Turkey’s Erdogan vows to cut off revenues of Gulen-linked businesses


Date posted: August 4, 2016

Daren Butler and Ayla Jean Yackley

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Thursday to cut off the revenues of businesses linked to the U.S.-based Turkish cleric he blames for masterminding a failed coup, describing his schools, companies and charities as “nests of terrorism”.

Business was the arena in which the network of Fethullah Gulen was still the strongest, Erdogan said in a speech at the presidential palace broadcast live on television, vowing to show no mercy in a crackdown on the cleric’s interests.

Erdogan accuses Gulen of harnessing his extensive network of schools, charities and businesses, built up in Turkey and abroad over decades, to infiltrate state institutions and build a “parallel structure” that aimed to take over the country.

More than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained, suspended or placed under investigation for alleged links to Gulen’s “Hizmet” (Service) movement since the July 15 coup attempt.

“They have nothing to do with a religious community, they are a fully-fledged terrorist organisation … This cancer is different, this virus has spread everywhere,” Erdogan said in a speech at the presidential palace to the heads of chambers of commerce and bourses.

“The business world is where they are the strongest. We will cut off all business links, all revenues of Gulen-linked business. We are not going to show anyone any mercy,” he said, describing the detentions so far as just the tip of the iceberg.

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has denied plotting against the state and has condemned the coup attempt, in which rogue soldiers commandeered fighter jets, helicopters and tanks, bombing parliament and seizing bridges in a bid to seize power.

The Turkish authorities had already seized a bank, taken over or closed several media companies, and detained businessmen on allegations of funding the cleric’s movement ahead of the failed coup attempt.


(Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Istanbul; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Daren Butler)

Source: Reuters , August 4, 2016


Related News

FM Davutoğlu annuls decree ordering Turkish embassies to support Gülen Movement: Reports

The first decree was signed by then-Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül during the first months of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government with the demand of support from National View Organizations and Turkish schools operated by the Gülen community.

Can the EU be blamed for Erdoğan’s authoritarianism?

It may be speculated that the EU’s resistance to Turkey’s European integration has to a certain extent played a role in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s slide into authoritarianism. If the EU had consistently backed its accession process, Ankara may have consolidated democracy and rule of law, so that such a concentration of power could have been avoided.

US law professor has no doubt Gulen trial in Turkey was political

05 February 2012, Sunday / AKIN KARAGÜLLE, İSTANBUL James C. Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project and a law professor at the University of Texas, wrote a book titled “Wrestling with Free Speech, Religious Freedom, and Democracy in Turkey: The Political Trials and Times of Fethullah Gülen” on the trial of renowned Islamic […]

Gülen extends condolences to coal mine victims

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has extended condolences for victims of the coal mine blast in western Turkish town of Soma, wishing speedy recovery for injured workers.

Strategic defamation by Stratfor

Abdulhamit Bilici, March 18, 2012 (originally published on September 2, 2010) A few weeks ago, an American researcher by the name of Reva Bhalla came to visit us upon a reference from a good friend of ours. He told us that he was researching political inclinations in Turkey on behalf of the Stratfor intelligence firm. […]

Erzurum people call Minister Ala to apologize Gülen for his remarks

Gülen is highly respected both in Turkey and in many countries around the world for educational activities he has pioneered, along with his efforts to promote intercultural and interfaith activities around the globe. He is in self-imposed exile in the US, though there is no legal hurdle that prevents him from returning to Turkey.

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

CHP asks gov’t about file allegedly targeting TUSKON

Virginians Deliver 114,000 Pounds of Winter Warmth to Refugees in Turkey

Fethullah Gülen undergoes successful cataract surgery

Dr. Esposito: The Gulen Movement Introduces Turkey To The World

Peruvian congress members speak about sociopolitical issues at PII in New York

Turkish Olympiads Cultural Festival attended by 3 million visitors in İzmir

Class-B shareholders join objection against Asya decision

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News