Turkey blacklists 68 companies including Germany’s Daimler, BASF over Gülen links
Date posted: July 21, 2017
Turkey has named 68 companies as supporters of the Gülen movement, in a list sent to Germany’s federal police, according to Die Zeit weekly.
The list included a Turkish fast food restaurant and a late-night food store, Die Zeit said.
This was sent to German authorities several weeks ago, the newspaper said recalling that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced to have sent 4,500 files on alleged supporters of the movement to Germany and demanded that they be extradited to Turkey.
“In Berlin, the list is described as ‘absurd’ and ‘ridiculous’,” the weekly added. Meanwhile Turkey’s Deputy PM Mehmet Simsek said on Thursday that Turkey is not investigating Daimler and BASF.
At home, Turkey has confiscated 966 companies with assets of $11 billion over links to the movement so far.
Turkish Islamic scholar Gülen rejects any link to graft probe
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has rejected any link to an ongoing corruption probe in which 52 people, including well-known businessmen, the sons of three ministers, and a number of advisors, have been detained as part of a major investigation into alleged bribery linked to public tenders. Gülen strongly denied allegations that the probe was launched as part of a row between the government and the Hizmet movement.
Secular Turks may be in the minority, but they are vital to Turkey’s future
What a decade and a half of AKP experience has shown is that the problem with democracy in Turkey has deep social roots that go way beyond the political power struggles on the surface. Both an authoritarian political culture and conservative social values inhibit the emergence of a pluralist democracy. In the last decade, Muslim conservative elites have shown little interest in establishing a fully fledged democracy. This is not surprising: democracy is largely understood by most Turks to be just about elections.
[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.
Post-Kemalist but still illiberal Turkey
Many, including myself, expected that the defeat of Kemalism by a broad coalition of liberals, democrats and conservatives under the political leadership of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) would lead to a democratic regime in Turkey with a liberal constitution. Yes, Kemalism is dead but its state-centric, Jacobin and illiberal sprit has been reincarnated in the ruling AK Party. The similarities in the attitude and the policies of the AK Party and its Kemalist predecessors are striking.
3 journalists detained after interview with jailed Gülen-linked businessman
Three local journalists in Turkey’s Gaziantep province were detained by police after releasing an interview with jailed businessman Ahmet Selim Ener, who was imprisoned over alleged links to the Gülen movement.
GYV Presient Yesil: We knock on all doors
Mustafa Yesil is the president of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), which is known as the Gulen community’s institutional representative. He has addressed a wide range of issues, among them the Gulen movement, eavesdropping, the arrest of Aziz Yildirim (chairman, Fenerbahce soccer team), the National Intelligence Institution’s (MIT’s) head Hakan Fidan’s query.
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
Turkish school extended help to Turks after earthquake in Nepal
Fethullah Gülen’s brother laid to rest amid grief
Yamanlar College student wins gold medal in int’l computer project competition
Pro-gov’t dailies call Japanese foundation ‘parallel’ to denigrate award for Gülen
