Defamation – Turkey’s Justice Minister: Gülen Followers Take Christian Names To Infiltrate Western States


Date posted: July 4, 2017

Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on Monday that followers of Gülen movement, change their Turkish names in order to infiltrate into the institutions of the Western states.

Speaking with Milliyet daily on Monday, Bozdağ said Gülen movement followers take Christian names and show themselves as members of Christian society in order to infiltrate institutions of the Western states. Underlining that the group has been educating Americans in schools in the US and imposing the ideology of the movement, Bozdağ said “this terror group is a threat to Turkey’s national security as well as a threat to national security of yours (US).”

“F..Ö members change their Turkish names in US. They take Christian names, take different names and join into Christian groups as they are Christian converts in order to gain prestige and power from those groups. There are lots of similar cases in recent days. What I say now is that if you (Western world) don’t take the measures, similar to Turkey took against this group, they will betray you. Why not those who betray their own state and nation, will not betray US and the other states? … They might have simile [at me] saying ‘what is that this minister saying’, but probably they will have to take tougher measures [against Gülen followers] after 15-20 years,” he said.

Since the Turkish government launched a large-scale witch hunt against followers of faith-based Gülen movement, inspired by the views of US-based Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen, the movement has been scapegoated for anything that goes wrong in Turkey, and Gülen sympathizers have been alienated in public by the rhetoric used by ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leaders and Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Despite Gülen and the movement having denied the accusations, Erdoğan and the government launched a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody. Over 138.000 people have been dismissed from their jobs, more than 106.000 were detained and nearly 53.000 jailed over alleged links to the movement.

Source: Stockholm Center for Freedom , July 3, 2017

Tags: | | |


Related News

Turkey: ‘Exclusion for all’ state

Indeed, just last week a columnist in a pro-government daily argued that officials in certain government institutions have been expelled over their alleged ties to the Hizmet movement. This is no different from a witch hunt. In a civilized society, expelling qualified professionals because of their sympathy for a religious and social movement can only be described as discrimination.

[Alleged] “Coup leader” Gülen’s friendships with the Catholic Church

Erdogan’s propaganda channels and instruments have been referring to Hizmet as the “Gülenist Terror Organisation” for years and over the past months, this full-fledged criminalisation campaign has often seen relations between the Hizmet network and the Catholic Church – including the Vatican – being dragged into it. This has primarily been witnessed in the most staunchly nationalist press channels.

(Not a joke) Turkish governor: ISIL terrorist detonated himself in construction site not to harm neighbors

Following the detonation of an Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist in Turkey’s Gaziantep province on Sunday, the governor told reporters that the suicide bomber detonated himself in a construction site in order not to cause problems for the neighbors.

A rift between the Hizmet movement and the AK Party?

BÜLENT KENEŞ June 14, 2012 For some time, Turkey has been obsessively talking about an alleged contention between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Hizmet movement (aka Gulen Movement). This matter is being discussed in dozens of newspaper columns and TV programs every day. The Hizmet movement’s demands are about principles. These […]

Deporting Gülen would undercut NATO

Sacrificing Gülen, however, will not bring Turkey in from the cold. While the pretext might have been rooting out Gülen’s followers, the reality is that Erdogan has used the purge to target secularists, liberals, and those officers whose training and experience in NATO he believes make them prone to oppose his vision and goals for Turkey.

Erdogan on a mission to seek allies more than trading partners

Erdogan wants the Gulen-linked schools in Africa to be closed down, although they are the very educational establishments which are popular with Africa’s middle class. They have sprung up all over Africa in recent years. They are an affordable alternative to French schools.

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

Turkmen Alevite Association and Kimse Yok Mu distribute aid to 1840 families in Ramadan

Democracy on the rocks in Turkey

Georgia: MEP Rebecca Harms on Asylum for Cabuk

NATO Secretary Rasmussen praises the Turkish schools in Afghanistan

Turkish School’s sucesss in Iraq

Turkey’s Crackdown Extends to Taipei

How come a 25 days old BABY could be a THREAT to the national security?

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News