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
İHSAN YILMAZ August 31, 2012 I have written repeatedly about the relationship between the Hizmet movement (aka Gulen movement) and politics here. Unfortunately, it still needs some more discussion. As is well known, Hizmet never associates itself with political parties. It is a volunteer movement that appeals to individuals from all sorts of social, cultural, […]
Gulen Movement, civilian governments and the AK Party
The Gulen movement’s understanding of politics and the political process differentiate it from the military and bureaucratic elite. Its main political objective is to transform society by raising the moral consciousness of individuals. By raising moral consciousness, the movement hopes to cleanse the bureaucracy of widespread corruption, increase the efficiency and transparency of state institutions, reinvigorate public work ethic to serve the people in order to enhance the legitimacy of the state, and create opportunity spaces for marginalized sectors of the Anatolian population.
Education [for Kurds] in mother tongue
The Wise People Commission has prepared a report on its two months of work and submitted it to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. What does Turkey — east and west — think about the settlement? What are the basic expectations and demands? How will concerns that the country could be partitioned be eliminated? Will Turkey […]
Erdoğan’s imaginary power struggles
When we look at international media coverage of the recent corruption scandal in Turkey, we see that the events are generally seen as a “power struggle” between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and the Hizmet movement.
Graham Watson, the president of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and the former chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the EP also criticized Erdoğan for using hate speech against Hizmet.
Will Gülen Movement schools offer Kurdish-medium education?
Journalists and Writers Foundation Vice-President Cemal Ussak, regarding the Kurdish-medium education at the Gülen community schools in southeastern Turkey, said “It is a matter of course following the amendment to the current regulation.” Vice-president of Journalists and Writers Foundation, regarded as the institutional face of Gülen Movement, Cemal Ussak brought to minds the fact that the movement’s […]
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