When asked about the issue of Erdoğan’s survival, [CHP Istanbul deputy] Erdoğdu said: “The upcoming presidential election [which is scheduled for Aug. 10] is not the main part of this struggle. He might be elected president and elude the graft investigation. What about his son Bilal and other family members? How can they escape an investigation? The main battle is between Erdoğan and the Hizmet movement. That is why Erdoğan talks about eliminating the movement. He considers the matter a fight for survival.”
When the graft allegations first surfaced on Dec. 17 of last year, the government and its media did everything to undermine the reputation of the Hizmet movement. Even AK Party deputies who resigned because of increasingly anti-democratic practices became targets. The government’s ambition to finish off the Hizmet movement is still continuing, and Erdoğan has pledged to eliminate the movement.
Excerpted from the interview published on Today’s Zaman, 26 July 2014, Saturday
Albanian president to Erdoğan: Turkish schools pose no threat
In the latest round of a debate surrounding the Turkish schools in Albania, President Bujar Nishani dismissed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s request to shut schools down because of their links to the faith-based Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet movement.
Extraditing Gülen: A smart move for the PM?
In the latest salvo in his battle for his political life, the Turkish prime minister has started to threaten to bring U.S.-based scholar Fetullah Gülen back to Turkey to face a possible criminal case for his alleged role in what the premier called a “civilian coup plot” attempt. In legal terms, there has been no legal investigation or arrest warrant for Gülen.
THY passengers strongly criticize embargo on Today’s Zaman
Turkey’s flagship carrier Turkish Airlines began an embargo on Dec. 23, 2013 on the distribution of the newspapers Zaman, Today’s Zaman, Bugün and Ortadoğu to business class passengers on its planes, without providing an explanation. Other dailies are still being handed out on board.
GYV lashes out at ‘traitor’ label for attending EU ambassadors meeting
The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), in a written statement, has denounced some media outlets’ labeling the body a “traitor” over its attendance at the traditional lunch meeting of the EU ambassadors. The statement criticized the allegations published in some media outlets which “in an effort to distort the truth and smear the foundation” said the GYV betrayed the country by attending such a meeting.
Turkey’s Brain Drain and the Disappearing Academic Freedom
Hasan was the luckiest because he was not in Turkey during the coup. He was studying abroad on July 15th and learned the coup through the Internet. He was supposed to go back to Turkey but he decided not to do so because of the news on the immense purging in mostly the government and some private institutions. Few days after the coup he learned that he was dismissed from his position at a state university.
Are ambassadors propaganda officials for the ruling party?
Those who order ambassadors to put their citizens abroad in a difficult position in violation of human rights and national interests do not understand this: The international community is more concerned about whether the government sticks to democratic principles and the rule of law and less about who triggered the recent political crisis.
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