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

Human Rights Watch: Emergency Decrees Facilitate Torture in Turkey

Turkish police have tortured and otherwise ill-treated individuals in their custody after emergency decrees removed crucial safeguards in the wake of a failed coup attempt in July, 2016, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The report details 13 cases of alleged abuse, including stress positions, sleep deprivation, severe beatings, sexual abuse, and rape threats, since the coup attempt.

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

“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,” Erdogan said, describing the detentions so far as just the tip of the iceberg. 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.

Erdoğan’s requests to shut down Turkish schools abroad perceived as patronizing

On the latest stop of his world tour to disparage Turkish schools abroad, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked Albanians to shut down schools that boast scores of Albanian alumni, accusing the institutions of being part of a terrorist organization.

President emphasizes importance of domestic peace for development

President Abdullah Gül has underlined the importance of domestic peace for Turkey to keep up its development, noting that the country should not waste its energy by focusing on “unnecessary rumors,” an almost open reference to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s defamation campaign targeting the Hizmet movement, a volunteer-based grassroots movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

AFSV Statement on Temporary US Travel and Immigration Ban

AFSV believes the temporary travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations, including a ban on the immigration of Syrian and other thoroughly vetted refugees, will not address its intended goals of keeping Americans safe.

Well-known sociologist says Gülen’s name on terrorist list ’alarming’

The chairman of the philosophy department at Texas Tech University, prominent sociologist Mark Webb, has said that the branding of Fethullah Gülen as a terrorist, is a “very alarming development.”

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

9 Months imprisonment for hate crimes against Gülen Movement in Germany

Before the Lights are Out…

Reactions snowball after PM likens Hizmet members to Hashishin

Fethullah Gülen undergoes successful cataract surgery

Individuals can force change

Ramadan aid cheers up Sudanese orphans

Indialogue’s Iftar Dinner: Role of Religions in Empowering Women

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News