Erdoğan calls on people to show no mercy to Gülen movement


Date posted: December 21, 2017

Amid an ongoing witch-hunt targeting the faith-based Gülen movement, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday called on people to not show mercy to the movement, saying the pitiful will be pitied, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

“I am calling on those who are part of this structure [Gülen movement]. Will you still not leave it? I am saying this clearly: if you are pitiful, you will be pitied. There are thousands in prison,” Erdoğan said during a public rally in Yalova province.

Pro-government Yeni Şafak daily columnist Hikmet Genç, a staunch supporter of Erdoğan, said on Thursday that followers of the Gülen movement would soon not be able walk freely in the US, threatening them by saying, “Don’t rest at easy at night.”

“We will destroy them all here in our time, God willing. They will be buried like dogs among crosses [Christians] in places like Pennsylvania. They will not be able to find an imam to recite [the final prayer at their funeral]. They will be buried in the land of infidels. There is no place even for their coffins here. I won’t accept it. Their coffins should be burned. I have no respect [for their dead],” he said.

On Tuesday another pro-Erdoğan columnist, Cem Küçük, along with journalist Fuat Uğur said Turkish intelligence should kill family members of jailed Gülen followers in order to turn the inmates into operatives for the Erdoğan regime.

He also talked about excuses about probable deaths of Gülen followers such as traffic accidents, suicides, mass suicides, death from excessive alcohol use, death from overdose, jumping off a bridge due to debt and health problems.

Erdoğan and his government launched an all-out war against the Gülen movement following corruption operations of December 2013 in which the inner circle of the ruling AKP government and then-Prime Minister Erdoğan were implicated.

Erdoğan also accuses the Gülen movement of masterminding a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016.

Despite the movement strongly denying involvement in the failed coup, Erdoğan launched a witch-hunt targeting the movement following the failed coup.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on Dec. 12 that 55,665 people had been jailed and 234,419 passports revoked as part of investigations into the Gülen movement since the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

Soylu on Nov. 16 had said 48,739 people had been jailed and eight holdings and 1,020 companies seized as part of operations against the movement.

The Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 169,013 people have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.

Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15, 2016 through government decrees issued as part of an ongoing state of emergency.

Source: Turkish Minute , December 16, 2017


Related News

Pakistan admits they secretly deported Turkish family wanted by Erdogan govt

The Pakistan government on Tuesday admitted before the Lahore High Court that it had secretly deported a Turkish family wanted by the Erdogan government, in violation of the court’s order.

Turkey’s largest religious publication group denied spot at Ramadan book fair

Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs has refused to allocate an exhibit space at a Ramadan book fair to the country’s largest religious publication group over its affiliation with the Gülen movement.

Is Turkey Supporting ISIS?

One of the most problematic aspects of the war against the Islamic State has been the role of Turkey. On the one hand, diplomats see Turkey as a cornerstone of any diplomatic strategy to counter the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. On the other hand, Turkey—or, at least, elements within the state—appear to back the Islamic State.

Today is another Human Rights Day, but atrocities persist | Opinion

One such case is the experience of thousands of Turkish people under the Erdogan regime after the failed coup attempt in July 2016. Soon after the coup attempt, Erdogan’s regime launched a crackdown on opponents and critics, detaining thousands of journalists, rights activists, lawyers, teachers and writers for their alleged involvement in anti-state activities.

Conspiratorial minds, authoritarian politics

The conspiracy theories that were once the propaganda tools of the enemies of the AKP and have now become the propaganda tools of the AKP itself.

Critics say Turkish government using US mosques to play politics, spy on foes

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent re-election is fueling concerns about his growing powers not just in Turkey but here in the U.S., according to experts who believe he’s determined to spread his controversial brand of Islamist-nationalistic fervor through a network of mosques and religious centers.

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

Pak-Turk schools replace Turkish principals with Pakistanis

Saudi scholar finds what he has been looking for in Gulen

Return to Turkey or lose citizenship, gov’t tells Gülen followers

Discrimination by AKP government [against Hizmet movement]

Gülen says Turkey’s democracy eroding under AK Party rule

Diverse community enjoys feast at Turkic American Alliance iftar

Egyptian professor impressed with Fethullah Gulen

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News