An İstanbul-based lawyer filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday against Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, with allegations such as the establishment of a criminal organization, organizing an attempt to overthrow the government, organized fraud and abuse of duty as a civil servant.
Lawyer Hüdaverdi Yıldırım submitted a petition to the İstanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office in which he accused Gülen of being behind the corruption scandal that came to public attention on Dec. 17 of last year. Claiming that the graft probe is not about corruption and bribery but about overthrowing a legitimate government, Yıldırım argued that those who emphasize the independence of the judiciary are actually asking for privileged status for the ideology of their community — by which Yıldırım meant the Hizmet movement.
Yıldırım also claimed that Gülen is guilty of using his influence over public prosecutors to make them target the government.
The Hizmet movement is a religious and social movement that is inspired by the teaching of US-based scholar Gülen.
In other words, this is not a power struggle but a one-sided attack by an increasingly authoritarian leader on a civil society movement critical of the way government rules the nation.
In this asymmetrical fight, the Hizmet movement has nothing to lose. It is composed of individuals who are dedicated to doing something that they believe is for the good of humanity.
The latest step by AKP-Gov’t witch-hunt against Hizmet Movement
In Turkey, the increasing pressure over the freedom of press, property rights and authoritarianism have reached an alarming level. A recent report on the rule of law and respect for human rights inTurkey declared that Turkish government had been perpetrating systematic human rights violations since December 2013.
Veteran out of social security coverage after being dismissed in post-coup purge
Being a veteran is no relief from Turkey’s government witch hunt as M.E.Ç., a former police officer who lost his one ear and eye to clashes with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) says he cannot benefit from a state-backed social security coverage to undergo a surgery after dismissal.
AK Party government removing critical voices from state bodies
Many bureaucrats who are just doing their jobs and have no affiliation with any political groups now face [the prospect of] being dismissed with a claim of having links to the Hizmet movement. However, it is widely known that many of the bureaucrats discharged from their posts do not have any links with the movement,” Arslan said.
Erdoğan’s harsh, xenophobic rhetoric damages fight against Islamophobia
The increasingly punitive and xenophobic discourse adopted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in recent years has done a huge disservice to the fight against Islamophobia, dealing a blow to the decades-long efforts of organizations such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Hizmet movement in international forums.
Erdogan vows for genocide of Gulen sympathizers: “We will not give them the right to life!”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has been waging a relentless war against followers of the faith-based Gülen movement in Turkey for the past several years, has said Gülen movement sympathizers in the country will not enjoy the right to life.
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