Return to Turkey or lose citizenship, gov’t tells Gülen followers


Date posted: October 28, 2016

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) will revoke the citizenship of followers of the faith-based Gülen movement who sought refuge abroad due to a government crackdown on alleged movement sympathizers if they do not return to Turkey within a certain period of time, the pro-government Sabah daily reported on Thursday.

In recent remarks President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: “They will flee and we will run after them no matter where they flee. Let them become citizens of the country they fled to. From now on, they will not be remembered as citizens of this country.”

The AKP government, which launched a war against the Gülen movement following the eruption of a corruption scandal in late 2013 in which senior government members were implicated, carried its ongoing crackdown on the movement and its sympathizers to a new level after a failed coup attempt on July 15 that killed 240 people and injured a thousand of others.

Although the movement strongly denies having any role in the corruption probe and the coup attempt, the government accuses it of having masterminded both despite the lack of any tangible evidence.

Thousands of people who are thought to be linked to the Gülen movement have been purged from state bodies since then while around 35,000 have been arrested so far due to alleged Gülen links. Meanwhile, thousands of people had to seek refuge in foreign countries fearing the government crackdown.

According to Sabah’s report, the government will set a deadline and ask the alleged Gülen followers abroad to return to Turkey by that deadline. If they do not return, their citizenship will be revoked.

The government will reportedly take this action under a government decree that has the force of law. A state of emergency declared in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt allows the government to issue such controversial decrees, which bypass the Parliament.

The government will later follow an established procedure and submit a proposal to Parliament concerning the revocation of the citizenship of Gülen followers. When it is approved by Parliament, the list of individuals whose citizenship has been revoked will be published in the Official Gazette, reported the Sabah daily.

Source: Turkish Minute , October 27, 2016

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Sacked Turkish professor applies to employment organization

As the government has launched a sweeping campaign to eliminate any employees, be they public servants or academics, that it suspects of having links with Hizmet from state institutions, Özsoy said the purge is not restricted to state universities. It now includes private universities, too.

Enforced Disappearance: Cases of Hizmet Movement members and International Law

Moldavian Intelligence Service (SIS) in coordination with Turkish intelligence service (MIT) unlawfully and forcefully detained and kidnaped six educator Turkish nationals in Moldova on September 6, 2018. The detainees have been teachers in private schools opened in 1993 a sign of goodwill friendship between Turkey and Moldova.

‘I like the vitality of the participation and the vitality of hospitality within the Hizmet Movement’

I believe, certainly in the United States as I’m experiencing the Hizmet Movement, I’m experiencing extraordinary hospitality, a great warmth of people, a genuine spirit, an openness, a compassionate style.

Gülen’s solution to Kurdish issue discussed at panel

A solution to the Kurdish issue proposed by Turkish religious figure Fethullah Gülen has been discussed at a symposium in the southeastern province of Bingöl. Prof. Cengiz Yıldız spoke at the “Kurds from Ottoman to Today” symposium and gave a presentation describing a solution to the Kurdish issue as put forward by Gülen, daily Zaman […]

Muslim world in transition: Contributions of the Gülen Movement

A conference was held in London on Oct. 25-27 to discuss contributions of the Gülen movement, led by Fethullah Gülen. This conference was launched at the House of Lords and was attended by several members of parliament, lords, baronesses, newspaper editors, academics, dignitaries and high-ranking civil servants.

Crackdown on journalists leaves void in post-coup Turkey

That is down in large part to the gutting of Turkey’s independent press. More than 115 journalists have been imprisoned and hundreds more fired since the July 15th coup attempt, while 130 media outlets have been shuttered. That, in addition to the sacking of more than 1,000 media workers in the previous 12 months, has left crucial questions unanswered. Put simply, there is no one left – or willing – to overturn the stones on which the failed military takeover was built.

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

Post-Kemalist but still illiberal Turkey

ARO’s healthcare alliance with Cambodian Government agencies

Kimse Yok Mu and MASFED to open hospital in Ethiopia

Mandela supported mosque construction in Johannesburg, says businessman

EU calls on Turkey to Investigate abduction cases targeting Gülen Movement

Kosovo PM Haradinaj: Deportation of Turkish citizens was hasty

U.S. schools are indirectly linked to preacher, often well-regarded

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News