Four executives of the association responsible for the fire in a school dormitory of a religious cult in Adana, which led to the death of 11 students and a worker, and 24 wounded, were released upon the objections of the lawyers.
As a part of the extension of the inquiry carried out by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of Aladağ, dormitory manager Cumali Genç who also lost his daughter in the fire, deputy manager İsmail Uğur and the executives of the the Aladağ Aid Association to Course and School Students, Ramazan Keleş, Ramazan Dede, Mustafa Öztaş, Mahir Kılınç had been previously arrested in connection with the dormitory fire on 29th November, which led to the death of 12 people and 24 wounded.
It had been also found that the door handles of the dormitory’s fire escape were removed by the dormitory authorities in order that female students living in the dormitory could not escape or go out somewhere.
Concerning the suspects arrested on 4th December, their lawyers demanded eviction to the Peace Court of Criminal Jurisdiction of Aladağ. On 22nd January, the court released Ramazan Keleş, Ramazan Dede, Mustafa Öztaş, Mahir Kılınç who are the executives of the Aladağ Aid Association to Course and School Students on condition of trial without arrest. As for Cumali Genç and his assistant İsmail Uğur, the court decided the continuation of detention.
The lawyers of the families of the children died in the fire declared that they would make an objection against the court decision after the executives of the association were released.
The investigation of the Public Prosecution Office is still going on regarding the dormitory fire.
THE LINKS BETWEEN THE SULEYMANIST RELIGIOUS ORDER AND THE AKP
The association is reportedly linked to the Süleymanists, a Sunni-Hanafi cult, whose reactionary political activities were tolerated by the state since the military coup of 1980 which paved the way for a background to the emergence of the reactionary AKP government. Like many religious cults and communities, the Süleymanists are also supported and used by the AKP government in order to consolidate its power among the society.
In a report about the reactionary activities of the Süleymanists, the association called ‘Tahsil Çağındaki Talebelere Yardım Derneği’ (Aid Association for Education-age Students) related to the cult submitted to Bülent Ulusu, who was the Commander of the Naval Forces-cum-prime minister appointed by the junta regime of 1980 coup, had been previously drawn attention. In the report, it was emphasized that the Süleymanist cult held reactionary activities under the banner of ‘‘education’’ facilities and dormitories, but it was completely ignored and no official action was taken. The report was re-brought up to the agenda by SHP (Social Democratic Populist Party) in 1986. With this step, it was revealed that the junta regime and the civil government of the president Turgut Özal had pigeonholed the report about the reactionary activities of the cult.
The context of the pigeonholed report clearly shows that the disaster in Adana was not a coincidence and as for the cults that seized the state, the Gulenists were not alone at all. Today, there are many arguments on that the Suleymanists are subrogated to the Gulenists liquidating from the state cadres by the AKP government.
Although they were banned ninety years ago, cults and religious congregations still continue their existence illegally and intensely under the AKP regime. Political power also organizes itself from the existence of these cults and religious congregations. Thanks to these kinds of structures, political power paves the way for significant economic gains, opens areas for the cults within the administrative mechanism at the state cadres, and let them intervene in education, health and law enforcement to be captured. By this way, those cults and religious congregations collaborate with the political power, particularly the AKP government, and are also able to transform every aspect of life through religionizing the education, business life, media and cultural sphere, and moving away from science and reason.
