An award-winning Turkish foundation supporting education claimed that its bank accounts were blocked on bogus charges following a conflict with a religious sect with ties to the government. 

“This is enough,” Ali Nesin, the son of iconoclast Turkish writer Aziz Nesin, announced May 8 on Twitter. “The Istanbul governor’s office blocked the Nesin Foundation’s bank accounts. Our foundation has salaried employees and many kids on scholarship — what they have done is cruel.” 

The Istanbul governor’s office has accused the foundation of an illegal donation campaign and wants it to return the land it bought with donations in Catalca, Istanbul, to the Treasury. 

The move against the foundation, known for its advocacy of scientific thinking and liberal views, has been decried by the opposition parties in parliament. “If the Nesin Foundation, like other foundations subject to Turkish law, is allowed to receive donations from supporters, what is the problem with receiving donations to buy land?” asked Lale Karabiyik, the opposition Republican People’s Party’s deputy chair responsible for education policies. “Is there any truth in the Nesin foundation’s claims that a religious sect influenced the charges brought against it?” The question, addressed to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, has not yet received an official reply.