Dozen people hold demonstration in front of Zaman to protest corruption coverage


Date posted: December 22, 2013

İSTANBUL

About a dozen people gathered on Sunday in front of Zaman, Turkey’s largest-circulated newspaper, to protest what they claim is critical reporting of the largest corruption scandal in Turkish history, in which senior members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government have been implicated.

The protest followed a series of public remarks over the weekend by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who attacked Zaman without mentioning it by name, urging people at rallies not to pay any attention to what was being reported by certain media organizations.

Responding to Erdoğan’s call, protestors, some bearded, showed up at the Zaman building, chanting slogans like, “We are soldiers of Tayyip.” They also brought a money-counting machine, a reference to a police raid that found a similar machine at the home of the son of a government minister along with millions of cash and several safes.

The protestors held up a banner bearing the picture of Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gülen saying that he despises the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. “Pick up your traitorous comrades and your prep schools, and get out of here, go to Israel, the US,” the script at the bottom of the banner said.

Gülen, who has followers in the millions in Turkey and abroad, has been living in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999.

On Dec. 17, İstanbul and Ankara police staged dawn raids and detained over 50 people as part of a major investigation into claims of corruption and bribery. Two sons of Turkish ministers, Halkbank General Director Süleyman Aslan and an Iranian businessman, Reza Zerrab, are among 24 suspects arrested as part of the investigation.

The suspects are accused of rigging state tenders, accepting and facilitating the payment of bribes for major urbanization projects, obtaining construction permits for protected areas in exchange for money, helping foreigners obtain Turkish citizenship with falsified documentation, involvement in export fraud, forging documents and smuggling gold.

Source: Today's Zaman , December 22, 2013


Related News

Sen. Schumer & 70+ Senate Colleagues Call on State Dept. to Address ongoing Intimidation of Media and Censorship of the Press in Turkey under President Erdogan’s Administration

Recently, Two Journalists Who Were Vocal Critics of President Erdogan’s Administration and Were Arrested and Detained—Both Individuals Lead Major News Organizations; Prior To That Incident, Many Journalists Lost Their Jobs for Writing Material That Was Critical of President Erdogan and His Administration

Scholars: Misconceptions of Islam still abound

SEVGI AKARÇEŞME, İSTANBUL The subject of misconceptions of Islam dominated the debates at the international conference organized by the Foundation of Journalists and Authors (GYV) and Fatih University in İstanbul today. The event, titled “The Practice of Coexistence in Islamic Civilization and Contemporary Interpretations,” started on Friday with the participation of international scholars and leading […]

Should Hizmet establish a political party?

If the Hizmet movement had believed that services to Turkey can best be provided through politics, it would have done so from the beginning. Civil society has a special place in democracies. One can also serve the country by rejecting democratic pressures and upholding rule of law and individual freedoms.

Erdogan Delivers Ultimatum: Washington Has to Choose Between Gulen and Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the United States must make a choice between Ankara and a movement led by US-based dissident Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Ankara has accused Gulen and his followers of playing a key role in the July 15 attempted coup, which claimed lives of over 240 people.

Mother of three arrested with baby as police fail to locate teacher husband

A mother of three in the western province of Izmir, Fadime Danışman was arrested along with her 8-month-old baby after police failed to locate her husband, a teacher by profession, as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement.

Portrait of an Anatolian Muslim with no schooling*

It seems like this season is a season for losing fathers. Yesterday, like many friends around me, I too lost my father. All fathers are great, but mine was different, an extraordinarily good person. He had a finger in every innovation that was brought to the village. Although he never went to school, he could speak and write in Ottoman and [modern] Turkish. He would read history books for the curious in the house.

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

More Academics, Teachers, Charity Staff Detained Over Alleged Gülen Links

Corruption scandal will consolidate Turkish democracy

Gulen Institute Youth Platfrom announces essay contest: ‘Hospitality in the Global Village’

Turkish PM Erdoğan’s way worries and puzzles

Uplifting Romanian children in need

Gülen and the AK Party: A common quest for democracy or something more? (1)

At home and abroad, Erdogan shoots himself in the foot

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News