Turkey Approves Closing 'Gulen' Prep Schools

Fethullah Gulen, the US-based Muslim Cleric who was once close to Turkey's Prime Minister but is now often called "an arch-rival" to the ruling elite, Photo by EPA/BGNES

Turkey is set to close private preparatory schools owned by cleric Fethullah Gulen, after President Gul approved the measure.

Earlier in March, Parliament decided that schools be closed by September 1, 2015, but the move was pending as it awaited the President Abdullah Gul's signature.

Private preparatory schools, attended by millions of students, are managed by Gulen's Hizmet (Service) network, which the cleric controls from his current home in the US state of Pennsylvania.   
They are seen as a source of income and influence for the Muslim cleric, who has often been accused by Prime Minister Erdogan of leading coup attempts against his government.

Over the past few months, Erdogan has frequently claimed that Gulen has a key war in a "media war" against him, which resulted in a series of leaks containing wiretapped conversations between the Prime Ministers and ruling party members that allegedly reveal cases of large-scale corruption, graft, and administrative power abuse. 

The Prime Minister and the ruling party put the blame at Gulen, who they say has orchestrated the corruption scandal. He also believes Hizmet movement has extensive influence over the Turkish police and judiciary.

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