AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Alparslan Kuytul, a religious figure and critic of the Turkish government, was arrested during an early morning operation by security forces, along with his wife Semra Kuytul, his lawyer Bilal Ipek, and a number of members of the Furkan Movement.
Kuytul’s arrest comes at a time when he had expressed explicit positions and sharp criticisms of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government policy during the recent Iran-U.S. war. In his statements, Kuytul had called on the Turkish government to take a clear stance against U.S. and Israeli attacks and to side with Iran and the resistance front.
He had also criticized Ankara’s policy regarding regional developments, believing that Turkey should not adopt a passive or dual policy in the situation of confrontation between Iran and the resistance front on one side and the United States and Israel on the other.
Now, the arrest of this religious figure, shortly after these critical positions, has garnered widespread attention among his supporters and activists close to the Furkan Movement.
The lawyers of the Furkan Movement, while protesting these arrests, have announced that based on initial information, the recent operation appears to have been carried out under the charge of “criminal organization activity,” an accusation that, according to them, had also been raised against this group in past years.
Alışan İnci, one of the lawyers of the Furkan Movement, described the recent operation as a “new version” of previous cases and likened it to the “third act of the same show.”
Kuytul’s arrest, given his recent explicit positions in support of Iran and the resistance front and his criticism of the Erdogan government’s regional policy, could be met with further reactions in Turkey’s religious and political circles in the coming days.
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