Police chiefs removed in four provinces across Turkey
Date posted: March 15, 2014
İSTANBUL
Police chiefs of Giresun, Muğla, Sivas and Van provinces were removed from their posts by the government on Saturday, Turkish media reported.
The removals come roughly three months after a wide-ranging corruption investigation that implicated prominent bureaucrats and businessmen close to the ruling party went public on Dec. 17.
More than 8,000 police officers and about 130 prosecutors have been removed from their posts and reassigned since the corruption scandal broke.
The purges are thought to be an attempt to remove those the government believes are members of the Hizmet movement from public sector jobs.
Since the mid-1960s, the Hizmet movement has been the sole actor representing civil Islam in Turkey, and for over a decade the Hizmet movement has gained a worldwide reputation for its educational and interfaith dialogue activities.
Hizmet schools win 64 out of 120 TÜBİTAK medals despite gov’t pressure
İstanbul’s Fatih Koleji, Ankara’s Samanyolu and Atlantik Schools and İzmir’s Yamanlar Schools, which have been put under pressure by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, picked up 64 medals out of 120 on Wednesday in the 22nd National Science Olympiad and the 19th National Mathematics Olympiad for primary and secondary schools.
Turkey: ‘Exclusion for all’ state
Indeed, just last week a columnist in a pro-government daily argued that officials in certain government institutions have been expelled over their alleged ties to the Hizmet movement. This is no different from a witch hunt. In a civilized society, expelling qualified professionals because of their sympathy for a religious and social movement can only be described as discrimination.
‘Well, you were saying Hizmet is a religious movement?’
The Hizmet movement is considered a civil society organization, an indispensable element in democratic societies. In democracies, elections truly matter. The will of voters is indisputably important. However, there is also another power, called public opinion. They influence the parties and administrations.
Why Mr. Gülen was targeted
The main difference between Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and the politician who became Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is that the former is vehemently opposed to the use and abuse of Islam as a political ideology and party philosophy while the latter sees the religion as an instrument to channel votes and to consolidate his ranks among supporters.
8,480 Turkish nationals sought asylum in Germany in 2017
The number of Turkish citizens who sought asylum in Germany in 2017 totals 8,480, according to Deutsche Welle.
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