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
One of the most celebrated scholars of Saudi Arabia and the Arab world at large, Sheikh Aaidh al-Qarni delivered sermons on “Tabi’in” (a referral to the people who lived in an age right after the Prophet Muhammad’s companions’ generation) at several salatin mosques (mosques built by Ottoman sultans) in Istanbul, on June 1 thru 9. […]
Erdoğan and Gülen: The Marriage of Convenience
Religiously, the Gülen Movement both reflects the long tradition of Turkish Sufi brotherhoods, and Gülen’s own emphasis on societal change through education, humanitarian activism, and interfaith dialogue. Gülen never sympathized with, or adopted, the AKP’s more conservative form of political Islam.
Turkish coup d’état: a failed test for the EU
Once the purges started, however, the game changed. The EU should oppose the purges as a symptom of an authoritarian turn and attempt of centralization of power by the ruling elite. By definition, a coup d’état is an illegal overthrow of the governing machine in place so to trigger a regime change. The response to a golpe by the ruling government should then be used as an opportunity to consolidate the power of the legitimately elected administration and give evidence of national unity.
Survey shows Turkish gov’t seized at least $11 billion of company assets over Gülen links
Turkish government has transferred about 49,4 billion liras ($11 billion) of assets of 1,124 companies seized from those who have alleged affiliation to the Gülen movement to a special fund under a crackdown that began following a controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
Media freedom in Turkey takes another blow
On Dec. 25, Mahir Zeynalov sent out two tweets. “The first tweet contained a link to a news report about the second wave of a massive graft operation and how police blocked a raid involving more than 40 suspects, including Saudi businessman Yasin al-Qadi — listed as a specially designated terrorist by the United States,” Today’s Zaman reported Jan. 31. Zeynalov’s tweets are no longer present on his Twitter account. “’Turkish prosecutors order police to arrest al-Qaeda affiliates, Erdogan’s appointed police chiefs refuse to comply,’ read the first tweet. In the second tweet, Zeynalov shared a news report detailing al-Qaeda suspects’ escape from the country after police chiefs blocked the raid on Dec. 25.”
Alevi, Sunni businessmen will finance joint prayer complex
İLYAS KOÇ, ANKARA The first joint mosque-cemevi (Alevi house of worship) project in Turkey will be financed by businessmen from both parties, the head of the Hacı Bektaş Veli Culture, Education, Health and Research Foundation, Kemal Kaya, said on Thursday. The idea for such a project, which aims to strengthen will of peaceful coexistence, came […]
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