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Did Gulenists sabotage Ankara’s Kurdish peace process?

Long-standing allegations of Gulenists meddling in efforts to settle Turkey’s Kurdish problem appear to have gained more credence after the failed July 15 coup attempt.
Turkish soldiers patrol in the Sur district of Diyarbakir, Turkey February 26, 2016. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo - RTSHUCB
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DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — Kurdish lawyer and rights activist Muharrem Erbey was among thousands of people who landed behind bars in 2009 as part of a massive probe into an alleged Kurdish separatist network. The persecution of Kurdish activists was hardly a novelty for Turkey, but the way Erbey learned of the court’s arrest ruling was truly unusual, if not Kafkaesque.

“We had just left the prosecutor’s room [after questioning], and before the prosecutor had made any decision, Samanyolu TV reported we had been arrested,” Erbey told Al-Monitor, referring to a channel linked to the Gulen community. “The prosecutor was unaware, but Samanyolu TV was already running a news ticker.”

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