Bank Asya, a leading Turkish financial institution, announced on Sunday that their corporate governance rating had increased in June over its score from last year.
The bank released the figures in an announcement addressed to the Public Disclosure Forum (KAP). According to a recent report prepared by the Capital Markets Board (SPK), Bank Asya’s corporate governance rating increased from 84.20 in June 2013 to 90.85 in June of this year.
The founders of Bank Asya are known for being affiliated with the Hizmet movement, inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. News reports circulated earlier this year indicating the government had attempted to sabotage the bank, as corporations with close ties to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan withdrew upwards of TL 4 billion from their accounts, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the bank’s deposits.
Human rights group urges foreign gov’ts to ensure safety of Gülen followers
Virginia-based human rights organization Advocates of Silenced Turkey (AST) in a piece on HuffPost has called on foreign governments to ensure the safety of participants of the Gülen, or Hizmet, movement.
Separate state and religion
Turkey needs to face the fact that experience gained over the course of almost a century has shown that the marriage of state and religion is detrimental to both. If Turkey is to ever consolidate a liberal and pluralist kind of democracy, state and religion need to be separated, and freedom for believers and nonbelievers alike has to be secured.
Turkish officials cancel green passport of Islamic scholar 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.
Pro-gov’t daily sets up hotline for informing on Gülen followers in EU
The pro-government Sabah daily’s Europe edition, Sabah Avrupa, has set up a telephone line for its readers to report followers of the faith-based Gülen movement, against which Turkish authorities launched a witch hunt over its alleged involvement in a failed coup last summer.
Turkish coup was Erdogan ‘gift’
Erdogan became quite successful in his two very basic goals right after the coup. First and foremost, for putting all the blame squarely on the Hizmet movement, led by Gulen, and then carrying on a huge cover-up to hide other segments of the coup plotters. The problem is, while he has been quite successful in Turkey – he was not able to convince many in Europe and in the US.
Former intel chief calls for use of ASALA, MOSSAD tactics to kill Gülen followers
İsmail Hakkı Pekin, a former intelligence chief of the Turkish General Staff, has suggested that Turkey make use of tactics it used against Armenian militant group, the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), and those employed by Israeli intelligence agency MOSSAD against Nazis in order to assassinate followers of the Gülen movement abroad.
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