The veteran, socialist actor İlyas Salman has become the latest victim of intimidation environment engulfing Turkey especially after the failed coup attempt.A phone stalker threatened to lodge complaint about Salman’s alleged ties to the Gulen Movement after her successive calls were refused by the actor.Filing a counter-complaint to an Istanbul prosecutor, Salman said he received an SMS after several phone calls from a woman named Öznur which read: “I am very sorry. Don’t pick up the phone. I will inform against you as a pro-FETO.”
FETO is an abbreviation coined by the government to describe the alleged terrorist network of the movement, which the government accuses of masterminding the July 15 failed coup attempt.
Salman said he used to know the woman from a concert he attended in the past.“Two days after [the incident] a news outlet claimed that I had been detained over membership to a terrorist organization,” Salman added.
Known for his strong criticism against both the movement and the ruling AK Party, Salman defines himself as Kemalist and socialist.
Such accusations are nothing new as tens of thousands of people including Alawites, atheists and secular intellectuals have been detained over their alleged ties to the movement which observes a moderate form of Islam.
Critics blast on AK Party for capitalizing the coup attempt to get rid of every dissenting voice from within state institutions and to silence them in public spaces as well.
Erdoğan called on people to report Gulen supporters in their surroundings to authorities, on multiple occasions. Turkey Purge has received so many tips that ordinary people also tap on such calls to knock down their personal foes.
