Police officer reassigned for attending dershane picnic
Date posted: April 29, 2014
ANKARA
The Interior Ministry has reassigned police officer H.D., who worked at the National Police Department’s Anti-terrorism Unit in Ankara, on the grounds that he and his child attended a picnic organized by a dershane (private preparatory school) affiliated with the faith-based Hizmet movement.Since a major corruption and bribery investigation implicating a number of top government officials went public on Dec. 17, thousands of police officers have been reassigned or removed from their posts because of alleged links to the Hizmet movement, inspired by the teachings of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. The government and circles close to it have accused the movement of being behind of the corruption probe.
In Ankara, H.D. was reassigned allegedly because his child was attending a Hizmet-affiliated exam preparatory school and because he attended a picnic that was organized by the school. When a high-ranking police officer opposed the reassignment of H.D. and asked the deputy director of the Counterterrorism Unit why he was among the officers supposed to be reassigned, the deputy director allegedly responded that H.D. was reassigned because his child was a student at a school affiliated with the Hizmet movement and because the officer himself attended a school picnic.
In addition to thousands of police officers, the government has replaced the prosecutors who initiated the probe as well as others working for public prosecutors’ offices and dozens of officials at various state institutions.
State discrimination against Hizmet movement sympathizers
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government is aiming to take all steps to finish off Hizmet movement sympathizers by any means. Discrimination is one of these steps. Discrimination is a human rights violation. I would like to share five of my personal experiences, of many more, to show what kind of discrimination is being committed against the movement’s sympathizers.
The more we learn, the more we are the same
During my stay in Turkey, I met with many business leaders and academics that provide funding for schools and universities based on this philosophy. As one businessman told me, “Educated people can understand each other.”
Keep Incirlik, Extradite Gülen?
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Gülen calls for support to a [presidential] candidate with true integrity
Commenting on the upcoming presidential elections on Sunday, Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has urged Turks not to cast their vote for a candidate who oppresses citizens, does injustice to them and disregards the rule of law.
Pro-gov’t daily proudly announces Gulenists put in ‘concentration camp’
Gulenists under custody as part of an investigation into Turkey’s July 15 coup attempt are kept in a “concentration camp” near Kayseri province, pro-gov’t Turkish news portal Kayseri Haber reported on Aug 13.
Turkish business suffers under Erdogan’s post-coup Gulen purge
Critics of the ruling AKP expect it to sell Gulen-linked companies to government allies in the business world at a large discount. In mid-October the AKP-linked Metro Holding applied to the TMSF to acquire all of Koza Ipek Holding’s shares. Akin Ipek, the fugitive former owner of the conglomerate, asked on Twitter how Koza Ipek’s $600 million in cash and $20 billion in mining assets could be acquired by a comparatively unimpressive entity. Metro Holding’s capital comes to just over $95 million.
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