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
Nazli Ilicak The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) has responded to a series of claims about and slanderous accusations against the Hizmet movement. Currently there is a lot of insulting talk on social media and in some media circles about the movement. Some columnists who support the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) claim that members of […]
Fate of Pak-Turk Schools: Erdogan, Jamaat-e-Islami-backed Maa’rif Foundation?
At the heart of the matter is the question of Maa’rif’s credentials to take over the schools instead of its Pakistani management. Turkey is least known for its standard of education. Moreover, the Erdogan-backed organisation is neither experienced in the education field nor apolitical. The organisation is already scared with allegation of child sexually abuse in Turkey.
Brussels, Paris and Berlin
As the Turkish prime minister opted to market the graft probe as a coup attempt against his government and accused the Hizmet movement of masterminding this coup, interest was aroused in the Hizmet movement and its clout.
Pro-gov’t Islamist ideologue says Muslims can’t accept West or EU
Hayrettin Karaman, a professor of theology and an Islamist ideologue, is highly respected by the government and is seen as the main ideological source of justification for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s initiatives. Karaman wrote a column on Feb. 13 entitled “The condition for support and friendship” in the pro-government daily Yeni Şafak, saying that relations with the West should be restricted to necessary engagement only.
Brazil’s top court denies extradition of [Gulen-linked] Erdogan opponent
Brazil’s chief prosecutor’s office argued before the court against the extradition of Sipahi, who has lived in Brazil for 12 years, saying it had no evidence of terrorist acts committed by Hizmet.
Dutch minister gives Turkish deputy a lesson on freedoms
BASRİ DOĞAN/ADEM KOTAN, THE HAGUE Dutch Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner has opposed critical remarks by Socialist Party (SP) deputy Saadet Karabulut about the Gülen movement, inspired by internationally respected Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen, and said the movement is very successful in integrating into Dutch society. Putting emphasis on freedom of religion and human rights, Donner […]
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