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ANKARA: Gulen lobby influences US lawmakers letter on Turkey

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  • ANKARA: Gulen lobby influences US lawmakers letter on Turkey

    Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkey
    February 13, 2015 Friday

    Gulen lobby influences US lawmakers letter on Turkey


    Dozens of US House members who received campaign donations from
    entities linked to a wanted Turkish preacher, may have signed a letter
    critical of Turkey without checking facts.

    By Kasim ILERI
    WASHINGTON

    Some signatories to a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry by U.S.
    House members critical of Turkish press freedoms, have received
    financial benefits while insufficiently fact-checking claims made in
    the letter.

    Financial records show many of the signees have received political
    donations from entities linked to a movement led by U.S.-based Turkish
    preacher Fethullah Gulen.

    In the Feb. 2 letter, lawmakers expressed concerns about recent
    arrests of media figures in Turkey. It specifically laid emphasis on
    proceedings against a Turkish media group linked to Gulen.

    "According to multiple press reports, Ekrem Dumanli, the
    editor-in-chief of Zaman, a highly circulated daily newspaper in
    Turkey and Hidayet Karaca, CEO of Samanyolu Media Group, were arrested
    on Dec. 14, 2014, on questionable charges, bringing the total number
    of detained media personalities to 29," the letter said.

    More than 400 individuals, 150 of whom were linked to Gulen, were
    monitored last year by the Turkish government on Twitter, according to
    the letter.

    Specific emphasis on Gulen-linked media have raised doubts that many
    of the co-signers were motivated by political donations to their
    campaigns from individuals and foundations linked to Gulen rather than
    examining the assertions made in the letter.

    Turkish officials have rejected the claims in the letter.

    Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkir, who was on a visit to
    Washington last week, told reporters not a single journalist was
    detained in Turkey for expressing personal ideas or beliefs. The few
    who are currently detained are being held on charges of robbery,
    shooting and clashes with security officers.

    He stressed the letter didn't contain names of the detained. "They do
    not have the names of these 29 press members allegedly detained in
    Turkey. Furthermore, the facts in the text are not correct," Bozkir
    said.

    Eric Harris, press secretary for Rep. Gwen Moore, one of the letter's
    co-signers, told The Anadolu Agency the letter was primarily authored
    by Arizona Republican Matt Salmon and Missouri Democratic Emanuel
    Cleaver.

    Harris said the congresswoman's advocacy for freedoms of expression
    and the press motivated her to sign the letter.

    As with all letters that are drafter in the House, he said there was
    an extensive fact-checking process, based on cross checks with
    institutions from government agencies and non-governmental
    organizations as well as the Congressional Research Service.

    "In terms of the specific number in the letter, I would refer you to
    the Rep. Salmon's office and Rep. Cleaver's office as they were the
    architects of the original text of the letter," said Harris.

    The spokesperson also added that his boss' staff trusted the
    documentation capability of the main sponsors' office.

    "Since we did not write the letter itself, we weren't the one who put
    the number down. We trust the guidance account of Rep. Salmon and Rep.
    Cleaver; if they did not have the correct number there, I am sure they
    would rectify that," he added.

    The Anadolu Agency approached more than 70 of the co-signers to the
    letter and learned that the congresswoman's office was not alone in
    trusting its main sponsors.

    Dozens of representatives' offices declined to officially comment on
    the letter and referred questions to Salmon and Cleaver. Several
    confirmed they did not contribute to writing the text.

    A communication director for one of the signatories told AA on the
    condition of anonymity that since he supported freedom of press in
    Turkey, the representative conceptually agreed with the letter.

    He said, however, Salmon's office was in charge of collecting
    information about the names and affiliations of press members
    allegedly detained in Turkey.

    "We looked into the letter once it was sent to our office; we thought
    there was something that we would certainly want to support, as it was
    in line with our legislative trajectory in the House," the official
    said.

    He said he was unable to share any document relating to names and
    numbers specified in the letter but instead referred our requests for
    such information to Salmon's office.

    In addition to the apparent lack of proper vetting of the claims made
    in the letter, many co-signers also did not make clear why a specific
    media group was singled out in the letter.

    The letter specified two media figures linked to the Gulen movement
    and gave numbers related to the movement, which leaves an impression
    that the Gulen lobby played at least some role in drafting the letter
    and getting it signed.

    Led by Fehtullah Gulen, the Gulen movement has been under scrutiny in
    Turkey. Officials linked to the movement are accused of conducting
    wiretaps of high-profile figures within the Turkish state as well as
    constructing a "parallel state" to overthrow the elected Turkish
    government.

    The group was recently included in the National Security Strategy of
    Turkey as an organization that threatened the national security of the
    country. The Turkish government also removed dozens of high-profile
    bureaucrats from posts because of their alleged links to Gulen.

    The preacher, who lives in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, had his
    passport revoked in late January by the Turkish government, who then
    informed its U.S. counterparts about the revocation.

    A Turkish court also issued an arrest warrant for Gulen and Turkey is
    readying documents to apply to Interpol to bring Gulen to justice in
    Turkey.

    The letter to Kerry was sent in an atmosphere of the tensions between
    the Gulen movement and Turkish government, which can also leave the
    impression that pro-Gulen links in the U.S. Congress contributed to
    the letter's draft and signing.

    The Anadolu Agency combed records from the U.S. Federal Election
    Committee and found foundations and individuals in the U.S. linked to
    Gulen have donated more than $300,000 to political campaigns of dozens
    of lawmakers who signed the letter.

    Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas was the recipient of the largest amount in
    2014 with $92,750. He was followed by Al Green of Texas who received
    $67,100; Shelia Jackson Lee of Texas got $14,000, Robert Aderholt of
    Alabama was given $24,800 and Jim Bridenstine of Oklahama collected
    $13,000.

    The records show some donors made regular payments and in some cases
    family members of donors made financial contributions to the same
    representatives.

    Representatives usually receive donations from their own
    constituencies for election campaigns, but among the co-signers of the
    letter some received campaign donations from Gulen-linked donors who
    lived outside of some representatives' districts.

    For example, Reps. Cuellar, Green and Aderholt simultaneously received
    similar amounts from donors in different states and districts than
    where the representatives have a constituency.

    The main sponsors of the letter, Reps. Salmon and Cleaver, as well as
    dozens of other co-signers, were sponsored by Gulen-linked foundations
    in the U.S. for recent visits to Turkey where they met several
    Gulen-linked journalists and academics.

    Among the co-signers, 22 were sponsored for trips to Turkey in 2013-14
    which cost $171,000.

    Rep. Salmon, one of the main architects of the letter, Henry Cuellar,
    Danny Davis, Mike Honda, and Aaron Schock personally visited Turkey
    while other lawmakers sent representatives from their offices.

    The Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians, Turkish American
    Federation of Midwest, and Foundation of Intercultural Dialogue were
    among the Gulen-linked foundations that sponsored the trips.

    Among the co-signers of the letter, 47 were Democrat and 41 were Republican.

    Many were members of the Greek, Armenian and Israeli caucuses.

    Co-signers Jackie Speier, Barbara Lee, Steve Israel, Grace Napolitano,
    Scott Garrett, Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, Zoe Lofgren, Chris Van Hollen,
    Alan Lowenthal and Doug LaMalfa were also sponsors of the bills
    against Turkey regarding the 1915 events, also known as the Armenian
    allegations of "genocide" by the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

    The majority of co-signers were from California, Illinois, Ohio and
    Texas - states with the most number of Gulen-linked chartered schools.


    From: Baghdasarian
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