While responding to a question on hate speech, the Religious Affairs Directorate said on Monday that Islam does not allow its followers to use such discourse.
A man identified as Mustafa Petek asked the Religious Affairs Directorate on March 24 if Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the Hizmet movement, deserves to be a target of hate speech by state officials. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and several government officials have been targeting Gülen and the movement, calling him a “false prophet,” “fake saint” and “bogus scholar,” and Hizmet a “parallel state,” a “gang,” “cave dwellers,” “tools,” a “virus,” a “tumor,” an “illegal organization” and “raving Hashishin,” which was a medieval order of assassins.
The Religious Affairs Directorate, in response to the man’s query on hate speech, said, “In Islam, no one is allowed to humiliate a person or refer to him using adjectives that don’t represent him.”
What is lacking in democratization package is democracy itself
This time’s so-called democratization package to soon be submitted to Parliament is an overt effort to make judicial proceedings nearly impossible if the consent of a governor or one of their deputies has not been granted. A prosecutor who wants to start an operation will first go to the governor (read: the government) in order to get a license to use law enforcement bodies in any sort of operation. This move is not only against democratic norms and the principles of transparency and the rule of law, but is also a clear reflection of a defensive mechanism in light of mounting corruption and graft claims surrounding senior government officials.
The mosque-cemevi project and the settlement process
ALİ ASLAN KILIÇ, ANKARA In Muş, where I was during the final days of August for the anniversary of the Battle of Manzigert, I had the chance to speak with citizens from both Manzigert and Ağrı about the terror problem and the solution process aimed at Turkish-Kurdish peace. Last Sunday, I was in the neighborhood […]
Walking in the Shoes of Others: Stepping in and out of Turkey
Michael Anthony Samuel* In this article I choose to focus on how Turkish citizens influenced by the Hizmet philosophy underpinned by Fethullah Gülen choose to understand their journey into the world of others, outside the borders of the society in which they were born (Çetin, 2011). What drives these members of the Turkish community to […]
4 people trying to escape persecution in Turkey missing after boat capsizes in Evros River
A woman and her three children went missing after a boat carrying several Turkish asylum seekers who fled Turkey due to an ongoing government crackdown on followers of the Gülen movement capsized in the Evros River along the Turkey-Greece border on Wednesday night, Euronews Turkish reported.
Bruised by lavish palace, Erdoğan pictures fake Gülen compound
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made a major push to paint a picture of the compound where Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen lives as a spacious camp in an attempt to contain attacks over his own sumptuous palace, which drew anger from the public, including from within his own party.
Kimse Yok Mu officials extend helping hand to Syrian refugees
The Şanlıurfa office of Kimse Yok Mu, a Turkish charity, in cooperation with the Şanlıurfa Governor’s Office, provided food, clothing, blankets and cleaning supplies to 200 Syrian families living in the town of Akçakale on Dec. 21. More than 120,000 Syrian refugees are taking shelter in camps in southern Turkey and more are expected to […]
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