What is wrong with independent journalism?


Date posted: December 6, 2013

TUĞBA AYDIN

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç called on prosecutors to take legal action on Monday against the Taraf daily and journalist Mehmet Baransu, who revealed a controversial National Security Council (MGK) document last week, signed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in 2004, which detailed a planned crackdown on the Hizmet (Gülen) movement.

Taraf published a document last Thursday, prepared by the MGK on Aug. 25, 2004, whose contents persuaded the government to curb the activities of the Gülen movement by a series of measures. It advises the government to use legal methods to impose harsh penalties on Gülen-affiliated institutions.

Eyüp Can stated in his Radikal column on Thursday that if he had found the document released by Baransu, he would also have revealed it, as it sheds light on a turbulent period in Turkey’s history. Can agreed with the document’s publication but believes that the time was not right, as members of the Hizmet movement are currently in conflict with the government over its plan to close exam preparation schools. According to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), it is not a crime to publish a secret document which is in the public interest, wrote Can. Can also adds that even if the government reacts harshly to the release of secret documents, the sharing of information liberates people.

According to Gültekin Avcı’s Thursday column in Bugün, the document plainly contradicts the assertions of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) accused the government of using the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) to compile a profiling database of files on the activities of 15 CHP deputies in August. After this accusation, both Erdoğan and Ergin denied the CHP claim, saying that such activities had not taken place since November, 2002.

Source: Today's Zaman , December 6, 2013

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Sacked policeman’s grim death sparks debate on COVID-19 data in Turkish prisons

The pictures showing the grim death of a police officer sacked with an emergency decree have sparked debate on the conditions in Turkish prisons amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Pictures from his prison cell showed his dead body on a plastic chair in filthy surroundings, prompting deputies to question prison conditions.

Opposition deputy: Police detain one more woman shortly after delivery

B.Ö., a Turkish woman who gave birth on Thursday in the Turkish province of Adana, was detained ealy later the same day over alleged links to Turkey’s Gülen group. Sezgin Tanrıkulu, a Turkish deputy from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has called on Turkish authorities to stop the practice of detaining women hours after giving birth.

Pro-gov’t media continues smear campaign against Hizmet movement

In order to defame the Hizmet movement, A Haber — a member of the government-designed “pool media,” created through funds raised by various businessmen to protect the government’s interests — has described a Felicity Party (SP) election campaign conducted by women in the province of Hatay as “black propaganda” against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

Gülen Community and Gülen’s Reminder

Hadi Uluengin, April 13, 2011 Last week in this column I wrote that large masses whose common denominator is to adopt Fethullah Gülen’s spiritual leadership cannot be referred to as a ‘cemaat’ or religious community or brotherhood. I made this claim because the Gülen Movement’s (aka Hizmet movement) pluralism in quantity and diversity in quality […]

Flynn stopped military plan against ISIS that Turkey opposed – after being paid as its agent

One of the Trump administration’s first decisions about the fight against the Islamic State, ISIS, was made by Michael Flynn weeks before he was fired – and it conformed to the wishes of Turkey, whose interests, unbeknownst to anyone in Washington, he’d been paid more than $500,000 to represent.

HRW report: No evidence to accuse Gülen movement of terrorism

The Human Rights Watch’s latest world report states that there is no evidence to prove the charges of “terrorism” held against the Gülent movement, which is inspired by the teachings of prominent Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

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

Islamic scholar Gülen calls on praying for Palestinians, Syrians

Germany informs Gülen sympathizers about Turkish Intel surveillance

Turkish Olympiads Cultural Festival attended by 3 million visitors in İzmir

PBS airs story on Gulen Movement

Abant participants: Turkey needs EU support to improve its democracy

India must understand Erdogan’s ideological motives for seeking extradition of Gülenists

Truth and reconciliation in post-Erdoğan era

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News