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.
Turkish anti-terrorism police carried out raids in six cities, detaining at least five people with alleged links to al-Qaida
The police raid “is a deliberate attack on the IHH,” said Yasar Kutluay, the group’s secretary general. “They are trying to portray the group as an organization with links to terrorism.” He blamed Israel and Gulen’s supporters, for the operation — a charge Gulen’s movement immediately rejected as “slander and false incrimination.”
Brookings: Takvim’s news on Hizmet movement incorrect, totally ignorant
Commenting on the Takvim news piece, Ömer Taşpınar, a Middle East expert at Brookings, said the news does not reflect the truth and that pro-government dailies publish news supporting conspiracies against the movement.
Gülen says never considered establishing political party
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has reiterated that he has never thought of establishing a political party, saying that the Hizmet movement has never had organic relations with a political group.
Old reflexes of media against faith will rise again
The author says his book offers documents and detailed data on smear campaigns against religious people, including publications such as “Haliç’te Yaşayan Simonlar” (Simons in the Golden Horn) by Hanefi Avcı, “İmamın Ordusu” (The Imam’s Army) by Ahmet Şık, news portal Odatv and other websites used as tools in such smear campaigns. 11 December 2011, […]
Who’s conspiring against Erdoğan?
Erdoğan has recently been verbally attacking everyone, including even his own allies. In his most recent statement he threatened Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, saying that his government “will reach your caverns and tear you into pieces.
Toward a security state
Hizmet movement resembles Western civil society groups and organizations in terms of creating public discussion platforms and performing education and unity-related activities. In addition, what makes the movement more important is that it does not depend on the state in order to survive and sustain its effectiveness.
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