On Dec. 14 in Turkey, some 31 people including journalists and police officers were called to the prosecutor's office upon a complaint.The reason for the investigation was a complaint issued by over 120 citizens who claimed to have been arrested on false evidence and imprisoned without being tried for up to 17 months.However, the influential journalists who were called to testify turned this issue into a discussion of press freedom. But the charges on them had nothing to do with the news or columns they reported or wrote. And they were not arrested, except one, and were released after they gave testimony.According to the prosecutor's assertion, those who were called to testify are members of the Gülen Movement, led by former imam Fethullah Gülen, who moved to Pennsylvania in 1999 after fleeing Turkey. The Gülen Movement is an autonomous structure whose members hold positions in the security and judicial bureaucracy of Turkey. Having considerable financial power, it also has media outlets comprising dozens of newspapers and television channels. The complaints filed by hundreds of citizens about the police officers and prosecutors allegedly affiliated with the Gülen Movement are pending now.The latest incident is only one of them. According to allegations, Gülen clearly targeted the leader of another religious group whom he regarded as a rival during a sermon in 2009. It is argued that the cause of this rivalry stems from an issue concerning fundraising.Upon Gülen's "order," a smear campaign was launched against those people by newspapers and TV channels affiliated with the movement. The campaign went so far as to declare those 120 people members of al-Qaida. Then the police officers and prosecutors claimed to be affiliated with the Gülen Movement came into play. The targeted people were arrested, violating all the provisions of law. Unfortunately, they were kept in prison for up to 17 months without being tried. Is being Muslim enough evidence of being an al-Qaida member?The Gülen Movement has a propaganda campaign, especially toward the European public, claiming that the Turkish judiciary organized the Dec. 14 operation to protect al-Qaida militants. It also accuses journalists like us, who defend the law and demand justice for bedeviled and helpless citizens, of being supporters of al-Qaida. It is illogical no matter how you approach it. First of all, the Gülen Movement itself is a religious organization. And most of the journalists they accuse, including me, are either on the left or liberal. Second, those 120 people were already released after the first trial. So what really matters for the operation is the struggle to find the ones in charge of a legal conspiracy. Third, there is no single piece of evidence that proves these people have ties to al-Qaida, except for the fact that they are Muslim. Recently, media reported the records of the raids police made on these people's houses. The Turkish public has bewilderedly been talking about these records for days. The dialogue between the raiding police officers raises serious questions on whether the materials provided in court as evidence belong to the defendants. An expert opinion shows that the hand grenades, claimed to have been found in the houses of the defendants, were seized by police in a different operation. Moreover, the fingerprints found on these grenades belonged not to the raided defendants, but to the police officers carrying out the search.The fourth and most strange one is that the police conducting the operation confessed that the people were not al-Qaida supporters as part of the information they gave to then U.S. Ambassador to Ankara James Jeffrey. WikiLeaks documents clearly shared this data in a document sent on Jan. 27, 2010 from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, which was confidential.What is the reason of Europe's reaction?Despite all these explicit contradictions, European politicians still issue statements based on rumors of the operation. European Parliament President Martin Schulz emphasized that press freedom is one of the fundamental principles to join the EU, adding that the raid of Zaman daily was ominous.In its written statement, the EU Commission said, "We recall that any further step towards accession with any candidate country depends on the full respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights." The U.S., which is so sensitive to discuss the Ferguson police declaring Ferguson a no-fly zone to prevent press access to the street incidents in the city, also has made similar statements. Is this not frivolous? How do you follow the legal procedures of candidate countries? We see that the Gülen Movement has a very influential lobby in the EU. And you like to hear things about Turkey that accord well with your orientalist biases. But for your information, as opposed to the frivolity and malevolence of the EU, those striving for membership might also review their eagerness until this civil society project returns to its essence.