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Ergün Poyraz

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Ergün Poyraz
Poyraz in 2016
Born (1963-01-31) January 31, 1963 (age 61)
Istanbul, Turkey
OccupationAuthor

Ergün Poyraz (born 31 January 1963[1]) is a prolific Turkish author known for his controversial books about the ruling Justice and Development Party, the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen,[2] and people associated with them. He is best known for his 2007 book The Children of Moses (Turkish: Musa'nın Çocukları), which accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his wife of being secret Jews and of cooperating with Israeli intelligence to undermine Turkish secularism.[3] He was arrested in 2007 and was a defendant in the Ergenekon trials; on 5 August 2013, he was sentenced to 29 years in prison.

Life

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Poyraz graduated from the Yıldız Technical University.[1]

He was described as an extremely secular Turkish ultranationalist.[4][5]

According to Milliyet, Poyraz contributed to the 1998 closure of the Welfare Party (RP) "by presenting to the Constitutional Court [secret] footage of RP leader Necmettin Erbakan's speeches."[6]

Poyraz's 2007 book The Children of Moses accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his wife of being secret Jews and cooperating with Israeli intelligence to undermine Turkish secularism.[7][8] His another book The Rose of Moses contains similar allegations about President Abdullah Gül.[9] It was the second best-selling book in Turkey in 2007.[10] He later released a book titled From the Army of the Caliphate to the Arab Kurdish Party, with "Arab Kurdish Party" referring to the AKP.[11] At the time of his 2007 arrest Poyraz appears to have been working on a book about Deniz Baykal.[12]

In 2013, Poyraz lost a libel case brought on behalf of the preacher Fethullah Gülen, the leader of the controversial Islamic Gülen movement,[13] over his book Amerika'daki İmam ("The Imam in America").[14]

Ergenekon

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He was arrested in 2007 and charged with membership of the Association for the Union of Patriotic Forces (VKGB), which is said to be linked to the Ergenekon organization.[3][15] According to Taraf, Poyraz was paid by the JITEM military intelligence unit;[16] General Levent Ersöz has also spoken of payments to Poyraz.[17]

According to media reports, the Turkish Gendarmerie bought thousands of copies of Poyraz' books.[18]

In August 2013, he was sentenced to 29 years and 4 months in prison.[19][20][21] He was released on March 11, 2014 after his sentence time was reduced.[22]

In April 2022 he was severely beaten in front of his house in Kuşadası district of Aydın and hospitalised. [23]

Some of his books

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  • Fethullah’ın Gerçek Yüzü / Said-i Nursi’den Demirel ve Ecevit’e ("The Real Face of Fethullah: From Said-i Nursi to Demirel and Ecevit"), Otopsi, İstanbul, 2000.
  • Misyonerler Arasında Altı Ay ("Six Months Among Missionaries"), 2004
  • Kanla Abdest Alanlar ("Those Who Perform their Ablutions with Blood"), Togan Yayıncılık, İstanbul, 2007.
  • Musa'nın Çocukları: Tayyip ve Emine ("Children of Moses: Tayyip and Emine"), Togan Yayıncılık, 2007
  • Musa'nın Gül'ü ("The Rose of Moses"), Togan Yayıncılık, 2007
  • Patlak Ampul ("Broken Lamp"), Togan Yayıncılık, İstanbul, 2007.
  • Amerika'daki İmam ("The Imam in America"), 2009, about Fethullah Gülen
  • Takunyalı Führer [tr], Togan Yayıncılık, İstanbul, 2010, critical of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
  • Tarikat, Siyaset, Ticaret ve Cinayet: Masonlarla El Ele, Togan Yayıncılık, 2011
  • İplikçi: Kirli İlişkiler Yumağı, Tanyeri Kitap, 2013

References

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  1. ^ a b idefix.com, Ergün Poyraz
  2. ^ tr:Amerika'daki İmam
  3. ^ a b Hürriyet Daily News, 1 August 2007, Anti-government author charged over ultra-nationalist links
  4. ^ "Anti-government author charged over ultra-nationalist links". Hürriyet Daily News. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  5. ^ "The latest Jewish conspiracy: Turkey's 'moderate Islam' and the AKP". Hürriyet Daily News. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  6. ^ Hürriyet Daily News, 25 August 2001, From the papers
  7. ^ "Anti-government author charged over ultra-nationalist links". Hürriyet Daily News. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  8. ^ "The latest Jewish conspiracy: Turkey's 'moderate Islam' and the AKP". Hürriyet Daily News. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  9. ^ Today's Zaman, 28 July 2007, Author of controversial book on PM detained
  10. ^ Marc David Baer (Fall 2013). "An Enemy Old and New: The Dönme, Anti-Semitism, and Conspiracy Theories in the Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 103 (4): 523–555. doi:10.1353/jqr.2013.0033. JSTOR 43298763. S2CID 159483845.
  11. ^ Poyraz, Ergün. Hilafet Ordusundan Arap Kürt Partisi'ne. p. 1.
  12. ^ Today's Zaman, 17 August 2010, Baykal affair document found on Ergenekon suspect’s computer
  13. ^ Popp, Maximilian (8 August 2012). "Gülen Movement Accused of Being a Sect". Der Spiegel.
  14. ^ Zaman, 8 March 2013, Hocaefendi’ye iftiradan tazminat ödeyecek Archived May 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Today's Zaman, 17 January 2009, Ergun Poyraz was keeping tabs on military, media learn
  16. ^ Today's Zaman, 31 March 2008, Controversial writer Poyraz was paid by illegal military intelligence Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Today's Zaman, 12 August 2010, Ergenekon suspect Ersöz: I did what Gen. Eruygur ordered
  18. ^ Today's Zaman, 16 October 2010, Eruygur blamed for siphoning money through fake firm
  19. ^ "Ergenekon kararı okunmaya başlandı". Milliyet. August 5, 2013. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  20. ^ Today's Zaman, 5 August 2013, Long sentences for Ergenekon suspects, life for ex-army chief Archived August 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ "Number of journalists convicted in Ergenekon trial rises to 20 | Reporters without borders". Reporters without borders. 2013-08-07. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  22. ^ Ergun Poyraz ve Kemal Alemdaroğlu tahliye edildi
  23. ^ "Yazar Ergün Poyraz evinin önünde saldırıya uğradı, 6 kişi gözaltına alındı". BBC News Türkçe (in Turkish). Retrieved 2022-04-12.