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

The Abant Platform: the Arab Spring and Turkey’s role

Immersion in the complex and often nuanced debates at the Abant Platform made everyone realize that the Arab Spring heralded a new era, not only for the Arab world but for regional and global politics. In fact, many were unsure about the prospects of stability and democratization in the short term, but were optimistic this turbulent process would eventually bring much sought-after normalization to the region.

Turkish Deputy PM says he will not visit Gülen amid ‘prep school tension’

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has said that he will not visit Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen during his trip to the United States, amid tension between the Gülen movement and the government over the possible closure of private “dershane” examination prep schools. After a Cabinet meeting on Nov. 18, Arınç had said the government would reevaluate its work on the controversial closure of the prep schools “together with the related parties.”

Gov’t criticized for forcing scientific researcher to alter report

Claims by the former head of a scientific research agency who was dismissed a day after his public remarks that he was forced to make changes to a report that was part of an investigation into bugging devices found at the prime minister’s office have triggered a harsh reaction against the government.

Fethullah Gülen suggests Turkish coup attempt could have been staged

Islamic cleric who has been blamed by Turkey’s president for the coup attempt on Friday evening gives a rare interview and suggests that the event may have been staged by the Turkish government as a way to shore up power and excuse further arrests of those who oppose Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Islamic scholar Gülen’s family criticizes PM’s offensive language

Kemal Gülen addressed allegations about the scholar’s financial situation, explaining that Fethullah Gülen resides at a facility that belongs to a foundation and for which he pays rent, rejecting the claim that the scholar owns the property.

Erdoğan: Our people will punish Gülenists in the streets if they ever get out of jail

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a public speech on Wednesday that if people affiliated with Turkey’s Gülen group are released from prison after completing their prison terms, the Turkish public will “punish them in the streets.”

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

Grondahl: Turkish community strong in wake of threats from back home

Albanian lawmakers reject Erdoğan’s call to close Turkish schools

Post-coup purge victim says he may never be a father due to torture in prison

People overwhelmingly support democracy as answer to Kurdish issue

Graduation ceremony of the Turkish school in Senegal

Are ambassadors propaganda officials for the ruling party?

Fethullah Gulen ‘very confident’ Turkey extradition from US will fail

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News