Netherlands poised to cancel status of Islamic university over rector’s discriminatory remarks
Date posted: September 17, 2016
Dutch Education Minister Jet Bussemaker announced that there is a parliamentary debate over the Islamic University of Rotterdam for cancellation of the “university status” of the institution due to Rector Ahmet Akgündüz’s repeatedly hateful and discriminatory remarks against Turkey’s minorities and the Gülen movement.
According to the amendment that Bussemaker is working on, the government will intervene if an educational institution does not perform its task of “promoting social responsibility.”
The Islamic University of Rotterdam announced earlier this week that it will no longer cooperate with education ministry watchdog NAVO’s investigation into the quality of the institution. NAVO launched another investigation into the institution because of Akgündüz’s remarks.
Bussemaker criticized Akgündüz’s remarks, saying the actions of the rector are in conflict with Dutch values and norms. “A rector does have a lot of academic freedom as figurehead of an institution, but it goes with great responsibility,” she said.
Retired ambassadors slam government orders over graft probe
“Will ambassadors tell their foreign colleagues that a corruption investigation started, which includes some members of the government, and that the government found the solution in changing a number of bodies such as the HSYK [Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors] and judicial police regulations?” asked former ambassador Deniz Bölükbaşı.
The Hizmet movement and external forces
Fethullah Gülen Hocaefendi and the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) make statements on behalf of the Hizmet movement. Even the GYV’s statements can hardly be considered as binding for every individual who is inspired by the Hizmet movement and who participates in different projects in a different manner as the Hizmet movement does not have a central organization or membership mechanism.
Witch hunt against the Gülen followers in Europe
Political madness in Turkey is at its peak. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan does not even refrain from using the term “witch hunt” against the Gülen followers. When Erdoğan and his circle don’t find any evidence, they allegedly try to produce evidence. Bureaucrats who don’t want to be part of Erdoğan’s witch hunt have sent letters to the media and prosecutors confessing what they are doing. Unfortunately, what they said in those letters has been confirmed by later developments.
Unimpressed by Turkish ‘parallel structure’ defense, MEPs approve critical report
A EP committee has approved a report on Turkey that criticizes the government’s handling of a corruption investigation, despite a last-minute letter from the Turkish government claiming that a set of controversial measures taken in the wake of the probe were designed to fight a “parallel structure” within the state.
Hakan Şükür’s resignation
The resignation of İstanbul deputy Hakan Şükür from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is not an ordinary resignation. It is the most serious incident that disrupts the prestige of the AK Party in the eyes of pious voters.
Şükür’s statement about his resignation must be carefully studied. This statement explains the Hizmet movement’s perspective regarding the recent row between the government and the Hizmet community for the first time and with a clear wording.
The state, AKP, Religious Affairs Directorate, Alevis and rights
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) claimed it would minimize the space the state occupies in people’s lives and reduce bureaucracy and downsize the public sector when it was first elected to office. During the early years of its rule, it really moved to achieve these targets. But as it increased its control over the entire state apparatus, it has increasingly become yet another typical Turkish ruling party that prioritizes the state.
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