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.
Having earlier delivered Turkey’s relief aid to the Filipino flood victims, Kimse Yok Mu Foundation now gears up for a polyclinic and an orphanage as a part of its permanent aid initiatives in the region.
Alienating Turkey
Pro-government media outlets publish reports and news stories that are dark propaganda. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and leading party figures make unfounded accusations directed at the Hizmet movement at every opportunity. In Turkey, when people want to hide something and divert attention, they create a virtual agenda and you are asked to follow the distortionist.
The Hizmet Movement: ‘Terrorist’ or Terrorised?
In the end, when analysing this most recent coup attempt, and judging the Hizmet movement or Fethullah Gulen’s involvement comes down to the simple fact that Hizmet activity revolves around education, charity and dialogue, and underpinning all of its work are love, compassion, equality and positive engagement. Essentially, this is epitomised in the fact that the turkish word ‘Hizmet’ literally means ‘service’.
Government as a black propaganda machine
In an effort to distract public opinion from the graft probe and the alleged involvement of the prime minister and his inner circle in corruption, Erdoğan has been conducting psychological warfare. Considering the Hizmet movement responsible as the force behind the investigation, Erdoğan declared the movement an enemy.
Turkish journalist tells Staten Island group about censorship in his country
Turkish journalist Aydogan Vatandas warned Friday night at the Turkish Cultural Center of Staten Island in Dongan Hills that freedom of the press in his country is under siege.
Gülen’s lawyer issues written warning to pro-gov’t media outlets
Nurullah Albayrak, the lawyer representing Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, on Thursday issued a written warning to pro-government media outlets on social media for their persistent use of the expressions “parallel structure” — a term invented by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to refer to followers of the Hizmet movement — and “Fethullah Gülen terrorist organization” — referred to in the dailies as FETÖ — on the grounds that they are making baseless claims regarding the faith-based movement.
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