Turkish government detains CHP leader's lawyer over coup links

The detention comes following accusations the lawyer cancelled his subscription with satellite TV provider Digiturk after it removed Gülen-linked television channels
Friday, 15 September 2017 22:05

Turkish police on Friday detained the parliamentary main opposition party leader's lawyer as part of a probe into the group led by the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, one of the masterminds of last year's failed coup.

Lawyer Celal Çelik was taken into custody in Ankara after a police raid at his home.

Çelik is accused of being close to a former advisor to Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Fatih Gürsül, who was detained in December over alleged links to the network of Gülen, which Ankara refers to as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).

The detention comes after accusations Çelik cancelled his subscription with satellite TV provider Digiturk after it removed Gülen-linked television channels Bugün and Samanyolu, state-run Anadolu agency reported.

Kılıçdaroğlu told reporters the detention was a disgrace in the name of democracy. "The detention decision concerning my lawyer is an eclipse of the mind," he added.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling AKP party have repeatedly been accusing Kılıçdaroğlu and the CHP of being linked to Gülen's network and acting together.

Lawyer Çelik, who now also works as a member of the party's High Disciplinary Committee, was a former top court judge. CHP Spokesman Bülent Tezcan said the detention was a plot against the party. "Çelik had resigned from his judgeship at the court of appeals to battle the FETÖ [newtork of Gülen] when it was at its most powerful," Tezcan said.

Gülen had been a close ally of Erdoğan helping him to redesign and install his Islamic-rooted AKP party in power in 2002. But his alliance with the AKP has faltered in recent years.