The last refuge of losers: deporting a journalist

Dr. Ihsan Yilmaz
Dr. Ihsan Yilmaz


Date posted: February 7, 2014

İHSAN YILMAZ

I am sure most of our readers know my Today’s Zaman colleague Mahir Zeynalov better than they know me. He is a very accomplished Twitter user. His Turkish twitter account has 57,000 followers and the English one has 87,000 followers. Last year, he was chosen as one of the 10 most effective twitter users in Turkey. His Today’s Zaman blog posts are well-read and widely shared.

Mahir, who is of Azerbaijani origin, is a very bright journalist. Before coming to Turkey to accept a job offer from Today’s Zaman, he was settled in the US and worked for the Los Angeles Times for a while. What Mahir did by leaving the US and coming to Turkey was actually a sacrifice that he made for a country that he loves in addition to his own Azerbaijan. He was educated in Hizmet schools in Azerbaijan and is now married to a Turkish woman. All of these connect him to Turkey.

Yet, despite all this, the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that is becoming increasingly authoritarian and even totalitarian, decided to deport him because of critical tweets. Erdoğan has already filed a criminal complaint against him. Yet, instead of waiting for the outcome of the judicial proceedings, Erdoğan gave his own verdict and has denied Mahir the ability to live in what has now become his own country.

Among so many other things, this one is telling enough, in the sense that Erdoğan does not respect the judiciary anymore and wants to punish his critics with his own bare hands. As I have written in previous columns here, Erdoğan and his oligarchic clique continue to label independent civil society groups such as the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSIAD) and the Hizmet movement as traitors and puppets of international dark forces. Mahir is a newcomer to this group of traitors. Though as a matter of fact, being originally from another country automatically makes him a member of an international dark force in the eyes of the corrupt politicians who have resorted to all sorts of help to get away with their alleged crimes. In the last week, they have tried to get support from several crazy conspiracy theories, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leaders such as Abdullah Öcalan and Cemil Bayık, and Ergenekon and Balyoz convicts. What a group!

Mahir is actually lucky, since at least he will not be jailed. Now, it is becoming clearer that Erdoğan wants a spying-terrorism-coup lawsuit to be opened against Hizmet volunteers. It has been alleged that last summer he told Turkey’s ambassadors that if the Hizmet movement continued to upset him he would arrange for a prosecutor, two police officers and fake report to present the Hizmet movement as a terrorist organization. Since August 2013, the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) has repeatedly mentioned this allegation without naming Erdoğan, but so far, no one has denied or condemned this allegation. Events, Erdoğan’s speeches and the writings of columnists who are very close to both Erdoğan and Erdoğan’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT), such as the Yeni Şafak daily’s Cem Küçük, suggest that a lawsuit is already underway. For instance, Küçük wrote last week that academics such as myself and Savaş Genç are part of a coup plot against the Erdoğan government and that these academics deserve what happened to a colonel, Talat Aydemir, who failed in a coup attempt in early 1960s and was hanged.

Make no mistake, all of these are part of a psychological warfare campaign designed to consolidate Erdoğan’s votes. Make no mistake, this is not against the Hizmet movement, which is only a figurehead that is being used and abused by corrupt scenario writers. All that they seek is to make sure that the public does not talk about the alleged government corruption and that the executive is able to subdue the judiciary. They threaten everyone who questions and criticizes their moves.

Make no mistake either that Mahir’s deportation is a clear signal to other foreign journalists. Nevertheless, what Erdoğan did not anticipate is the fact that Mahir has already become a hero journalist. You may call it wishful thinking, but those of us who survive will see in the very near future that Mahir will be awarded several international journalism prizes.

Let me finish with what I said in my last piece: I am afraid and very concerned that their ethical and moral standards will allow them to rig the local elections, since this is, as confessed by Erdoğan last week in Berlin, an existential referendum for the AK Party.

Source: Todays Zaman , February 7, 2014


Related News

Terrorist PKK targets Gulen movement’s schools in Hakkari

Schools opened by the Gülen movement, inspired by internationally respected Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen, in the eastern province of Hakkari are often threatened by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to an interview by the T24 news portal. The first private school the Gülen movement in Hakkari was opened in 2007. There are currently 300 students at the school, Hatice Avcı College.

72-year-old Turkish man detained over coup charges

Gülen movement has been accused of masterminding the coup attempt on July 15 despite its successive statements that denied any involvement. Failing to back up its accusations with credible evidence, the government has detained more than 40,000 people and arrested 24,000 over their alleged links to the coup attempt since July 15.

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.

Mothers meet in İstanbul to mark Mother’s Day, see their children

A mother, Vera Stamova from Moldova, expressed similar feelings. “My two children study in Turkey. My younger daughter studied in Turkish schools [in Moldova]. She received a quality education. I love Turkey and I have great confidence in Turkish people. If I had another child, I would also send her to Turkey. I miss them a lot, but they are very lucky and are taken good care of here,” she said.

Islamic scholar Gülen calls for ‘reasonability’ in prep school row

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has called on the government to act “reasonably” in its plan to close test prep schools, adding that they were the ones receiving a “slap,” in a veiled reference to a statement from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. You have to defend it without making concessions in the language you use,” Gülen said in an apparent message to members of the “Hizmet” [Service] movement.

Defamation – Turkey’s Justice Minister: Gülen Followers Take Christian Names To Infiltrate Western States

Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on Monday that followers of Gülen movement, change their Turkish names in order to infiltrate into the institutions of the Western states.

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

The Hizmet movement and external forces

Businessman jailed over Gülen links dies of cancer after his belated release from prison

Ottawa urged to expedite residency process for those fleeing oppression in Turkey

IFLC: Promoting Intercultural Dialogue

Nigeria: Last Man Standing

Hate speech and its impact on the movement (1)

Turkey: Effort to Force Closure of Gülen Schools Falling Flat in Eurasia

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News