Turkish authorities purge regulators, state TV employees in backlash against graft probe


Date posted: January 19, 2014

ANKARA

Turkey has extended a purge of official organizations to the banking and telecommunications regulators and state television, firing dozens of executives in moves that appear to broaden Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s push back against a corruption investigation.

The authorities had previously reassigned thousands of police officers and about 20 prosecutors and fired some state TV officials in response to the graft probe, the biggest challenge to Erdogan’s 11-year rule.

Investigators are believed to have been looking into allegations of corruption and bribery involving trade in gold with Iran and big real estate projects, although full details of their charges have not been made public.

The prime minister says the investigations, which began a month ago with arrests of high-profile figures including the sons of three of his cabinet ministers, are part of an attempted “judicial coup.”

His opponents say they fear a purge of official bodies will destroy the independence of the judiciary, police and media.

“It’s like reformatting a computer. They are changing the whole system and people in various positions to protect the government,” said Akin Unver, assistant professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

Among dozens of officials dismissed in the latest round of firings, Turkish media reported Saturday that the deputy head of the banking watchdog BDDK and two department heads had been removed.

Five department chiefs were fired at the Telecommunications Directorate, a body that carries out electronic surveillance as well as serving as the country’s telecom regulator, and a dozen people were fired at Turkey’s state channel TRT, including department heads and senior news editors.

A government official said the firings were for “the benefit of the public” and that more could come.

Pictures of money-counting machines and reports of cash stacked in the homes of people linked to the graft investigation have caused an uproar among the Turkish public.

Unver said the aim of the purge at the telecom watchdog could be to prevent further videos and pictures being published on the Internet. “They are seeking [to impose] a monolithic structure over the Internet,” he said.

Several thousand people took to the streets in Turkey’s biggest three cities Saturday demonstrating against a government-led draft bill to increase controls over the Internet. The bill would give the courts the power to rule on removing online material that “violates individual rights,” an article that opponents say is murky and could lead to the arbitrary closure of Web sites.

In Istanbul’s Taksim Square, where police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd, protesters called for the government to resign. Some chanted: “There are thieves around,” referring to the corruption allegations.

Erdogan has suggested that the graft inquiry, which has led to the resignation of three cabinet ministers and the detention of businessmen close to the government, is an attempt to undermine his rule that has been orchestrated by Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric with influence among the police and members of the judiciary.

— Reuters

Source: Washington Post , January 18, 2014


Related News

Walking in the Shoes of Others: Stepping in and out of Turkey

Michael Anthony Samuel* In this article I choose to focus on how Turkish citizens influenced by the Hizmet philosophy underpinned by Fethullah Gülen choose to understand their journey into the world of others, outside the borders of the society in which they were born (Çetin, 2011). What drives these members of the Turkish community to […]

Is it struggle between AK Party and Hizmet?

A prosecutor, Mr. Sadrettin Sarikaya, recently invited head of Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) for testimony that caused political controversy. Many journalists and politicians claimed that behind this was Fethullah Gulen. Mr Sarikaya’s accusation was that some intelligence agents that infiltrated the Kurdish terrorist group to provide intelligence were actually not performing their job, and moreover […]

US says first batch of docs does not constitute extradition request for Gülen

United States (US) Spokesman Mark Toner has said that the first batch of documents sent by the Turkish government did not constitute a formal extradition request for US-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Turkish daily Taraf accused of ‘spying’ and ‘terror acts’ for publishing state document

Daily Taraf, which published a document from a 2004 National Security Council (MGK) meeting about a state action plan against the activities of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s movement, has been charged with “spying” and “terrorism,” in an investigation launched by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor.

Fethullah Gülen sends a message to the conference “Peacebuilding through Education”

The Fountain Magazine in collaboration with the Peace Islands Institute organized a conference titled “Peacebuilding through Education” on September 24, 2012 at The Times Center, NY. The conference aimed to highlight the importance of educating children, especially at the level of primary and secondary school, as an effective and sustainable method to prevent and solve […]

Conspiratorial minds, authoritarian politics

The conspiracy theories that were once the propaganda tools of the enemies of the AKP and have now become the propaganda tools of the AKP itself.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Turkey blacklists 68 companies including Germany’s Daimler, BASF over Gülen links

Graduation ceremony of the Turkish school in Senegal

Kimse Yok Mu conducts cataract surgeries in Nepal

Law firms press charges against Gülen in favor of al-Qaeda-linked group

Niagara Foundation’s Peace & Dialogue Awards – Michigan 2014

Police officers become victims of torture in Turkey

Muslim Networks and Movements in Western Europe: Gülen Movement

Copyright 2024 Hizmet News