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
Turkey blacklists 68 companies including Germany’s Daimler, BASF over Gülen links
Turkey has named 68 companies as supporters of the Gülen movement, in a list sent to Germany’s federal police, according to Die Zeit weekly. The list included a Turkish fast food restaurant and a late-night food store, Die Zeit said.
Turkish govt begins massive deportation of Nigerian students
The Turkish government is in a drive to deport all Nigerian students at universities linked to Fethullah Gulen’s Hizmet movement. Gulen is an Islamic cleric whom President Erdogan of Turkey considers as his strongest rival. After the botched July 15 coup, Erdogan launched a massive crackdown on the investments of Gulen’s followers. He blamed Gulen for the coup, but he has denied the allegation.
Jailed journalist facing new trial for not calling Gülen movement a terror organization
Journalist Emre Soncan, who has been behind bars for 20 months, is facing a new trial for not describing the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization. Soncan, 36, used to work for Turkey’s best-selling Zaman daily, which was closed down by the Turkish government in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 due to its links to the Gülen movement.
Ceremony canceled after Gülen’s relative wins short film contest
The award ceremony of a short film contest organized by the Ministry of Education has been canceled after the contest was won by Seleme Gülen, a relative of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, whose ideas inspired the faith-based Hizmet movement.
Turkish-Arab forum focuses on gov’t oppression on Hizmet
Discussing the recent developments in Turkey and the Muslim world during the “Arab-Turkish Intellectuals Forum” in İstanbul on Tuesday, a scholar from Egypt likened the smear campaign conducted by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan against the Hizmet movement to the suppression of a civic movement in Egypt.
Gülen denies ‘groundless’ Stratfor claims of pressure on AK Party
8 March 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM Well-respected Turkish intellectual and scholar Fethullah Gülen has denied recent media reports based on leaked e-mails from security analysis company Stratfor that said members of his movement were putting pressure on the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in order to control the party. Gülen said through his lawyer […]
Latest News
Sacramento leaders gather for Iftar dinner in celebration of Ramadan
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
In Case You Missed It
Turkish-Americans in Tennessee worry about their homeland
Fethullah Gulen’s message to the “Ijma” symposium
Erdoğan’s dream: Seizing Gülen’s network
A day of joy for five hundred Albanian orphans
Mr. Gülen’s felicitous advice on Kurdish issue, freedoms
Turkey’s trampling of freedoms is Europe’s problem too