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

Tension should be reduced

Both sides [Hizmet movement and the AK Party government] see this rift as a matter of life and death. If you are in a struggle for existence, you do your best to attack the other side, but by doing so, you make mistakes, damage yourself and the other side.

Turks caught up in Gulenists crackdown seek justice

When she returned to her old school to pick up some papers after being suspended, the religious affairs teacher from the Turkish town of Adapazari was braced for some awkward glances. But she was not prepared to be treated as an outcast by colleagues of eight years’ standing. “They wouldn’t even look at me,” says the mother-of-three, dabbing her cheek with a tissue. “It was as if I was a terrorist.”

Turkish refugee in Spain: “If I go back to Turkey, I’ll be arrested and tortured”

Mustafa remembers with infinite gratitude the response of the Spanish officer: “You are welcome,” he said with a smile. Mustafa’s wife felt the knot in her stomach ease. She had been filled with doubts about the journey: “What if they don’t accept us? What if they send us to Turkey? Was it not better to stay in Bogotá?” Mustafa was nervous too, although he tried not to show it.

Canada grants asylum to eight Gulenists under UN protection in Mongolia

Eight Turkish citizens whose passports were revoked by the Turkish government travelled to Canada on August 11 just after Canada decided to grant asylum. An officer from United Nations also escorted the group for the safe exit from Mongolia and security during the journey.

Erdogan’s Private Youth Army

Initially, the youth branches will be formed in 1,500 mosques. But under the plan, 20,000 mosques will have youth branches by 2021, and finally 45,000 mosques will have them. Observers fear the youth branches may turn into Erdogan’s “mosque militia,” like the Nazi Party’s Hitler Youth organization in Germany.

Turkey Targets Gulen-Inspired Projects Around the World

In past years, big names in South Africa picked up the annual Gulen Peace Award, a local accolade inspired by a Turkish preacher who has been blamed by Turkey for an attempted coup last month.

Latest News

Sacramento leaders gather for Iftar dinner in celebration of Ramadan

SEO Skill Suite: Tools for Keyword Research, Technical & Backlink Analysis

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

In Case You Missed It

Int’l press organizations call for release of journalist Keneş, condemn arrest

Commentary: Abuses rampant in wake of Turkish coup

Government [in Turkey] replaces military in defamation tactics

‘Hizmet is really something that demonstrates what’s universal about Islam.’

They want my backing for the enrollment in Turkish schools

Gülen: Despite differences in method peace process in Kurdish issue should be supported

Lawyer of raided schools: Terror groups do not open schools, they raid them

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News