Turkey deports former EU official for alleged Gulen-ties


Date posted: September 26, 2016

The Turkish authorities prevented a former EU official from entering its territory. Joost Lagendijk, a former EU parliament member and EU rapporteur, was deported from the Sabiha Airport in Istanbul on Sunday.

“Turkish authorities stopped me on my return from the Netherlands at Sabiha Gökcen airport. They deported me back to the Netherlands,” the Dutch former politician said.

“Turkey required me to apply for a special visa at the Turkish embassy in the Netherlands,” Lagendijk wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “I hope it is only a bureaucratic obstacle and not a decision to block me forever.”

The decision is most likely part of the purge against the Fethullah Gulen sect after the failed military coup in July.

After the coup attempt, the Turkish government blamed the Islamist Gulen movement for orchestrating military coup in Turkey. However, the movement’s US-based leader denied the accusations.

Lagendijk wrote as a columnist for the pro-Gulen newspaper Zaman and Today’s Zaman, until they were closed.

He lost his job at the pro-Gulen Sabanci University that was closed by the government for ties to the Gulen movement.

Lagendijk is a former Green Left Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and served as the joint chairman of the Turkey-EU Parliamentarians delegation.

He was also known as the ‘son-in-law of Turkey’ for marrying Turkish journalist Nevin Sungur in 2006.

Source: ARA News , September 25, 2016

Tags: | | |


Related News

Kimse Yok Mu to launch legal case against cabinet ruling

Kimse Yok Mu filed three separate lawsuits after the cabinet ruling revoking its license to collect donations without government approval.

Azeri NGOs harshly criticize Zeynalov’s deportation from Turkey

Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, founder of the youth group Positive Changes, said in an interview with Today’s Zaman that Zeynalov’s deportation from Turkey has the potential to damage the country’s international reputation. “For democratic countries, freedom of speech is the main pillar of free media. We cannot speak about stable democracy in states where this pillar is not strong. The governments who are shaking this pillar might cast a serious shadow over all of the positive work they have been doing for a long time,” Hajiyev said.

AKP Twitter troll asks gov’t to kill all Gülen sympathizers in jail

A pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) Twitter troll has called on the government to make plans for the massacre of all Gülen sympathizers who are currently behind bars in the event of a second coup attempt in the country.

Should Hizmet establish a political party?

If the Hizmet movement had believed that services to Turkey can best be provided through politics, it would have done so from the beginning. Civil society has a special place in democracies. One can also serve the country by rejecting democratic pressures and upholding rule of law and individual freedoms.

Cabinet ruling against non-profit charity Kimse Yok Mu condemned

The cabinet ruling revoking Kimse Yok Mu’s status to receive donations without state approval continues to draw widespread condemnation.

Ahmet Şık’s book and Ergenekon’s media campaign (2)

At that time, I knew only a few journalists who claimed Şık’s arrest was not because of his book but because of inconsistencies in the story he had told the judge. He claimed not to know any such people, but there was evidence he may have known and had relationships with Ergenekon suspects. Emre Uslu, […]

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

GYV praised for response to accusations about Hizmet movement

Afghan Parents Complain to UN Over Detention of Turkish Teachers

Turkish charity delivers sacrificial meat to 30,000 families in Philippines

Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gulen promotes peace, understanding

Erdoğan’s abstract enemies: parallel organization and superior mind

Fethullah Gulen sends his condolences to victims of Boston bombings

Nearly 500 police officials reassigned in Ankara, İzmir

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News