Although the AK Party government has been, since a graft probe that rocked the government was made public on Dec. 17 of last year, accusing the Hizmet movement, inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, of infiltrating the police and judiciary and forming a “parallel state” bent on regime change, these new [voice recordings] leaks suggest that the government has been making its own moves to fill the civil service with sympathizers.
Trying to size up the Supreme Court of Appeals, which would have the final say in Doğan’s case, Erdoğan allegedly asks Ergin, “What is the situation after the latest law we passed [on the Supreme Court of Appeals]? Did we set up our own game there?”
“Nearly 2,000 friends who were lawyers practicing in the private sector are being transferred into the system” is Ergin’s alleged response.
Excerpted from the news piece published on Today’s Zaman, 04 March 2014, Tuesday
It seems that the judiciary will be forced to investigate the claims of a so-called illegal organization, and sham trials will be performed to intimidate the Hizmet movement and cover up the corruption claims that become public on Dec. 17, 2013, by taking tactics from the former Ergenekon supporters nested within the army, the bureaucracy, business circles, the media and the judiciary.
Survey shows Turkish gov’t seized at least $11 billion of company assets over Gülen links
Turkish government has transferred about 49,4 billion liras ($11 billion) of assets of 1,124 companies seized from those who have alleged affiliation to the Gülen movement to a special fund under a crackdown that began following a controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
AK Party’s Deputy Günay joins intra-party opposition to prep school ban
Another deputy from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has criticized a recent government plan to shut down prep schools, saying that these institutions are not the cause of problems in the education system but a consequence of the current system. Günay’s remarks come one day after the AK Party referred Kütahya deputy İdris Bal to the party’s disciplinary board for expulsion after he opposed the government’s plan to close prep schools.
Arbitrary rule in Turkey
ABDULLAH BOZKURT On Nov. 18, in a Cabinet meeting that lasted more than seven hours, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed the ban on private prep schools with his ministers for almost four hours. The meeting came only four days after the draft bill on the ban was leaked to Turkey’s largest circulated paper Zaman. […]
An Eye-Opening Trek Into Turkish Society
WALTER RATLIFF* In Gaziantep, Turkey, the children at a local orphanage were recently asked to write about what they wished for most in life. The exercise was designed to help them think about their goals for the future. However, one child took the answer in a different direction: “I wish my parents could come back […]
Are politics and Hizmet from different walks of life?
The possibility of rivalry or conflict between ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Hizmet (the Gülen movement, which consists of followers of Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen’s ideas), came to the agenda once again when individuals known to be Gülen followers took the side of the judiciary in a debate between the government and […]
Latest News
Sacramento leaders gather for Iftar dinner in celebration of Ramadan
SEO Skill Suite: Tools for Keyword Research, Technical & Backlink Analysis
Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison
Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney
Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement
ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment
New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement
European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests
ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases
In Case You Missed It
NPR interviews Stephen Kinzer on graft probe and Fethullah Gulen
IFLC’s ‘colors of the world’ welcomed at European Parliament
Gülen offers condolences for slain İstanbul resident shot at protest
‘Gülen movement has a specific mission’
NEW BOOK: So That Others May Live: A Fethullah Gulen Reader
The message at the dialogue dinner: There’s no alternative to one Nigeria
