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159/2018 • 14 JULY, 2018 WEEKEND ISSUE

DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Turkeyʼs Gulen movement on the rise in Germany Many supporters of exiled Muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen were driven out of the country

After Turkeyʼs foiled coup attempt in 2016, many supporters of exiled Muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen were driven out of the country. But in Germany, the movement is increasingly gaining influence, writes Gunnar Köhne.

Vaping Air China co-pilot causes plane to plunge

France to deploy 110,000 police for the Bastille Day

A passenger jet with 162 people on board was forced to descend 25,000 feet (7.620 meters) in 10 minutes when the co-pilot apparently tried to hide the smoke from his e-cigarette, Chinese media quoted the countryʼs civil aviation authority as saying on Friday. The Air China Boeing 737 was flying from Hong Kong to the Chinese city of Dalian when the incident took place on Tuesday, according to the South China Morning Post.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb announced massive security measures on Friday to prevent any terror attacks over the weekend, which will see France celebrate the Bastille Day on Saturday andplay against Croatia in the World Cup final on Sunday. "Everything is being done so the French can live these festive moments with peace of mind, despite the terrorist threat which remains at a high level," Collomb said.

When the Turkish government crushed an attempted coup on July 15, 2016,President Recep Tayyip Erdoganblamed supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric in selfimposed exile in the United States. There were plenty of rumors about Gulenʼs involvement in the incident, yet the authorities in Ankara have so far failed to present conclusive evidence to prove this. It is undisputed, however, that Gulen supporters previously held many positions in the Turkish state apparatus, which they used to their own advantage, and which Turkeyʼs ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) tolerated. That is, until Erdogan and Gulen had a falling out. Read more:From ally to scapegoat: Fethullah Gulen, the man behind the myth After Turkeyʼs foiled coup, Erdogan orderedan unprecedented purgeof the state apparatus. Some 100,000 civil servants were fired and 40,000 jailed. Most of these individuals are suspected members or sympathizers of the Gulen movement, or Hizmet. Tens of thousands were forced to flee the country. Many of the 800 Gulen-affiliated schools in Turkey and across the world were forced to close. Turkish authorities pressured Muslim countries in particular,such as Kosovoand Malaysia, to shut down these schools and expel Turkish teachers.German authorities indifferent In Germany, meanwhile, the situation is much more hospitable for Gulen supporters. They enjoy wide-ranging support from German media, political figures and even the countryʼs Christian churches, as DW research reveals.

Above all, Gulen supporters are seen as victims of Erdoganʼs relentless purge — even though Gulen himself espouses a rather conservative version of Islam that champions "an islamization of life and all its institutions," as he writes in one of his books. Read more:Germany investigates possible anti-Gulen spies The German government has admitted that "the organizational structure of the Gulen movement is nontransparent." Even so, Bruno Kahl, who heads the countryʼs foreign intelligence service, the BND, deems the movement an innocuous "civil association for the purpose of religious and secular education."In 2014, Rhineland-Palatinateʼs then-state interior minister, Roger Lewentz, initiated the creation of a working group linking various state-level intelligence services to look into the Gulen movement. It found "a lack of evidence to suggest the movement poses a threat to Germanyʼs political order." Nevertheless, Lewentz underlined that Gulenʼs publications contained controversial passages regarding "religious freedom, what role religion should play in public life, and the treatment of atheists." Read more:A dark time for democracy in Turkey That same year, BadenWürttembergʼs state intelligence service published a comprehensive and critical report about the Gulen movement on its website. Following Turkeyʼs foiled coup, the report was taken down. Asked for an explanation for this, the agency told DW the report had never been intended for the public.

19 injured, 1 dead in South Africa plane crash

EU leaders reach migration deal

At least 19 people were injured and one killed near Pretoria, South Africa on Tuesday after a charter plane crashed near Wonderboom airport, paramedics confirmed. "Medics from ER24 and other services are at the scene of a plane crash at Wonderboom in Pretoria," said Russell Meiring, spokesman for the ER24 medical service. "We have 19 injured casualties ranging from minor to critical injuries at this stage." ER24 later said on its Twitter feed that one fatality had since been reported from the scene, and that it had occured .

EU leaders have ended 12 hours of "virulent" talks in Brussels with a deal on migration. German Chancellor Angela Merkelʼs future in office had been tied to whether she could come up with an "acceptable" EU agreement. European Union leaders reached a breakthrough dealon migration after all-night talks in Brussels, European Council President Donald Tusk announced on Friday. The agreement has been billed as"make or break" for German Chancellor Angela Merkelʼs future .


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