Dumanlı: Accusations directed at Hizmet Movement is a great disappointment


Date posted: January 19, 2014

ISTANBUL

Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı commented on the accusations directed at the Hizmet Movement, inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, naming some labelings to the members of the movement as very disappointing.

Speaking during a TV program on Friday evening, Dumanlı mentioned Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s likening members of the Hizmet Movement to a shady group in the past.

On Tuesday, Erdoğan again accused the Hizmet movement of orchestrating a wide-reaching corruption and bribery investigation which has implicated some members of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. The Prime Minister likened the Hizmet movement to the Hashishin, or Hashashim, a religious sect of Shia Muslims originating from Persia, which was received great criticism by many intellectuals including politicians and historians. The group, thought to have been active between the 11th and 13th centuries, reportedly carried out politically motivated assassinations after consuming hashish.

“There is a great disappointment. It is hurtful for government to ascribe people, whom it praised and applaud until yesterday, some unpleasant accusations. We are totally disappointed I do not know if religious and sociological outcomes are taken into account while stirring controversy in the country,” said the writer.

Dumanlı also reminded that the government deems Hizmet Movement as an illegal group but until recently the government has had close relationships with the Hizmet. “Did not you want to meet with Gülen in May? And did not you send Bülent Arınç when the meeting did not take place? Slandering people so much hurts consciences of the people,” said Dumanlı referring to Erdoğan.

Dumanlı also commmented on the “parallel state” allegations against the Hizmet Movement after the far-reaching corruption scandal. “These [allegations] are all a black propaganda. It is very unpleasant to label people without any concrete evidence.

The writer stressed that election ballot is not everything saying that the AK Party put its all effect to the elections. Naming people as the tool of the external powers wıthout any concrete evidence violates rights of millions of people who can claim their right afterlife,” added Dumanlı.

Source: Cihan , January 18, 2014

Tags: | | |


Related News

The Hizmet movement and participatory democracy

The Hizmet movement’s objections make an important contribution to the formation of participatory democracy in Turkey. So far, Turkish democracy was a game among political parties in the absence of a strong civil society and market actors.

With blinders on, government sees everything as parallel structure

One of the attendees of the convention in Washington, columnist Yavuz Semerci wrote in the Habertürk daily on Sunday that organizers of the convention and its sponsor — Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) — expressed their disapproval of the bill and asked that the subject be left to historians and not politicians.

GYV calls on government to respect judiciary amid corruption probe

The government should respect Turkey’s independent judiciary as a corruption probe that has implicated senior members of the ruling party deepens, the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), whose honorary chair is Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, said in a statement published on its website on Monday.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is about to make himself a virtual dictator in Turkey

The proposed constitutional change grants the presidency new powers to directly appoint a vast range of public officials – cabinet ministers, provincial governors, and judges to the highest courts in the land. Simply put, the government’s plans are an enabling act: they are designed to strengthen the individual over the collective.

Turkey’s Plans to Abolish Private Tutoring Centers Arrests Free Enterprise and Democracy

 NEW YORK The Alliance for Shared Values considers Turkish government’s proposal to abolish fee-based private preparatory courses for admission exams and free private tutoring centers as government overreach and categorically opposes it. This unprecedented action: 1. Contradicts core principles of free enterprise and democracy: All major stakeholders from across the political spectrum have expressed opposition […]

Gülen and a new paradigm in the Kurdish issue

The Muslims, over the past nine years, have been the main dynamic of the change in Turkey. They have questioned their ties with nationalism, militarism and the status quo. These points that Gülen underlined are extremely important. He clearly and precisely identifies the reason of the problems and offers advice.

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

Where does Gülen stand on: democracy, human rights, and minorities?

Turkish people’s aid reaches out to Chad through Kimse Yok Mu

Erdoğan gov’t supports Iranian contest while obstructing Turkish Olympiad

‘I like the vitality of the participation and the vitality of hospitality within the Hizmet Movement’

Kimse Yok Mu conducts cataract surgeries in Nepal

That Erdogan’s War With Education In Africa

Acclaimed Russian academic praises Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News