Human Rights Watch Director: This is a political purge… pure and simple!


Date posted: January 31, 2017

HizmetNews.Com

Reuters reports that Turkish authorities have dismissed more than 90,000 public servants for alleged connections to a coup attempt in July 2016. Labour Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said 125,485 people from the public service had been put through legal proceedings after the coup attempt, and that 94,867 of those had been dismissed so far.

Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch Director, has denounced the purge saying “No one pretends there were 90,000 coup plotters. This is a political purge, pure and simple. Erdogan’s Turkey”

 

As Reuters reports [Erdogan’s] Turkey has been rooting out followers of the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan accuses the Gulen’s Hizmet movement of having infiltrated state institutions and plotted to overthrow the government. Gulen has unequivocally denied the allegations and condemned the coup immediately before it was repelled.

 

 

 

 


Related News

Turkic American Alliance Condemns Government Takeover of Zaman

Turkish government seized control of Zaman Newspaper, the largest and highly circulated newspaper in Turkey. The takeover is a violation of the freedom of press which is vital for every democratic state and requires political intervention from the international community.

GYV urges government to accelerate reforms in favor of media freedoms

The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) has called on the Turkish government to speed up pro-freedom reforms and to bring its laws in line with European Union standards in order to do away with problems caused by limits on freedom of expression and freedom of the press. The foundation released a statement on Wednesday regarding […]

An interview at a party-state

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s witch-hunt campaign to find and eliminate people who are sympathizer of the Hizmet movement and not sympathizer of the government was reflected in interviews that were organized by the Ministry of Education last month. It seems Turkey has totally become a party-state.

Erdogan’s Muslim spies: Turkish imams snooping on Merkel’s Germany for President

According to German media, the spies write reports on the alleged Gulen supporters and the secretive information is collected from imams of the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion (Ditib). The names of the so-called spies are then reported to the relevant [Turkish] state bodies and consulates.

Gulen has ‘no intention of leaving the US’

The Alliance for Shared Values “rejects the accusation” by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus that Gulen is planning a move to Canada, it said in a statement on its website. The Alliance also reiterated its call for an end to attempts to stymie voices of democratic dissent, including journalists, academics, Kurds, liberals and participants in the Hizmet movement.

University entrance exam results announced, top scorers from Gülen-affiliated schools

Turkey’s Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) on Thursday announced the results of the Transition to Higher Education Examination (YGS), revealing that students from Gülen-affiliated schools, which have been the target of a government-sponsored defamation campaign, are among the top scorers of the exam.

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

Complainant says he was ‘fooled,’ apologizes to suspects in trial targeting Gülen followers

WSJ: Turks fleeing Erdogan fuel new influx of refugees to Greece

You Cannot Understand the Servants!

Obama is the real turkey in this scenario

A Genocide in the Making – Genocidal action stage by stage by the Turkish government against the Hizmet movement

Youth address global poverty in Gülen Institute’s essay contest

JWF organized a side-event at UN in Geneva

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News