those responsible for the broadcast have been given notice to publish a retraction, failing which legal and criminal remedies will be pursued.