Russian envoy’s murderer attended sermons of controversial pro-Erdoğan cleric


Date posted: December 25, 2016

While the Turkish government insists on claiming that Mert Altıntaş, the police officer who assassinated the Russian ambassador to Ankara, is linked to the Gülen movement, it has been discovered that the gunman attended the sermons of Nurettin Yıldız, a staunch supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Hürriyet daily reported on Saturday that police officer Altıntaş, who shouted al Nusra Front slogans after shooting the Russian ambassador in an art gallery on Monday, attended the sermons of Yıldız at Ankara’s Hacı Bayram Mosque.

Yıldız, the president of the Social Fabric Foundation (Sosyal Doku Vakfı), had sparked a public reaction after he argued that marrying a 6-year-old girl is legitimate. In addition to this remark that caused outrage, Yıldız also said it is a sin to watch a woman news anchor on TV and that women should be grateful to be beaten.

In an interview with the state-owned Anadolu news agency, Yıldız voiced support for Erdoğan, saying that it was a requirement of his faith to support the president.

Minister of Interior Affairs Süleyman Soylu, however, claimed on Saturday that the murderer is linked to the Gülen movement and that the radical Islamist clues in his life were efforts to disguise his links to the movement, which is known for its promotion of interfaith dialogue and is frowned upon by Islamists for those efforts.

Source: Turkish Minute , December 24, 2016

Tags: | | | |


Related News

EU stresses right to freedom of expression in wake of media investigations [in Turkey]

The European Union has underlined that public authorities should not interfere with freedom of expression in the media, against the background of Turkish government pressure on the media through criminal and civil lawsuits. “The right to freedom of expression includes the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas without the interference of public authorities,” Peter Stano, spokesperson for EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle, said to the Cihan news agency.

Overwhelming public response in support of Bank Asya

Solidarity campaigns against the Banking Regulation Supervision Agency’s (BDDK) decision to have the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) temporarily take over the management of Bank Asya have been springing up across the nation.

Client fearfully waiting his turn to be tortured at Ankara police station: lawyer

An Ankara lawyer who wants to remain anonymous has said his/her client, detained over his links to the Gülen movement, was waiting his turn in fears to be tortured at a detention facility in Turkey’s capital.

The Fall of Turkey

Western officials have preferred to raise concerns over the steady dismantling of Turkey’s free institutions only privately with their counterparts in Ankara. This approach has failed. That failure has left many millions of pro-democracy Turks to fend for themselves, while a once-fringe ideological element in the AKP, reared on Islamist supremacism, has been emboldened.

Mothers meet in İstanbul to mark Mother’s Day, see their children

A mother, Vera Stamova from Moldova, expressed similar feelings. “My two children study in Turkey. My younger daughter studied in Turkish schools [in Moldova]. She received a quality education. I love Turkey and I have great confidence in Turkish people. If I had another child, I would also send her to Turkey. I miss them a lot, but they are very lucky and are taken good care of here,” she said.

Time for a reality check for ISNA conventioneers – coup attempt in Turkey

Time for a reality check. This weekend many ISNA conventioneers are attending “panels” in which the so-called “Turkish delegation” will continue to attempt to justify the immoral and thoroughly un-Islamic persecution of countless innocent Muslim men and women in Turkey and around the world. While these conventioneers politely applaud the representatives of a regime which is attempting to destroy the lives of many of their fellow Turkish American Muslims right here in the US, here is just one example of what’s happening back in Turkey.

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

Vague terrorism charge used to target supporters of the Gülen movement: UN special rapporteurs

Somalia’s brightest compete for education in Turkey

Leaked photo shows 11 hijabi women, 2 babies in Bursa prison on terror, coup charges

Russian scholar: Gülen promotes peaceful education for a world mired in conflict

Lawyer: Claims about Gülen followers among ‘jihadist group’ baseless defamation

Abant Platform: perspectives on Turkey

Lawyers for Gulen Call Flynn’s Comments ‘Troubling’

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News