Collective punishment [of Hizmet movement]

Ali Bulaç
Ali Bulaç


Date posted: March 17, 2014

ALİ BULAÇ

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is preparing for a comprehensive crackdown.

If he can secure sufficient electoral support at the local polls slated for March 30, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will not only purge members of the Hizmet movement from the bureaucracy but will also try to halt its activities in the media, finance, education and other sectors. AK Party İstanbul deputy Burhan Kuzu announced he has submitted to the prime minister a list of 2,000 people who will be detained.

Those who suggest that members of the Hizmet movement must be purged from public institutions justify their position by saying members of the movement receive their orders from their leader and not from their superiors. However, I should note that the problem is not about the failure of the members of the Hizmet movement to obey orders from their superiors in the public service but about the claim that the prosecutors and police chiefs who conducted the graft and bribery investigation are members of the Hizmet movement — a claim which has yet to be proven. Still, I will try to critically discuss relations between the Hizmet movement (and other religious communities) and the bureaucracy.

First, any public servant who is a member of a religious community is required to obey orders from his/her superior. If a public servant attempts to use the public resources and authorities available to him/her to promote the interests of his/her own religious community, then this creates problems.

Second, a community with a certain political ideology may engage in political activity or try to influence political processes within a well-defined sphere. But if it tries to manipulate the bureaucracy for political gains, this indicates a problematic approach as this means “unfair competition” against other communities or groups and abuse of powers and resources of the executive branch of the state, which is accountable to the public for its actions.

You may find the first argument “problematic” and the second “rightful.” Indeed, those who voice these objections tend to portray the Turkish Republic as a state free from any ideologies or value judgments, which is clearly not the case. Given its historical roots, centuries-old experience and modern version, the state sees itself as a religious community per se. In the Ottoman Empire, the dynasty was the possessor of the country or the estate and it was a small community of familial and blood relations. When the Turkish Republic was established, this dynasty was purged and replaced with a community of founding fathers. In this tradition, a specific community or group in the bureaucracy tends to see itself as the community or potential possessor — owner even — of the state. The presence of a community within the state is even perceived as security.

Given the political tradition from which it came — Milli Görüş (National View), its founding members, the fashion in which senior politicians communicate with each other and its responses to the outside world, the AK Party gives the impression of being a “community” in the final analysis. Indeed, Erdoğan referred to President Abdullah Gül as his “brother” when he nominated him for the presidency. “Our ties go beyond brotherly relationship,” they are quick to note when referring to a potential competition in the future. These reactions do not fall into the category of “individual” relations which are considered normal in liberal democracies.

Furthermore, it must be noted that when certain public servants are being purged on charges of being members of a specific community, we see them being replaced with members of other communities. This problem will continue to haunt us unless we make our state one that is built on justice.

Here is a more important problem: Suppose a bureaucrat who is a member of a specific community fails to comply with the orders of his/her superiors. In this case, the political authority is of course entitled to remove that bureaucrat from office under administrative law. But to use the failure of several — dozens — of bureaucrats to comply with orders as a pretext for purging thousands of bureaucrats in all public institutions and penalizing many trade firms and organizations would be to collectively punish individual offenses.

Source: Todays Zaman , March 17, 2014


Related News

Torture – Black Sites of Turkey

In a near-repeat of the CIA’s ‘extraordinary renditions’, the regime of Turkish president Erdoğan is kidnapping dozens of members of the Gülen movement from around the world. Victims are now raising a serious accusation: secret torture sites are part of the repression. A team of nine media organizations from eight countries, coordinated by CORRECTIV, investigates.

The Fountain 100th Issue Essay Contest

With its 100th issue, The Fountain invites you to join us in our celebration. Write in an essay a projection of yourself on your 100th birthday. What would you say to yourself at that age? What would your 100-year-old self tell you back? Would it be a conversation of praise and/or regret? Praise for achievements in your career, but regrets for a destroyed family? Warnings for the mistakes you did in your projected future or you will do in your past; pitfalls you happened to be dragged into, temptations you could not resist; or celebrations for the good character you were able to display and sustain a whole life, a precious life wasted or a life lived as it was meant to be.

Jailed police chief’s children, aged 15 and 17, detained in new post-coup probe

Two children of former police chief Anadolu Atayun, who has already been under arrest for some 3 years, was detained. Chief Atayun was jailed after conducting corruption operations in late 2008 and 2013 implicating then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his inner circle.

Fethullah Gulen and His Movement: A Brief Introduction

KASHIF HASAN KHAN July 1, 2012 We often talk about revivalism in education system so as to change the direction of our young generation, who seems to have forgotten the very fundamentals. Undoubtedly, our leaders have played a vital role and contributed a lot to it, but we can’t live up to that forever; we […]

Gülen interview received high praise from intellectuals, NGOs, politicians

The in-depth interview with Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has inspired the popular civic and social movement called Hizmet, and was published this week in a five-part series by both Zaman and Today’s Zaman was received well by people from all walks of life including intellectuals, academics, politicians and human rights activists.

Today’s Zaman Editor-in-Chief Bülent Keneş released pending trial

The İstanbul 8th Penal Court of Peace ruled on Wednesday to release Today’s Zaman Editor-in-Chief Bülent Keneş pending trial after deliberating on a petition by the lawyers of Keneş, who was arrested on Saturday and detained at Silivri Prison.

Latest News

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

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

European Muslims Want Participation, Not Integration: Role of the Gulen Movement

Islamabad High Court: No plan to close Pak-Turk schools

Shocking change and disappointed hearts…

Ruling party stacks judiciary with “his” men

Enes Kanter – A Dervish in the NBA

Kimse Yok Mu extends helping hand to Syrians in Jordan, Lebanon

Campaign seeks donations for purge-victim Turkish refugees in Greece

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News