After The Coup Attempt, A Crackdown In Turkey


Date posted: November 8, 2016

Editorial

The Fountain has been recently banned by the Turkish government in Turkey. Let us try to explain why:

Once considered a beacon of hope for the Middle East, Turkey has been rapidly backsliding on issues of democracy, freedom of the press, and human rights. One would have thought this downfall hit bottom on July 15, when a bloody coup was attempted, leaving behind more than 250 dead. We mourn with the Turkish nation for those who lost their lives and wholeheartedly condemn this violent action. Yet, many questions are still hanging in the air about this weird attempt, which was, at best, unfavorably démodé and useless on all fronts – and at worst, dangerously foolish. To provide one glaring example, the plotters shut down the state-run TV network and one other private channel while there were still hundreds of other local and national networks broadcasting live. This tactic worked in 1980, when the Turkish chief of staff appeared on the only available network and made the coup announcement, but it failed terribly in 2016, when nearly every country in the world has access to hundreds of channels – not to mention the internet. This failure would have been laughable, were it not for the very real tragedy that followed the amateurish attempt.

Whatever the tactics, the coup is over; democracy, if what Turkey has is a democracy, is back. So, what is the deal with The Fountain?

The coup was followed by an immediate response from Turkish President Erdogan, who announced in the first few hours, while the coup was still underway, that Mr. Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement inspired by his teachings were the actors behind the plot. The President did not present any evidence implicating Mr. Gülen or Hizmet, but Mr. Erdogan has blamed Hizmet for nearly every problem he’s encountered over the previous three years – though he has never once provided any evidence in support of his charges.

There is not space in this editorial to detail all the reasons behind Erdogan’s hatred of Hizmet, but what is clear is that his crackdown on the movement started in December 2013, when he and his close circle of ministers and family members were implicated in a massive corruption scandal. Blaming Hizmet for revealing his own government’s corruption, President Erdogan began cracking down on those he considered to be his enemies – journalists, academics, judges, and more – all under the guise of “purging” Hizmet members from civil service organizations. No evidence of wrongdoing has ever been provided; suspicion, or perhaps a mean Tweet, was enough to ruin a person’s livelihood.

After this most recent coup attempt, the crackdown took a new turn as Erdogan ordered the closure of thousands of schools, hospitals, dormitories, and charities; fired tens of thousands of teachers, doctors, and public servants; and arrested tens of thousands of citizens who, it would seem, had already been listed as associated with the movement before the coup attempt. Many newspapers, TV channels, and other publications have been ordered to close in Turkey, including The Fountain.

The President declared a state of emergency, which will last for at least three months. This has allowed him to suspend universally binding laws and conventions. Already there are reports of torture, disappearances, deaths in custody, and arrests by association. Erdogan’s witch hunt has led to large scale defamation against a group of people, and it has infringed upon the right of thousands, perhaps millions, of people to live their lives freely. Not only have free speech and the rule of law been suspended, but so has the freedom to practice business. Law abiding companies have been seized as “spoils of war.” These are not episodes of a dystopian drama, but what is being “proudly” reported by the Turkish state-run media as “democracy.” This media, like the government, is under the control of one man: President Erdogan.

The government’s crackdown has been as primitive and bloody as the coup attempt was amateurish and anachronistic. Yes, silencing The Fountain and other media outlets in Turkey may serve as another point scored against the Hizmet movement, but what is the cost of that “victory”? It runs completely against the basic principles of democracy – for democracy is not only about elections, but about freedom of speech, the rule of law, and the basic right of all law-abiding citizens to pursue a livelihood of their choosing. This kind of true, healthy democracy is dead in present-day Turkey.

Source: The Fountain Magazine , Issue 112 / July - August 2016


Related News

40-day-old baby, mother under police custody for 4 days: opposition deputy

A Turkish woman who gave birth to her baby 40 days ago, has been kept under police custody along with her newborn over the past four days, according to main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu.

Davud Hanci’s wife says Calgary imam detained in Turkey ‘a very peaceful man’

Rumeysa Hanci breaks down in tears when she recounts how she spent her 13th wedding anniversary, travelling home to Calgary from Turkey and not knowing when she would see her husband, Davud, again.

Nigeria won’t allow mistreatment of her students by Turkey – Presidency

According to Dabiri-Erewa: “The Federal Government is taking the detention of Nigerian students by Turkish authorities seriously. It seems that Turkey is trying to get at Nigeria for our failure to close down the 17 schools they requested. The government did not close down these schools because their owners and managers, who are private people have not breached Nigerian laws.”

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

Parents of Didem took a grief-stricken breath when they saw the police squad holding custody document which is written Didem’s name on it and they said “If you want to take her under custody you should go to cemetery. Didem is dead, my son.”

A February 28 tactic from the PKK

The people of the nation know Gülen, who has spoken for years from the lectern at mosques, and they know those on the other side, too. If the shadows of the weapons cast over these people were only to be lifted, we would see whose side they would stand on.

CHP deputy asks PM to stop arrest of women after giving birth

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) İstanbul deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu has asked Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım to halt the practice of arresting women immediately after giving birth due to their alleged links to the Gülen movement.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Peace Islands Institute Celebrates 10th Anniversary

The term ‘Fetö’ is a misnomer, a bizarre creation of the paranoid Erdoğan propaganda machine

Exiled Turkish Leader Gulen Slams Erdogan for Coup Attempt in Report

Turkey may be challenged in ECtHR due to massive crackdown, CoE head warns

GYV contributes to correct perception of Islam

Pro-gov’t columnist claims Obama could be Gülen’s White House ‘imam’

No measures taken against ‘parallel structure’ at top security meeting: General Staff

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News