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

Conspiratorial minds, authoritarian politics

The conspiracy theories that were once the propaganda tools of the enemies of the AKP and have now become the propaganda tools of the AKP itself.

Gulen admits meeting key figure in Turkey coup plot, dismisses Erdogan’s ‘senseless’ claims

In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, Fethullah Gulen admitted meeting a key figure in Turkey’s July 2016 attempted coup. But the Turkish cleric said that a mere visit from one of his followers isn’t proof he orchestrated the failed coup.

Growing number of Turkish citizens apply for asylum in Germany

Since the attempted coup in 2016, mostly journalists, academics, members of the opposition parties and (alleged) supporters of the Gülen movement, have been persecuted and their applications for asylum are most frequently granted.

Turkish PM Davutoglu baselessly claims Hizmet works with PKK

The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) strongly criticized and denied recent remarks from Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who alleged that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the so-called parallel structure are “working together,” saying the allegation is baseless slander directed at the [Hizmet] movement.

Turkish cleric calls for international body to examine coup charges

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, told the German broadcaster ZDF in an interview broadcast on Friday that there was no evidence linking him to the thwarted putsch, which he has denounced. He accused Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan of using the coup to silence opponents.

Turkey’s Brain Drain and the Disappearing Academic Freedom

Hasan was the luckiest because he was not in Turkey during the coup. He was studying abroad on July 15th and learned the coup through the Internet. He was supposed to go back to Turkey but he decided not to do so because of the news on the immense purging in mostly the government and some private institutions. Few days after the coup he learned that he was dismissed from his position at a state university.

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

Abduction and torture part of war on Gulenists: Report

Why is the Hizmet community alone?

Conference on Gülen’s thoughts on ideal society being held in Pakistan

GYV praised for response to accusations about Hizmet movement

Embassies Embark on Diplomatic Moves for the Release of Detained Sierra Leonean in Turkey

TURKEY: Fethullah Gulen profile

Mozambican president: I will continue to support Turkish schools

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News