The International Festival of Language and Culture visits UN, Ban Ki Moon sends a message
Date posted: April 29, 2016
HizmetNews.Com, April 29, 2016
The International Festival of Language and Culture (IFLC), which is a Gulen-inspired organization, was at United Nations headquarters in New York on April 29, 2016. 80 students from many different countries showcased their talents at UN ECOSOC hall. The UN web TV broadcasted the performances live.
Mr. Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General, sent a message to IFLC. “I am delighted to greet the International Festival on Language and Culture. I commend the Peace Islands Institute for making this meeting possible and bringing young people from 27 countries together to discuss and celebrate our cultural and linguistic diversity,” Ban said in his message.
IFLC has been organized in more than 30 countries this year and more than 2500 students from 160 countries have represented their countries with music and folk dances.
Albania is on the floor singing a lovely Albanian song.
2,500 schools confiscated, 30,000 teachers dismissed over Gülen links
Turkish Education Ministry Undersecretary Yusuf Tekin on Sunday said they have completed a purge of Gülen movement members and institutions in his ministry, the DHA news agency reported.
Turkey as a “serial” human rights derogator
The past couple of months have been tumultuous in Turkey. In short order, an ill-conceived military coup was followed by popular mass protest, the quick return of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to power, and a wave of repression ranging from military and judicial purges, to state restrictions on a panoply of basic human rights protections, to allegations of “widespread human rights abuses” by state actors.
Ruling AKP officials downplay tension with Gülen movement
The tension between the government and Gülen’s movement (also known as the “Community,” “Cemaat” in Turkish, or “Service,” “Hizmet” in English) has escalated after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced plans to abolish private examination prep schools, many of which were financed and run by Gülen’s followers. The tension has recently peaked, with Erdoğan describing the group’s objection to his government’s plans as “a smear campaign.”
Ottawa urged to expedite residency process for those fleeing oppression in Turkey
Human rights advocate Renée Vaugeois wrote a letter asking Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen to expedite the Edmonton man’s residency application. She thinks that this is a targeted war on a specific group of people in Turkey and to her that speaks to genocide.
Ex-ministers call on gov’t to abandon efforts to shut down Turkish schools
Reactions are growing in the face of the government’s effort to close Turkish schools abroad that are affiliated with the Hizmet movement, inspired by the teachings of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
Expert’s opinion: Turkey’s Demanding Extradition Of Fethullah Gülen Is Frivolous Grandstanding
Although ordinarily I respect his cool-headedness and self-control, in hindsight I wish President Obama had been equally blunt in responding to President Erdoğan’s demands that the US extradite Fethullah Gülen. All of his demands, beginning in 2014 and vigorously renewed in the wake of the July 15 attempted coup, have been completely illegitimate and unfair.
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
Bringing Peace While Breaking Fasts
Gülen, Hizmet, the state and the AKP
Report: Turkey’s purge risks isolating its higher education from int’l academia
Toward a culture of coexistence
Financial Times publishes Fethullah Gulen’s Op-Ed
Turkish authorities unlawfully arrest woman with twin babies over alleged Gülen links
Closer look at empire of cleric accused in Turkey coup attempt