Andrew Duff, a Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament, also accused the prime minister, whom he said was “clearly elected democratically,” of not ruling democratically. Duff said the aggravated language that exposes serious rifts between the AK Party and the Gülen movement risks destabilizing Turkey.
In an unusual statement, the White House has accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of misrepresenting the content of his phone conversation with US President Barack Obama on Feb. 19 regarding the extradition of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in Pennsylvania.
Dismayed, if not surprised, by the unabated smear campaign against distinguished Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, the scholar’s relatives have expressed their disappointment and anxiety over the endless accusations and slander against Gülen.
Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has recently accused the faith-based Hizmet movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen of cooperating with coup perpetrators during the Feb. 28, 1997 post-modern coup era, defended the same movement at a parliamentary coup commission in 2012, when he said the movement’s followers had been victimized during the coup.
A businessman summarized it like this: “In the past, it was very important in the business community to have a meeting with Fethullah Gülen. Those going to the United States would try to get an appointment; yet today, different meanings are being attributed to these meetings. Those who in the past made sure to have these meetings publicly are now praying they do not come to the surface.”
On Feb. 23, Prime Minister Erdoğan targeted Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli due to his criticism of the government in the ongoing corruption investigation, saying: “He does not have any concept of family. He has no such concern. We know what children mean,” in an obvious reference to Bahçeli’s unmarried status.
White House has reportedly denied remarks attributed to US President Barack Obama about Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, describing them as “not accurate.” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday during a live TV interview that Obama received “the message” about his complaint of Gülen residing in the US.
Turkish schools are among leading educational institutions that have joined an international educational complex financed by State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR), a statement from the Azerbaijani oil giant said on Wednesday.
Arguments and discriminatory rhetoric used by the prime minister against the Hizmet movement spoil the emotional well-being of our people; undermine social peace and prepare the groundwork for violence by sowing the seeds of hatred in society, the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) said in a forceful statement .
Prime Minister marketed the historic graft investigation as a “coup against the government” and he targeted the Hizmet movement by voicing this claim first in the pro-government media outlets and then in the election rallies along with a host of unthinkable lies and slanders.
Speaking to the Cihan news agency, Dr. Anas Abdunoor Kaliisa said he did not give such a statement to Yeni Şafak and such a slander is not unacceptable. “They asked me some questions about Hizmet Movement. I stated that Turkish schools contribute a lot to education of Uganda.
Arguments and discriminatory rhetoric used by the prime minister against the Hizmet movement spoil the emotional well-being of our people; undermine social peace and prepare the groundwork for violence by sowing the seeds of hatred in society, the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) said in a forceful statement published on its website on Thursday.