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

9-year-old Turkish girl drowns while trying to cross Evros River

Nine-year-old Nurefşan Teke drowned on Thursday while trying to cross the Evros River with her mother Neslihan in order to reunite with her father, who had to flee Turkey five years ago due to an ongoing government crackdown on alleged members of the Gülen movement.

33rd Abant Platform: whither Turkey?

In his speech at the opening of the first session, Prof. Seyfettin Yuksel said: “If it had been said a few years ago that we would be discussing ‘Turkey’s direction’ in the coming years, none of us would have believed it. We were sure about Turkey’s direction.” Unfortunately, nowadays Turkey’s direction is seen as uncertain, and the country has strayed not only from its foreign policy but also from democratic norms and the rule of law in its domestic policies. Here are my notes from the conference.

Turkey’s Armenian Community: We are ready to be cultural bridge between people of Turkey, US

YONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, deputy patriarch of the Armenian Patriarchate, based in İstanbul, told Sunday’s Zaman after returning from the Los Angeles Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival that Armenians are ready to be a bridge between the people of Turkey and the United States. “And having food at the festival makes it all […]

The last refuge of losers: deporting a journalist

İHSAN YILMAZ I am sure most of our readers know my Today’s Zaman colleague Mahir Zeynalov better than they know me. He is a very accomplished Twitter user. His Turkish twitter account has 57,000 followers and the English one has 87,000 followers. Last year, he was chosen as one of the 10 most effective twitter […]

Fetullah Gülen, the preferred enemy – Interview

Hizmet is an Islamic movement with activities in more than 180 countries. To its followers, the gulenists, Gulen — a man with swallow feet and low voice who says he spends most of his time praying and studying — is a democrat in favor of the Turkish democratization.

Deported Turkish Teacher Was Denied Political Asylum, DP Calls For Independent Investigation

The Turkish teacher who was deported to Turkey on 1 January had requested political asylum, but the request was denied.

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

1-year-old baby with cancer held in Mardin prison with mother: former HDP deputy

4 Turkish charity organizations on OCHA’s Nepal list

Kimse Yok Mu heals wounds in the Philippines

JWF organized a side-event at UN in Geneva

Erdoğan has to respect civil society

Fethullah Gulen Suggests Nonviolent Options to Young Activists

I object to AK Party’s ‘New Turkey’

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News