Since the widespread corruption and bribery investigation became public, thousands of police officers have been reassigned or removed from their posts because of alleged links to the Hizmet movement, inspired by the teachings of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. In addition to the thousands of police officers, the government has replaced the prosecutors who initiated the investigation as well as dozens of officials at various state institutions, including public prosecutors’ offices.
Although Gulen was Erdogan’s principle ally in clipping the wings of the staunchly secularist Turkish military, he quickly became his nemesis and thousands of policemen, and prosecutors accused of being Gulen followers were dismissed or displaced in what amounted to a sweeping political pogrom.
As the government has launched a sweeping campaign to eliminate any employees, be they public servants or academics, that it suspects of having links with Hizmet from state institutions, Özsoy said the purge is not restricted to state universities. It now includes private universities, too.
Gulen’s words were clearly a conditional curse or a committing of his affair to God in total submission in the face of horrendous lies. “If your accusations are true, may God destroy us. But if your accusations are wrong, then may God destroy you,” he had said. Amen.
The report is only one example of a growing campaign of slander against Gülen. The scholar, who has inspired a worldwide religious network that defends peaceful coexistence through dialogue and education, is currently being targeted in a large-scale smear campaign, which is sponsored by the Turkish government.
The first decree was signed by then-Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül during the first months of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government with the demand of support from National View Organizations and Turkish schools operated by the Gülen community.
Earlier this year, claims emerged in the media that police officials in the Diyarbakır Police Department who are members of the Hizmet movement carried out a number of illegal wiretaps since 2008. The prosecutor, unconvinced by the police department’s response, began to examine the circumstances surrounding the whereabouts of the recordings. He questioned several police officers from the department and found that the recordings had been erased on the order of Police Chief Halis Böğürcü, who was appointed head of the Diyarbakır Police Department in early January.
The discourse Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Chairman and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan relies on to intimidate his opponents has taken on a whole different dimension. The prime minister argues that his election victory in the March 30 local elections gives him the right to combat the Hizmet movement, which he refers to as the “parallel state” or “parallel structure.”
It is impossible not to see the polarization among the people over the upcoming presidential elections; this polarization raises serious concerns. It is also possible to consider the verbal attacks and violence against the Hizmet movement in the context of the literature on politicide and genocide. However, not only the Hizmet movement will suffer from repressive-hegemonic politicide. The entire country of Turkey will be hurt by this.
Interior Minister Efkan Ala was questioned about the government’s actions against “the parallel state” and the “Cemaat,” referring to the followers of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has been in voluntary exile in the United States for over a decade.
Erdoğan delivered a speech that will be remembered as a disgrace in political history as he referred to the struggle against the Hizmet movement.He not only confessed that the government has been tyrannizing certain social segments but also openly revealed future illegalities.