The latest step by AKP-Gov’t witch-hunt against Hizmet Movement


Date posted: November 19, 2015

RUSSELS

What happened?

This morning, Turkish government have forcibly taken over and appointed trustees (kayyım) to Kaynak Holding, a conglomerate of publishers and school material producers, closely affiliated with Hizmet movement (also known as Gulen Movement). The holding’s company buildings in Istanbul’s Üsküdar, Bağcılar and Bayrampaşa districts have been stormed by hundreds of police officers and water cannon trucks and its financial assets have been seized and the group has been handed over to the externally appointed trustees. Trustees have been appointed based on a decision by a prosecutor in Istanbul due to its ties with Hizmet movement.

What does this mean?

In Turkey, the increasing pressure over the freedom of press, property rights and authoritarianism have reached an alarming level. A recent report on the rule of law and respect for human rights inTurkey declared that Turkish government had been perpetrating systematic human rights violations since December 2013. Great number of these has targeted companies which has direct or indirect affiliation with Hizmet movement. Recently, very similar to today’s take-over, Ipek Koza Holding conglomerate was appointed trustees by Turkish government with its large mining industry and significant media arm, including Bugun TV and Kanalturk TV as well as Bugun newspaper. 13 TV channels including STV have been removed from Turksat satellite broadcasting since they are linked to the Hizmet movement. They were also removed from Digiturk platform. Kaynak holding consists of 23 different companies and 100 brands in 16 different sectors. The holding includes 12 publishing houses that print books and journals. Without any trial, over suspicion, the government unlawfully takes control of 23 companies with over 9000 workers.

Ramazan Guveli, Director of Dialogue Platform, said:

This is purely a political decision which is the latest step of ‘witch-hunt’ against the Hizmet Movement. It was confessed by AKP deputies earlier this year that anyone supports the Hizmet would be counted as “financing terrorism” and their property could be confiscated. And today what we witness is that it is being implemented by the Turkish authorities. It is deeply worrying and horrifying to see how the fundamental human rights and the right to have property are
diminished by the AKP-government in Turkey.

Notes to editors

Dialogue Platform is a non-profit association serving as a platform for dialogue organisations affiliated with the Hizmet Movement in Europe. Inspired by the teachings and example of the Muslim/Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen, these organisations aim to advance and promote intercultural understanding, dialogical interaction and social cohesion in their respective societies. For press enquiries please contact us 02 513 8116 or director@dialogueplatform.eu

About Intercultural Dialogue Platform:

Intercultural Dialogue Platform (IDP) is a non-profit organisation based in Brussels with the aim of advancing and promoting inter-cultural dialogue in Europe whose honorary president is Mr Fethullah Gülen.

Source: Intercultural Dialogue Platform , November 18, 2015

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Nigeria demands Turkey’s apology over ‘unjustifiable’ students deportation in coup crackdown

Nigerian lawmakers have urged the Turkish government to apologise for arresting and deporting dozens of Nigerian students. The majority of the youths attended the Fatih University, which is among thousands of educational buildings Turkey has shut down in a crackdown following the failed coup.

For first time, Fethullah Gülen curses purge of police officials in emotional speech

Fethullah Gülen has cursed those responsible for a purge of police officials involved in a corruption investigation. Turkish PM Tayyip Erdoğan has called the detention of scores of people seen as close to the government a “dirty operation” aimed at undermining his rule. Erdoğan has refrained from naming Gülen as the hand behind the investigation and he referred to an “illegal gang within the state” and systematically purged officials, including journalists in public broadcasters.

Alevis voice unease over lack of promised rights at Abant meeting

Alevis have expressed at Abant meeting their uneasiness over pro-government comments claiming that the Gezi Park protests were an “Alevi uprising,” warning against a “dangerous approach that encourages wrong perceptions.” The title of this year’s Abant Platform, which started on Dec. 13, was “Alevis and Sunnis: Searching for Peace and a Future Together.” It was organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), a group affiliated with the Gülen Movement.

Questions we dare not ask: Gülen and the coup

Gareth Jenkins once criticized Turkey’s infamous Ergenekon indictments on the grounds that they were “products of ‘projective’ rather than deductive reasoning, working backwards from the premise that the organization exists to weave unrelated individuals, statements and acts into a single massive conspiracy.” Other than being a far more extreme example of “projective” rather than “deductive” reasoning, how is the Turkish government and its media’s attempt at connecting Turkey’s failed coup with Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement he inspires any different?

Is Anybody Out There?

In Turkey today, relief organization Kimse Yokmu, affiliated with the Fethullah Gulen inspired Hizmet movement has become the target of repeated attacks by Turkey’s political neo-tyrants, the most prominent of whom is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

PM Erdoğan has one tone for Brussels, another for Turkey

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shifted his rhetoric on his official visit to Brussels, dropping talk of a “parallel state” that is trying to unseat him when addressing European Union officials and foreign journalists — although he continued his defamation campaign against the Hizmet movement in meetings where he addressed Turkish audiences.

Latest News

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

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Normalization of Abduction, Torture, and Death in Erdogan’s Turkey

Earthquakes strengthen Taiwan, Turkey friendship

Cops vs. robbers [in Turkey]

What is the main offense that the Cemaat (Hizmet movement) has committed?

Mississippi group, national officials denounce ISIS

Gülen’s relatives dismayed over smear campaign against Islamic scholar

Think over extradition request [for Gulen] with care

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News