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


Related News

Organization (Kimse Yok Mu?) helped 79 Syrian families

“Is Anybody There?” Organization officials delivered donations, blankets and food to Syrian families with the coordination of AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Department) officials. The president of “Is Anybody There?” Elazig branch, Mr. Onder Colak, noted that they have been making donations to Syrian refugees in Turkey since the first days of civil war outbreak in Syria.

Jailed teacher dies of cancer in Turkish prison

One more Turkish teacher lost his life on Monday because of maltreatment and negligence of Turkish authorities during his stay in prison under the rule of emergency declared in the aftermath of a controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016 in Turkey.

Terrorist PKK targets Gulen movement’s schools in Hakkari

Schools opened by the Gülen movement, inspired by internationally respected Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen, in the eastern province of Hakkari are often threatened by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to an interview by the T24 news portal. The first private school the Gülen movement in Hakkari was opened in 2007. There are currently 300 students at the school, Hatice Avcı College.

Part of Turkish media say have been shut out by government

Turkish media close to a US-based Islamic preacher accused by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of seeking to usurp power say they have been shut out of government press events in a move they see as evidence of Turkey’s deteriorating press freedoms.

Kimse Yok Mu to stop beggary in Sakarya, Turkey

Kimse Yok Mu (KYM) has recently initiated a project, “a card of hope,” in the city of Sakarya, Turkey. The project aims to stop beggary in the city. Volunteers of KYM would distribute “a card of hope” to every beggar in the city, which would contain information and directions on how to receive aid from local Kimse Yok Mu branch.

Police raid successful Gülen-inspired schools in western Turkey

Just after another Gülen-inspired school was raided by the police in the southern province of Gaziantep on Monday, private schools established by the volunteers from the Hizmet Movement were raided in the western province of İzmir on Tuesday morning.

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

Pro-Erdogan journalist says killing Gülen followers, even their babies, a religious obligation

Interview with Kimse Yok Mu Foundation’s President Ismail Cingoz

Turkish govt begins massive deportation of Nigerian students

Erdoğan’s parallel bicycle gets rotten

Kimse Yok Mu Becomes A Member Of Ecosoc

Assassination plot against Fethullah Gülen

A bridge from the US to the Turkic world

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News