The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Credit: Archive photo Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images)
For more than two decades, the AKP, the party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been accused by critics of allowing religious brotherhoods to flourish. However, the Aug. 13 arrest of Alihan Kuriş, head of the Sufi Islamic Süleymancilar community and grandson of its founder, marks a shift. Several dozen associates and lieutenants of the order are being prosecuted, notably on charges of money laundering, fraud and “forming a criminal organization.”Under the rule of a leader with autocratic tendencies, the method is common and is immediately being viewed through a political lens. “Erdogan hasn’t liked them for years, and the feeling is mutual,” says Bayram Balci, a researcher at CERI-Sciences Po and former director of the French Institute of Anatolian Studies. And for good reason: “The Süleymancilar have almost never voted for...
For more than two decades, the AKP, the party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been accused by critics of allowing religious brotherhoods to flourish. However, the Aug. 13 arrest of Alihan Kuriş, head of the Sufi Islamic Süleymancilar community and grandson of its founder, marks a shift. Several dozen associates and lieutenants of the order are being prosecuted, notably on charges of money laundering, fraud and “forming a criminal organization.”Under the rule of a leader with autocratic tendencies, the method is common and is immediately being viewed through a political lens. “Erdogan hasn’t liked them for years, and the feeling is mutual,” says Bayram Balci, a researcher at CERI-Sciences Po and former director of the French Institute of Anatolian Studies. And for good reason: “The Süleymancilar have almost...
