Erdogan regime keeps defamation of the Gülen mov’t, calls it crusader organization


Date posted: October 17, 2016

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chairman Yasin Aktay has said the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Gülen movement are crusader organizations that are serving the same purpose.

Speaking with the heads of human rights and civil society organizations in Diyarbakır on Sunday, Aktay said there is a ready audience in Europe who will buy every terrorist act of the PKK as an act in the struggle for independence and freedom.

“The West is ready to buy every absurd act of these [PKK, ISIL and FETÖ] organizations. This does not show that they are right. To the contrary, it shows that the West is collaborating with them,” Aktay said.

He also added that “it is obvious today that the PKK, Daesh [Arabic acronym of ISIL] and FETÖ are crusader organizations. They don’t serve the purposes they publicize, but serve a common purpose.”

While the PKK and ISIL are internationally recognized terrorist organization, the Gülen movement, a faith-based civil society movement inspired by the views of US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who the AKP government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accuse of masterminding a failed coup on July 15, is the only organization whose sympathizers are facing widespread crackdowns, discrimination and detentions since it was framed as a terrorist organization by the government in May 2016.

Underlining that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had requested Turkey’s support when ISIL invaded Mosul in June 2014, Aktay said it is meaningful that today Abadi does not want a Turkish presence in Iraq, which could change the demographics of the region in a way that Turkey would never accept.

Aktay had previously admitted that intercepted Turkish intelligence trucks, which were stopped by the gendarmerie in Adana province in January 2014 while allegedly carrying arms to ISIL, were heading for Islamic groups in northern Syria, including the Free Syrian Army.

Following Aktay’s remarks, President Erdoğan’s spokesman İbrahim Kalın denied that Turkey had ever provided weapons to anyone in Syria.

Source: Turkish Minute , October 17, 2016


Related News

Mueller Probes Flynn’s Role in Alleged Plan to Deliver Gulen to Turkey

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating an alleged plan involving former White House national security adviser Mike Flynn to forcibly remove a Muslim cleric living in the U.S. and deliver him to Turkey in return for millions of dollars, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Targeted by Erdoğan, Turkish schools earn praise, offer success abroad

Turkish schools established by educational volunteers affiliated with a movement inspired by teachings of Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen receive widespread praise due to the quality of education they provide internationally, but for months they have been targeted by the Turkish president.

‘All religious groups and communities face great danger’

Religious sociologist Muhammet Çakmak is of the view that the logic of, “You are either with us or you are nothing,” threatens all religious groups and communities in Turkey. He also holds that this approach has no scholarly value or validity.

Don’t be fooled by Hizmet conspiracy theories

The March 31 opinion article by London-based attorney Robert Amsterdam (“Why should Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen operate charter schools on US Military bases?”) that appeared on The Hill’s Congress Blog was as flawed in content as it was in character. In his piece, Mr. Amsterdam, a henchman for the Turkish government who has made a […]

The Guardian view on Turkey’s repression: stop this stalemate

Turkey’s western allies are alarmed, but against a complex geopolitical backdrop, they have chosen discretion rather than valour. After the EU parliament last week voted to freeze EU accession talks with Turkey, Mr Erdoğan lashed out by threatening to open the country’s borders to migrants heading to Europe. This is tantamount to blackmail.

UN Human Rights: Turkey should promptly end its protracted state of emergency

Routine extensions of the state of emergency in Turkey have led to profound human rights violations against hundreds of thousands of people – from arbitrary deprivation of the right to work and to freedom of movement, to torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary detentions and infringements of the rights to freedom of association and expression, according to a report* issued by the UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday.

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

Deceased Mongolian teacher becomes Twitter trending topic

Farewell of Pak-Turk Teachers: Symbolic Burial of a Heart

Zaman Media Group receives 5 awards from WAN-IFRA

Awards from Romanian Prime Minister to Turkish School Students

Turkey’s top Muslim cleric visits Turkish school in Cameroon

Factory settings of Turkey as a nation-state

Islam is compatible with Democracy, despite Turkey’s recent example

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News