AK Party provincial board member resigns after insults
Date posted: February 24, 2014
İSTANBUL
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) İzmir provincial board member Emine Yenen has resigned from the party after being subjected to insults and discriminatory treatment by party members, Turkish news sources reported on Monday.
“At first there was the alienation and isolation of those labeled as ‘Gülenists’ within the [AK] Party. Then, we started to be labeled as members of a terrorist organization, and ‘hashashin.’ It had come to push and shove in the party. The accusations had reached an unacceptable level,” said Yenen.
Hashashins were hash-smoking hitmen who committed assassinations in the 11th century, giving rise to the English word “assassin.” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used the term in public last month in a thinly veiled reference to members of the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
“For my own self-respect I resigned from my position and from the party,” said Yenen, who is a doctor and a member of the Aegean International Health Federation (ESAFED) and is known for her volunteer work in several African countries.
Turkey’s Curious Coup – positions of the Turkish Government, Gulen Movement and Turkey’s Western allies
Within days of the coup attempt, James Clapper, the then-Director of US National Intelligence, said that they had not seen any intelligence indicating Gülen’s involvement. Bruno Kahl, head of Germany’s BND foreign intelligence agency, said during an interview in March 2017 that he did not believe Gülen was behind the coup.
Anti-Hizmet plot no more innocent than practices of coup periods
Since the launch of the major corruption operation on Dec. 17, 2013, more than 20,000 police officers, bureaucrats, judges and prosecutors have been reassigned for no official reason other than their suspected links to the Hizmet movement.
Bosnian court denies Turkish extradition request for alleged Gülen follower
A Bosnian court has dismissed a request for extradition to Turkey of a Turkish national, one among several wanted for alleged links to the Gülen movement, which Ankara blames for a failed coup in Turkey in 2016, Reuters reported.
Twitter users protest plan to close prep schools in Turkey
Turkish Twitter users are in an uproar over a report that the government has drafted a law which would close thousands of private preparatory education centres (known as “dershanes”) across the country. The schools are reportedly a point of tension between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government and the Gülen movement that runs many of the schools.
Hate speech creates new opportunities for Hizmet movement
The effects of the ruling party’s persistent hate speech against the Hizmet movement on non- Hizmet groups can be examined by dividing the groups into two categories: conservative groups and other groups.
Should Hizmet establish a political party?
If the Hizmet movement had believed that services to Turkey can best be provided through politics, it would have done so from the beginning. Civil society has a special place in democracies. One can also serve the country by rejecting democratic pressures and upholding rule of law and individual freedoms.
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