Keyword: Hizmet and politics
Witch hunt against the Gülen followers in Europe
Political madness in Turkey is at its peak. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan does not even refrain from using the term “witch hunt” against the Gülen followers. When Erdoğan and his circle don’t find any evidence, they allegedly try to produce evidence. Bureaucrats who don’t want to be part of Erdoğan’s witch hunt have sent letters to the media and prosecutors confessing what they are doing. Unfortunately, what they said in those letters has been confirmed by later developments.
MHP asks gov’t how many state officials reassigned after graft scandal
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.
Erdogan and Gulen: Inevitable Clash?
Unlike Turkey’s classical Islamic activists, Gulen always distanced himself from politics, and like Said Nursi, his main source of inspiration, his message was focused on grassroots social activism, most importantly an education combining both Islam and modern science. Hizmet’s main goal was social: raising a new “golden” generation fusing moderate Muslim and Modern ethics to become the backbone of Turkey’s society and bureaucracy and its messengers to the world.
200 public servants sue PM over ‘parallel state’ statements
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.
Extraditing Gulen and other dark conspiracies
Despite his pressures, Turkish prosecutors have not agreed to write an indictment against Gulen. On the other hand, Gulen has already been tried in absentia between 1999-2008 for all the accusations now recycled and repeated by Erdogan. The Kemalist military establishment was very powerful at the time and they were almost in full control of the state but they still could not produce concrete evidence against Gulen.
Toward a security state
Hizmet movement resembles Western civil society groups and organizations in terms of creating public discussion platforms and performing education and unity-related activities. In addition, what makes the movement more important is that it does not depend on the state in order to survive and sustain its effectiveness.
Mr. Minister, please look at yourself in the mirror
My life changed since I asked two critical questions at a conference held last week in Washington, D.C., with the participation of several pro-government journalists and experts from the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), a Turkish think tank with close ties to the government. Insults about me, my paper and even the social community I am affiliated with were abundant.
Black propaganda websites granted legal shield
Circles close to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government have been accused of conducting a large-scale black propaganda war against the Hizmet movement, which was inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen; media outlets close to the movement; and journalists critical of the government.
Erdoğan’s scapegoats: the West and Gülen
Erdogan can even push for a ridiculous extradition application to be made to the US, and when this is refused, he will use this in his public rallies as evidence to show that the US is working with Gülen to topple his government. As I said, he is not bound by ethics and knows very well that corruption is a fact in Turkey but prefers to present himself as the victim.
Turkey’s tryst with democracy (2)
The anti-Hizmet moorings of the Erdoğan-led AK Party were present since the formation of the AK Party government in 2002. It is evident from the “secret deal” signed between the military establishment and the Erdoğan government concerning the profiling of Hizmet volunteers that led to the crackdown on Hizmet.
Proof of the ‘parallel state’
Referring to a news story that appeared in the pro-government media about unfounded allegations about the police, Bülent Arınç, the second man in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), had said, “A dignified person should not speak without evidence.” Arınç’s words are now being used by opposition parties to criticize the prime minister.
Turkey’s tryst with democracy (1)
All of Erdoğan’s recent acts reflect a serious deficit of democracy in the ruling government. These acts include making bogus claims of a parallel structure; targeting institutions linked to Fethullah Gülen’s Hizmet movement; embark on a massive reshuffle of thousands of officials without any reasonable grounds; changing the structure of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) to subjugate the judiciary; openly interfering in the media; strengthening the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and bringing it under the direct control of the prime minister; banning Twitter and YouTube; and speaking with a threatening, bullying and polarizing tone.
The story of the government media’s smear campaign against Hizmet
The pro-government media — or more correctly the “government media,” as it has become apparent that they have been bought by businessmen under orders from the prime minister — has manufactured and published lies about the Hizmet movement, which has a four-decade proud history in Turkey, in an attempt to create the perception that it is a criminal organization.
