Another AK Party deputy, Muhammed Çetin, resigns in protest


Date posted: January 31, 2014

 

İSTANBUL

Another deputy from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Muhammed Çetin, has resigned from his party on Friday in protest of the graft scandal that has implicated the sons of three ministers and businessmen close to the government as well as the chief of a state bank.

Çetin was referred to the party’s disciplinary committee On Jan. 16 for expulsion after he made a joke about shoebox in allusion to Halkbank Manager’s stashing 4,5 millions of dollars at shoeboxes.

Çetin reportedly asked AK Party deputies Volkan Bozkır and Ali Aşlık about their shoebox numbers. His joke prompted other deputies to tell the incident to the party administration, which outraged with the joke and referred Çetin to the disciplinary committee with request of expulsion.

The incident comes against backdrop of increasing draconian measures by the ruling AK Party to stifle any opposition and critical voice within the party amid mounting intra-party dissent.

The possible expulsion also refers to a deep sense of mistrust and insecurity within the party over deputies’ loyalties as upcoming legal amendments to restructure the judicial bodies require strong solidarity in parliamentary voting sessions.

The AK Party has been shaken by resignations following a corruption probe that has rocked Turkey’s political and business elite since it became public last month.

On the last day of 2013, the party’s Burdur deputy, Hasan Hami Yıldırım, resigned in protest of the government’s response to the graft scandal. With Yıldırım’s resignation, the number of AK Party seats in Parliament dropped to 320 and the number of independent lawmakers rose to 12.

Yıldırım slammed what he called a campaign of “insults” and “defamation” against Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement, criticizing the government’s description of Hizmet as a “gang.”

Three deputies — Erdal Kalkan, Ertuğrul Günay and Haluk Özdalga — also left the party before Yıldırım’s resignation, continuing a string of resignations that started in November, bringing the total number of deputies who have resigned to seven.

 

Source: Todays Zaman , January 31, 2014


Related News

Turkey’s Erdogan and onslaughts against opposition

Gulen movement, which is inspired by the highly-respected United States based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, has been brazenly targeted for total destruction by President Erdogan after the failed coup in that country few months ago. The iron-hand President accused members and sympathisers of the movement as being behind the coup.

Al-Azhar professor: Gülen courageously resists radicalism

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen teaches real Islam to the world while bravely resisting the destruction of the religion by radical and barbaric Muslims, a world-renowned professor at Egypt’s al-Azhar University said during an interview on Wednesday.

UK Clears Gulenists Of Turkey’s ‘Coup’ Accusations

On Saturday the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee issued a report on the UK’s relations with Turkey, in which the Erdoğan government’s claim that Gülenists masterminded the 15 July coup attempt is refuted.

Plot against Gülen movement put into action based on lies, false confessions

An alleged secret plot against members of the faith-based Gülen movement — inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, which became public last year, is being put into action step by step based on questionable testimonies obtained from secret witnesses, informants and anonymous complainants leading to criminal prosecutions apparently orchestrated by political authorities.

40,000 people reported to authorities for being Gülen followers since July 15

As many as 40,000 people have been reported to the Ankara Police Department for being followers of the Gülen movement since a failed coup attempt on July 15. Although the movement strongly denies having any role in the corruption probe and the coup attempt, the government accuses it of having masterminded both despite the lack of any tangible evidence.

JWF statement on allegations against Hizmet movement

The Journalists and Writers Foundation’s (JWF) response to allegations against Hizmet Movement. In recent days there has been a growing campaign of defamation and misinformation against the Hizmet Movement; this campaign has been directed particularly through social media. Despite the maxim that “the one who makes allegations bears the burden of proof”, it seems that […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

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

In Case You Missed It

A Personal Story from Turkey: I am a “Man of Law” Not a Terrorist!

Turkish schools and businessmen mobilized for Izmir’s EXPO candidacy

Tonyaa Weathersbee: Various forms of Islam revealed in Turkey

Uplifting Orphans in Moldova

Bishop Chane: Gülen one of the greatest scholars

Bal asks whether Erdoğan is trying to suppress religious communities

CSOs across Turkey slam campaign under way to discredit Hizmet movement

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News