Turkish officials cancel green passport of Islamic scholar Gülen

Turkish and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen
Turkish and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen


Date posted: March 29, 2014

ISTANBUL

The governor’s office of the eastern province of Erzurum has cancelled the green passport of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, citing some alleged irregularities in his obtaining the passport in 1990, the Turkish media reported on Friday.

 

Gülen, who resigned from the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) as a religious official and preacher in 1981, obtained the green passport after an application to officials in 1991 following adoption a new law that enabled resigned public servants to acquire passport.

Turkey’s green passport is a special passport that allows the bearer to travel visa-free to certain countries.

It is yet unclear whether Gülen will be able to obtain a normal Turkish passport or face any difficulties with travel following the cancellation.

The decision came after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stepped up his inflammatory rhetoric against the Hizmet movement, inspired by Gülen, accusing the Islamic scholar of plotting to unseat him, a claim which has been firmly denied by Gülen.

Nurullah Albayrak, Gülen’s lawyer, said the decision to cancel the scholar’s passport is politically motivated and has no legal basis. He said Gülen was granted a green passport after his application to the relevant authorities following the adoption of Article 4 of Law No. 5682, which allows certain state officials and retired or resigned public servants to apply for a green passport after a review of their status during their work.

Article 4 also allows those who have resigned from their posts to obtain a green passport after an extensive assessment of their profiles by the authorities. Albayrak underlined that the Religious Affairs Directorate had offered an endorsement for Gülen’s application in 1990 which had paved the way for Gülen to receive the passport.

Officials in the Erzurum governor’s office, however, claimed that the Religious Affairs Directorate’s endorsement was inconsistent with the legal requirements and was not legally enough to grant Gülen the green passport at that time.

Albayrak, however, dismissed that claim.

Source: Todays Zaman , March 28, 2014


Related News

Mothers meet in İstanbul to mark Mother’s Day, see their children

A mother, Vera Stamova from Moldova, expressed similar feelings. “My two children study in Turkey. My younger daughter studied in Turkish schools [in Moldova]. She received a quality education. I love Turkey and I have great confidence in Turkish people. If I had another child, I would also send her to Turkey. I miss them a lot, but they are very lucky and are taken good care of here,” she said.

Cancer patient arrested over Gülen links deteriorates to stage 4 in one month

Fatma Aşkın, a breast cancer patient who was arrested on Feb.14 in the southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep due to her alleged links to the Gülen movement, has experienced a spread of the disease during her one-month stay in prison and has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.

Mr. Erdogan’s Jaw-Dropping Hypocrisy

Tayyip Erdogan, has gall. He has jailed tens of thousands of people, shuttered more than 150 media companies and called a referendum in April to enlarge his powers. Yet when local authorities in Germany, for security reasons, barred two Turkish ministers from campaigning among Turks living in Germany, Mr. Erdogan exploded, accusing Germany of Nazi practices and knowing nothing about democracy.

Suspicious deaths, suicides become common occurrence in post-coup Turkey

The number of people who die in suspicious circumstances after being linked to the July 15 coup attempt has been rising with every passing day, a systematic occurrence that is casting a shadow over official statements pointing to suicide. At least 14 people have reportedly committed suicide. The relatives of most of them claim that the detainees are not the kind of people to commit suicide. Rumours also have it that some of the detainees were killed after being subjected to torture under custody.

Erdoğan gov’t threatened to ‘wipe TUSKON off market map,’ says chairman

One of Turkey’s most influential business confederations, the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), was threatened with being “wiped off the market” by the government after TUSKON made critical statements about government policies, chairman Rızanur Meral told the media on Friday.

Somalia: Somaliland rules out closure of Gulen-linked school

Somaliland administration in northwestern Somalia has refused to follow in the footsteps of the federal government that suspended a school with links to reclusive Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen following a failed coup attempt in Turkey, Garowe Online reports.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

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

In Case You Missed It

The tragic story of a Turkish family fleeing to Greece from persecution

Prep school students dominate LYS university entrance exam

Gulen: Erdogan will end up like Hitler and Stalin

Conference endorses Gülen’s ideas as guides for Nigerian education system

Ahmet Altan has shown which side he’s on

Dalai Lama praises sema at Turkish fest in New Delhi

ABA urges Obama to protest Turkey’s suppression of free speech

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News