In a stunning set of allegations, former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn Jr., are under investigation for plotting to kidnap Fethullah Gülen and deliver him to the Turkish government for $15 million dollars. Gülen, a Turkish preacher, is the main opponent to the current President of Turkey, Recep Erdoğan, who ‘won’ a nationwide referendum last April that essentially made him a dictator.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Robert Mueller’s Russia probe is interviewing people about a 2016 meeting in New York between Turkish officials and the Flynns.

NBC — Four people familiar with the investigation said Mueller is looking into whether Flynn discussed in the late December meeting orchestrating the return to Turkey of a chief rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who lives in the U.S. Additionally, three people familiar with the probe said investigators are examining whether Flynn and other participants discussed a way to free a Turkish-Iranian gold trader, Reza Zarrab, who is jailed in the U.S. Zarrab is facing federal charges that he helped Iran skirt U.S. sanctions.

Flynn’s decision to side with the Erdoğan regime is highly questionable given his insatiable appetite for power and repressive tendencies. Turkey leads the world (by far) with 81 journalists currently in prison. Erdoğan’s turned a secular society into a repressive Islamic state that kills its own citizens.

His government has undermined our sanctions on Iran, and while the Obama administration gave Turkey a pass in 2013, Erdoğan’s totalitarianism make him a leader we should no longer support. If imprisoning journalists and purging intellectuals doesn’t get your attention, Erdoğan has blocked the entire country’s access to Wikipedia, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube on numerous occasions.

How can a man who claims to be fighting radical Islam possibly side with Turkey’s current government? Erdoğan is making radical changes away from a secular, democratic society, while hiding behind the guise of a conservative movement.

I suppose the rational question at this point is whether Gülen in power would be worse than Erdoğan, which would be the only rational argument supporting Flynn’s scheme to kidnap and extradite him. I contend that the answer is an unequivocal no, based on my understanding of the Gülen movement and his teachings:

The Gülen movement (often referred as Gulenists) has been characterized as a civil society group promoting education, religious tolerance, and building social networks. Having shared a major goal of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of empowering religious individuals in civil life officially disenfranchised under then existing law in secular Turkey, Gulen and his movement were aligned with Erdogan prior to 2013. The alliance was destroyed after the 2013 corruption investigations in Turkey. Erdoğan accused Gülen of being behind the corruption investigations. He is currently on Turkey’s most-wanted-terrorist list and is accused of leading what the current Turkish officials call the Gülenist Terror Organisation (Fethullahçı Terör Örgütü, FETÖ). A Turkish criminal court issued an arrest warrant for Gülen. Turkey is demanding the extradition of Gülen from the United States. However, U.S. figures in general do not believe he is associated with any terrorist activity, and have requested evidence to be provided by the Turkish Government to substantiate the allegations in the warrant requesting extradition.

I’m pretty sure Flynn’s quid pro quo agreement with the Turkish government for $15 million violates the Logan Act, although Turkey is technically our ally. This wouldn’t be the first time Flynn has skirted federal laws about acting on behalf of the US government without permission. His alleged dealings with Russia may have been undermining US sanctions on the country, which would also violate the Logan Act.

Like Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn failed to register as a foreign agent, or as he claims, he didn’t have to register because a Turkish businessman, not politician, paid him $500,000. Either way, it definitely raises some questions about the nature of their relationships with these countries, since the Foreign Agents Registration Act doesn’t prevent anyone from acting as an agent, it merely keeps track of said agents.

Erdoğan’s government has shown time and again that they are enemies to democratic western values, little better than leaders like Stalin who purge their own people and eliminate dissenting voices. A country that was on the cusp of joining the European Union has now totally turned it’s back on Europe; Erdoğan even tore down the Statue to Humanity, which was a gesture of reconciliation between the Armenians and Turks, while insinuating that the Armenian Genocide may not have happened. Turkey’s purge of over 25,000 teachers, professors and intellectuals will have dire long-term consequences for the country, just like Soviet elimination of the intelligentsia has had on Russia.

Michael Flynn’s lawyer, Robert Kelner, called the accusations “outrageous” and “false.”

Related Reading

Mueller Probes Flynn’s Role in Alleged Plan to Deliver Cleric to Turkey

Fethullah Gulen: the cleric Turkey blames for failed coup suggests president may have staged it himself

The Gulen Movement Is Not a Cult — It’s One of the Most Encouraging Faces of Islam Today