Unidentified individuals have graffitied offensive remarks on a wall of the Turkish Cultural Center (TCC) in the city of West Haven, Connecticut.
The graffiti echoes Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s hate speech against the Hizmet movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, with which the cultural center is affiliated.
The TCC has been serving the Turkish-American community in Connecticut for seven years. Mehmet Elmacı, the coordinator of the organization, told Turkish media outlets that the incident was unprecedented. “We are a cultural center that does not take part in politics. Our goal has been to share Turkey’s cultural heritage with our community. We condemn those individuals who are inspired by Erdoğan’s hate speech toward the Hizmet movement to write offensive remarks on our walls,” he said.
Volunteers from the Hizmet movement are overseeing the campaign on Twitter to criticize the Turkish government by introducing followers to a trending topic with a new hashtag every day, and since the Hizmet movement has active members in more than 150 countries, their actions on Twitter have exploded.
Erdoğan’s AKP runs out of steam, then what?
We are now in the midst of a system crisis with unprecedented dimensions and unforeseen consequences. Turkey’s fiercely embattled Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is betting whatever the country has gained over the past years on a game of prospects that will either lead to a downfall, or turn the stakes in such favor for himself so as to speed up his irresistible rise to untouchability.
Don’t lose the plot
Turkey’s attempted coup shocked an already tense society. At least 240 people were killed, and the country narrowly averted a disastrous military takeover. The plot was led in part by followers of the Gulen movement, a secretive Muslim sect that runs a global network of schools, charities and businesses and has infiltrated the Turkish state. It is only natural that Turks should be determined to identify and punish the conspirators.
Hizmet Movement blog now available in Portuguese and Arabic
Committed to the mission to make the most up-to-date and accurate archive on Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet Movement conveniently available to any inquiry, Hizmet Movement blog has taken yet another step towards reaching out to an even greater population.
What I Saw In Turkey
Everywhere in Turkey, people are talking about the clampdown on the Turkish media. The situation is quite dire. At Samanyolu, a TV station, has 14 broadcast channels in Turkey, English, Arabic and Kurdish and dozens of radio stations and popular news portals. Foreign news chief, Adnan Tokkapi, said its general manager, Hidayet Karaca, has been held in prison without conviction since December 2014.
Lecture: What Went Wrong in Turkey?
Sahin Alpay is a columnist for Turkish dailies Zaman (since 2002) and Today’s Zaman (since 2007). He has previously served as editor and columnist at other leading Turkish dailies Cumhuriyet (1982 – 92), Sabah (1993 – 94) and Milliyet (1994 – 2001).
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