Gülen movement acted ‘courageously’ when gov’t-involved graft revealed, Altan says

Turkish novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan (Photo: Cihan, Turgut Engin)
Turkish novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan (Photo: Cihan, Turgut Engin)


Date posted: May 19, 2015

Ahmet Altan, the former editor-in-chief of the Taraf daily, has said that the Gülen movement acted “courageously” during the public revelations of the Dec. 17, 2013 corruption scandal that implicated several senior members of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government.

In a televised interview with journalist Ayşegül Doğan on the İMC TV station on Monday, Altan praised the Gülen movement — also known as the Hizmet movement and inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen — for its courageous and critical stance while the graft operations were being conducted. “The AKP would not take such a stand in a similar situation,” Altan said.

He further said that the accusations leveled against the movement claiming that it is a “parallel state” within the state — a term coined by then-prime minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in order to smear members of the movement over their alleged role in the biggest graft scandal in recent Turkish history — have no legal substance.

“It is said that the movement was aware of corruption within the government for years but remained silent. But with good reason, because that was necessary to eventually uncover it. I think that the movement took a very courageous stance during this period. There is no crime related to ‘parallel’ organizations under the law,” Altan added.

Source: Today's Zaman , March 31, 2015

Tags: | | |


Related News

Turkey’s Hizmet Purge Is Seeping into the UK Creating Fear in Some Communities

Over the weekend, we have received 5 reports from individuals who are involved in the delivery of social services here in the UK and who are of Turkish heritage. The text messages ask for individuals to inform on members of the Hizmet movement. The impact of these messages is to create fear within members of the Hizmet movement in the UK and who are active in social work within and beyond Muslim communities.

Fethullah Gülen and the role of nonviolence in a time of terror

Fethullah Gülen is unusual in adding a distinctly Islamic voice to the calls for a non-violent approach to conflict resolution. But how well do Gülen’s teachings on non-violence lead to peaceful transformation on the ground? Is his a static and passive approach bounded by dogma, or are we witnessing an innovative, active and self-aware spirit of transformation which really can lead to a new way of defining Islam in action?

Erdoğan’s overarching purge is not a road accident

The purge of the Hizmet Movement is what the Kurdish question was to Kemalism, a necessary tool with which to construct a new national identity, a tool to silence those who question it, and to design a social and political system that will foster it. Unfortunately, Turkey has no chance of going back, even to its fragile and dysfunctional democracy, without this narrative being completely rejected.

The Other Side of the Ocean – What Happened in Pennsylvania?

During the time when the Gezi events were at their peak, a certain group in the United States planned to carry out a demonstration in the area where Fethullah Gulen is currently residing by organizing over the Internet, similar to the way they had in Turkey. For weeks they shared with tens of thousands of […]

Gulen has ‘no intention of leaving the US’

The Alliance for Shared Values “rejects the accusation” by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus that Gulen is planning a move to Canada, it said in a statement on its website. The Alliance also reiterated its call for an end to attempts to stymie voices of democratic dissent, including journalists, academics, Kurds, liberals and participants in the Hizmet movement.

PBS airs story on Gülen movement

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) program Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly featured a story on the Gülen movement on Friday, quoting well-respected American observers, as well as the movement’s members and admirers. The 10-minute-long story by PBS correspondent Luck Severson gave information on the movement, which is a group of volunteers engaged in interfaith and intercultural dialogue […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

The Famous Soccer Player Hiding in Plain Sight in a California Bakery

Lambsdorff: Turkish press intimidated, under pressure

Ankara forces Arbil to close Turkish schools in KRG

An interesting debate in the European Parliament

Middle East’s Struggle for Democracy: Going Beyond Headlines

Dialogue and Friendship Dinner in Portland, Oregon

Canada’s Turkish community on edge as government crackdown continues

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News