İpek Holding chairman denies reports about alleged mansion for Gülen
Date posted: January 23, 2014
İSTANBUL
Koza İpek Holding’s chairman, Akın İpek, who is known for his support for the Hizmet movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, released a statement on Thursday denying reports in the Sabah and Takvim dailies which had claimed that İpek has been constructing a luxury villa for Gülen.
Sabah and Takvim reported on Thursday that İpek had been constructing a 14,000-square-meter luxury villa where Gülen will allegedly stay when he returns to Turkey from Pennsylvania, where he currently lives. In the press release, İpek strongly denied the reports, stating that the mansion shown in the photos published in the dailies has belonged to their family for over 40 years.
Stating that such reports violate their private lives and has upset his entire family, İpek said the dailies had reported baseless news using imaginary scenarios as though they were facts. İpek said the mansion had recently been renovated as his mother will move in
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In a development that surprised many, the US State Department said on Tuesday that Turkey has formally requested the extradition of Gülen but not on issues related to the recent coup attempt, which Turkish leaders have accused him of inspiring.
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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.
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Intellectual deviations
Mahçupyan’s analysis of the Hizmet movement’s perspective on the Kurdish issue is wrong. When the settlement process was launched, the Hizmet movement announced its full support for the solution, with Gülen saying, “Peace is in itself goodness, and peace brings happiness.” It advocated non-violent social actors competing with each other freely and under democratic conditions. It openly declared that the right to education in one’s mother tongue is one of the fundamental human rights.
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Hira TV will also feature Samanyolu TV, which has been broadcasting programs in Arabic for almost 20 years. Hira TV CEO Yusuf Acar said the new channel’s target audience is families, adding: “Through cultural and scientific TV programs, we will appeal to all Arab people, including both children and adults. In addition, we will broadcast lectures from Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish-Islamic scholar.”
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