US calls decision by Turkey to seize Zaman newspaper ’troubling’
US State Department Spokesperson John Kirby. (Photo: Cihan)
Date posted: March 5, 2016
REUTERS | WASHINGTON
The US State Department on Friday called the decision by Turkish authorities to seize control of the country’s largest newspaper “troubling.”
“We see this as the latest in a series of troubling judicial and law enforcement actions taken by the Turkish government targeting media outlets and others critical of it,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing.
Turkish authorities seized control of the Zaman newspaper on Friday at the request of an İstanbul prosecutor, state-run Anadolu Agency reported, in a widening crackdown against supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen.
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Fethullah Gülen, the inspiration behind the Hizmet movement, which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues to insult and target with a smear campaign, threatening to pursue criminal proceeding against it, has urged his followers to remain calm and avoid making inflammatory remarks about those who appeal to insults.
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The Hizmet is based on the idea of a “modern Islam compatible with democracy” that has been disseminated by Fethullah Gülen since the 1960’s. Gülen, now 75 years old, is a former imam, writer, thinker and teacher. He has been living in the US in volunteer exile since 1999, when he left Turkey due to successive military coups. Even from afar, Gülen keeps influencing thousands of Turks and Muslims around the world.
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The Hizmet movement has been identified as a “domestic enemy” collaborating with foreign forces and legal and political channels were used as a tool to deal with this “enemy” after the corruption scandal became public. Thousands of policemen were reassigned and the government has taken important steps to place the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) under the control of the executive branch, which is totally at odds with rule of law.
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DASİDER Chairman Ahmet Öner emphasized in his speech that discrepancies among members of society are a reality of human life and are part of the richness of God’s reflection in the universe. Yeşil said, “We believe that the Alevis, Kurds and Circassians of these lands belong with us. The notion of ‘we’ is sufficient to describe all of us. It is always possible to grow together and to share every opportunity, based on justice and human rights.”
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