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

17,000 women, 515 babies in Turkish prisons: SCF report

Thousands of women in Turkey, many with small children, have been jailed in an unprecedented crackdown and subjected to torture and ill-treatment in detention centers and prisons as part of the government’s systematic campaign of intimidation and persecution of critics and opponents, a new report has revealed.

Government blocks bank accounts of aid organization

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government’s efforts to disrupt the work of Turkey’s leading aid organization Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) continues with the unlawful blocking of the organization’s bank accounts on Oct. 22.

Kanter: You need to know what is going on in Turkey

Question: You are being called a terrorist by Turkish government. What is your opinion on the widespread use of this term by the Government? Kanter: This is a term that many governments are using to scare people and get public support. No one likes terrorists — so if you brand your opponents as terrorists it’s easy to get support. The Turkish government has even accuses the US of being terrorist sponsors, they are a joke now.

Nigeria demands Turkey’s apology over ‘unjustifiable’ students deportation in coup crackdown

Nigerian lawmakers have urged the Turkish government to apologise for arresting and deporting dozens of Nigerian students. The majority of the youths attended the Fatih University, which is among thousands of educational buildings Turkey has shut down in a crackdown following the failed coup.

Erdoğan gov’t signals change to allow re-trial of officers

At public rallies, Erdoğan has been floating a claim that a gang within the state is attacking his government in the name of corruption. He claimed he has evidence with regard to this group and wanted to expose this evidence soon.
Erdoğan has not offered any evidence so far indicating that such a group acting in violation of the law operates within the judiciary or police force.

Turkey torture claims in wake of failed coup

Kamil continues. “‘If you don’t speak, we’ll bring your wife here and rape her in front of your eyes’, they said. Then they took me to a dark room and tried to forcefully insert a baton into my anus. When they couldn’t do it, they left. Maybe I will forget the other torture – but for the sexual part, it is carved into the dirtiest corner of my heart.”

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

Turkey’s anti-Gulen crackdown continues with Yemeni students after Nigerians

Civic engagement, success and the Gülen movement

Istanbul court re-arrests former Zaman reporter minutes before leaving prison

Fethullah Gülen’s Statement on the Shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada

GYV rejects claims that Hizmet movement dominates Turkey’s judiciary

Does Islam promote violence?

Education remains an alarming concern for scores of Syrian refugees

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News