Erdoğan calls for expanded witch hunt against Gülen followers


Date posted: June 26, 2017

Having purged more than 150,000 people from state jobs and jailed over 50,000 due to alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday called on people to inform on activities of Gülen followers, saying that if they fail to do so, they will be held responsible.

“Wherever you know of or find a member of FETÖ [a derogatory term coined by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and Erdoğan to refer to members of the Gülen movement] you will report them to us. If you do not inform us, you will held be responsible,” said Erdoğan during an event organized by the İstanbul branch of his AKP to mark Eid al-Fitr.

“We will hold those who divide the Ummah to account,” he added.

Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the AKP government along with President Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.

Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.

Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police officers and civil servants since July 15.

According to a report by the state-run Anadolu news agency on May 28, 154,694 individuals have been detained and 50,136 have been jailed due to alleged Gülen links since the failed coup attempt.

The AKP government has seized a total of 942 companies with a total value of TL 40.5 billion since the failed coup attempt, according to a statement from Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli.

The total equity capital of the seized companies is TL18.1 billion, while their combined turnover is TL 21.5 billion, according to a Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) report.

Together the seized companies employ a workforce of 44,868.

Source: Turkish Minute , June 26, 2017


Related News

The confidence crisis and remaining wounds

I have long been pondering on some questions which are bugging everyone. When an appointed prosecutor launches an investigation into appointed bureaucrats and MİT members’ activities involving a terrorist organization, why should this be described as a “civilian coup”? BÜLENT KENEŞ, Thursday February 23, 2012 While on my way to work on Thursday morning, a […]

Police waiting at hospital to detain Kayseri woman after childbirth

Turkish police have been waiting inside Kayseri-based Tekden Hospital to detain Zeynep Toptaş, who just gave birth to her child, over alleged links to the Gülen movement, according to media on Sept 3.

Six heads of organized crime unit dismissed as hundreds relocated in new police purges [just after an operation against al-Qaeda]

The new relocations come as two heads of anti-terror units who conducted an operation against al-Qaeda and raids against a local branch of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH) charity were dismissed on Jan. 14.

Turkish trade’s center of gravity shifting in TUSKON bridges

Over the last six years, the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) has introduced a new concept to trade fair organizations: World Trade Bridges. These programs have evolved over time and become internationally recognized trade events in Turkey.

Ex-CIA Director: Mike Flynn and Turkish Officials Discussed Removal of Gulen from U.S. without Going through Legal Process

James Woolsey says he attended a September meeting where other participants, including then-Trump adviser Mike Flynn, talked of moving Fethullah Gulen back to Turkey without going through U.S. extradition process.

The International Justice Conference Hailed A Major Success

Prof. Manuel A. Knoll, from Department of Philosophy, Fatih University in partnership with the support of Abant Platform organized an international three day event regarding pluralism and conflict. Over 50 academicians from around the world got together for ‘Distributive Justice Beyond Rawls and Consensus’ Conference in Fatih University, Istanbul on June 6-8, 2013. Conference was […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

GYV contributes to correct perception of Islam

Who was behind the Turkish Coup: Sufi Islamic Scholar Fathullah Gülen or the Regime itself?

African Union and Kimse Yok Mu sign landmark agreement to further aid efforts in Africa

Samanyolu permission to shoot Ramadan program in mosque

A reasonable statement from Fethullah Gülen

Turkish school shelters mountaineer in Nepal

Fethullah Gulen: ISIL Actions, Disgrace to Faith

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News