Award ceremony cancellation on Parliament’s agenda

Seleme Gülen is a relative of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen whose ideas inspired the faith-based Hizmet movement.(Photo: Today's Zaman)
Seleme Gülen is a relative of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen whose ideas inspired the faith-based Hizmet movement.(Photo: Today's Zaman)


Date posted: July 17, 2014

EMRULLAH BAYRAK / ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu spoke in Parliament on Wednesday about the cancellation of the award ceremony of a short film contest after the competition was won by Seleme Gülen, a relative of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Bringing the issue to the floor of Parliament, Tanrıkulu submitted a parliamentary question to Education Minister Nabi Avcı, querying whether the cancellation resulted from discrimination against Seleme Gülen and asking the ministry to confirm rumors that screenings of the short film by the Ministry of Education were also to be canceled.

Tanrıkulu also asked if the award, which comes with a cash prize of TL 15,000, had been canceled in addition to the ceremony.

The award was to be represented to the contest’s winner with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Education Minister Ömer Dinçer and other high-ranking government officials in attendance, prior to being canceled.

In her short film, titled “Apprenticeship,” Gülen highlighted the process of beginning training in the workplace.

Ministry of Education officials have been pursuing a comprehensive investigation to check whether the winners of contests held by government institutions are affiliated with the Hizmet movement, and the realization that Seleme Gülen was a relative of the Hizmet leader resulted in the cancellation of the ceremony.

The award of TL 15,000 has not yet been presented to Seleme Gülen.

Source: Today's Zaman , July 16, 2014

Tags: | |


Related News

Celebrating Ramadan with Turkish asylum seekers

Haldun and his wife, Funda, fled Turkey about two years ago with their three daughters and are now seeking political asylum in the United States because if they go back to Turkey they face arrest and likely torture. Once a successful manufacturer of washing machine products, Haldun, Funda and their children are now a family without a country; their factory turned over to a government trustee, their passports taken away, and their property and belongings nationalized.

Gülen’s lawyer: Pro-gov’t columnist’s claims on religious directorate ‘disgusting scenario’

A lawyer representing Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has strongly denied allegations by a pro-government columnist who argued that the Gülen movement is behind recent “attacks” on the Religious Affairs Directorate, saying the baseless claims are a part of a “disgusting scenario to divide the nation.”

Dozens of Dutch-Turkish businesses ‘threatened’ after failed coup

Business people associated with exiled opposition leader Fethullah Gülen, or accused of supporting him, have filed official police complaints, the Parool newspaper reported. The Dutch government last week called for Dutch Turks who had been targeted to contact the police.

TUSKON says 2 businessmen threatened members with ‘blacklisting’

Two Turkish businessmen from the Central Anatolian city of Konya have threatened a business confederation by telling it to “cut ties” with Turkey’s largest volunteer-based grassroots movement, the Hizmet movement, or be placed on a government blacklist of entrepreneurs affiliated with the movement, the head of the business confederation has said.

Turkic American Alliance Condemns Government Takeover of Zaman

Turkish government seized control of Zaman Newspaper, the largest and highly circulated newspaper in Turkey. The takeover is a violation of the freedom of press which is vital for every democratic state and requires political intervention from the international community.

Logistics companies seized over Gülen links sold in fast-track auction

Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund announced it has sold Sürat Kargo and Sürat Lojistik, private logistics companies that had been transferred to the TMSF due to their alleged affiliation with the Gülen movement. Numerous private companies were transferred to TMSF due to their alleged links to the Gülen movement before and after a failed coup in 2016.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Lack of tolerance and democracy

Graduation ceremony of the Turkish school in Senegal

Former Daimler chairman: Turkey’s purge reminds of me beginning of Nazi era

Kosovo grants asylum to Turkish national

Belgium firm to sue Turkey over Gülen-linked assets

Kimse Yok Mu launches a bakery for Sudanese orphans

Journalists and Writers Foundation gathers all colors of Turkey at iftar

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News