The almost two-year-long strife that has been raging between the Justice and Development (AKP) government and the Gulen Movement — a faith community identified as Cemaat in Turkey — which before had been a de facto partner of the political power, has dramatically escalated lately. It is on the verge of becoming a media war with an unpredictable outcome, with secret intelligence documents being made public one after another.
The beginning date of the new power struggle between the Gulen Movement and Erdogan government — which, in an earlier joint struggle, had subdued the army that saw it as the guardian of the secular republic and therefore entitled to intervene in politics — goes back to Feb. 7, 2012.