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

Why Erdoğan exploits anti-American sentiments

With dangerous and discriminatory language, PM Erdoğan exploits anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiment in Turkish society to demonize his opponents. Can Erdoğan win this game? If Erdoğan were confident enough about the corruption case, maybe he could. Instead of letting justice run its proper course, he used his political power to intervene in the judiciary and police forces. This must be considered the most important indicator of his fall.

Erdoğan gov’t threatened to ‘wipe TUSKON off market map,’ says chairman

One of Turkey’s most influential business confederations, the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), was threatened with being “wiped off the market” by the government after TUSKON made critical statements about government policies, chairman Rızanur Meral told the media on Friday.

Fethullah Gulen and Gulen Movement Has No Political Agenda, Says Expert

Leading academics from various countries discussed the role of movements in the Muslim world and the experiences of the Gulen Movement at Arab League headquarters in Cairo. The conference, jointly held by Cairo University’s economic and political science faculty, Academic Studies and the Internet Foundation from Turkey, and Hira magazine.

Arrested Turkish TV chief writes an open letter from his jail cell

Hidayet Karaca, an executive with a leading Turkish TV network, has been in prison since 14 December last year on charges of leading a terrorist group. Karaca, general manager of the Samanyolu Broadcasting Group, was arrested along with more than two dozen senior journalists and media executives. Most were soon released.

Gülen criticizes remarks insulting members of Hizmet movement

Fethullah Gülen has strongly criticized remarks that insulted members of the Hizmet movement, saying that these kind of behavior won’t solve problems. Gülen didn’t directly mention Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s name, but it was obvious that he was responding to the prime minister’s remarks on Friday, when he said the government will “come down to your caverns and tear you to shreds.”

‘Who do you like most, Erdoğan or Gülen?’ Turkish teacher asks primary school students

A religious culture and moral knowledge teacher at a Turkish primary school has asked students about their preference between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, parents complain. Evrensel daily quoted parents as saying that students aging between 9 to 10, become cold of religious culture courses and prefer not to attend in classes amid similar incidents.

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

Gulen’s new book: “Muslims’ Responsibility in Countering Violence”

They busted the house of a deceased teacher to take her under custody

Principles of Gulen Inspired Schools – Boarding Schools

James Baker’s remarks about Fethullah Gulen and Gulen Movement

The Hizmet movement and external forces

Hate discourse directed against Hizmet movement

Albanian lawmakers reject Erdoğan’s call to close Turkish schools

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News