Rebecca Harms: Working in Gülen-linked educational institutions not a crime


Date posted: July 6, 2017

Rebecca Harms, a member of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, said on Thursday that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) should take the necessary action to stop countries from extraditing Gülen followers to Turkey.

Speaking during the general assembly of the European Parliament (EP) on Thursday, Harms said working in institutions such as schools or universities with links to the Gülen movement is not a crime and that, similarly, being critical of the government and being a critical journalist are not crimes.

Urging the EP to reject the Turkish government’s “collective crime, persecution and prosecution against followers of the Gülen movement,” Harms likened the Turkish government’s policies to those of Hitler’s Germany.

“It is important for me as a German member of the European Parliament because my country caused Europe to have this bad experience,” she said.

On Thursday, the EP adopted by a large majority of the vote a resolution calling for the freezing of European Union membership negotiations with Turkey if Ankara implements a constitutional overhaul, backed by a referendum in April.

Turkey survived a failed coup on July 15, 2016 in which 249 people died.

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan immediately put the blame on the Gülen movement and speeded up a witch-hunt against sympathizers of the movement, which was also accused by the government of launching a graft probe at the end of 2013 that implicated figures from the AKP and people close to Erdoğan.

Despite Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, whose views inspired the Gülen movement, 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: Turkish Minute , July 7, 2017

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Ergenekon suspect convicted for insulting Gulen

Muammer Karabulut, who stands accused in the investigation into Ergenekon — a clandestine terrorist group that sought to undermine democratically elected government — has been convicted and sentenced to one year in prison for insulting Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen. Karabulut wrote in his book “Protestan Kur’an” (Protestant Quran) that Gulen is “changing” the Muslim […]

Turkish gov’t detains more than 70 women over their alleged financial support for jailed Gülen followers

The Turkish government detained more than 70 women on Wednesday evening in five provinces across Turkey as part of a investigation targeting alleged members of the Gülen movement. It was claimed that the detained women have been helping financially to the relatives of those who were jailed or escaped from the persecution of the Turkish government.

One year after attempted coup, purges have left hundreds of Turkish academics imprisoned

After the attempted coup, college professors have been hit especially hard, thanks to Gülen’s popularity inside Turkish higher education. Turks were encouraged to report Gülen’s followers to the government. Universities have been ordered to establish 7-8 member committees looking into anti-government activities of the faculty and administration.

‘Parallel state’ and ‘theft of national will’

There is not a single piece of concrete evidence indicating that prosecutors and police officers had acted in contravention of laws and regulations in the investigation into the corruption claims that implicated some former Cabinet members and their sons. However, these public officials who performed their lawful duties in full compliance with the principles of transparency, accountability and equality — which are fundamental characteristics of the regimes that uphold the rule of law — were recklessly accused by the prime minister and his cronies of being the “parallel state.

Islamists’ xenophobic policies threaten Turkey

The assaults on Korean tourists and a Uighur chef, who were mistaken for Chinese people, in İstanbul last week have shown the extent of damage dealt to this moderate nation of Turks by the Islamist rulers, who provide political clout to hate crimes and xenophobia in order to sustain their waning power in the government.

Turkish man in Netherlands sentenced for threatening Erdogan critic

O.E., a 19-year-old supporter of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), who threatened to kill M.D. (32), a sympathizer of the Gülen movement who live in the Netherlands’ Tilburg city was sentenced by a Dutch court.

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

Turkey’s Erdogan Battles Country’s Most Powerful Religious Movement

Malaysia deports 3 Turks despite warnings of torture risk

“Abraham’s Table Gatherings” in Turkey hosts Assyrian community

Dozens of the anti-Gülen and anti-Gülen Movement books on the shelves

Kenneth Hunter on Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet Movement

Gülen’s lawyer condemns Erdoğan’s accusations, TÜSİAD calls for sanity in country

Corruption investigation: Questions that will hound PM Erdoğan

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News