Minister’s remarks on Gülen cause AK Party members to resign


Date posted: January 28, 2014

İSTANBUL
The ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) Erzurum provincial deputy head and two more members of the provincial council resigned from their party due to Minister of Internal Affairs Efkan Ala’s verbal attacks on the Hizmet movement and its leader, Fethullah Gülen, on Monday.

AK Party provincial deputy head Mehmet Akif Kara, along with board members Nihat Arslan and Fevzi Şanal, handed in their letters of resignation on Tuesday. Kara has said that Ala’s remarks on the Hizmet movement and Gülen were a considerable influence on their decision to quit.

“The reason we have decided to quit is the defamation campaign launched against the Hizmet movement and its moral leader, Gülen, after the Dec. 17 operation that has occupied the [country’s] agenda for the last month,” Kara said, adding that the ugly allegations and defamation campaign against Gülen have offended their consciences.

Ala clearly, but without openly naming it, slammed the Hizmet movement and its head, Gülen, in a meeting held in Erzurum to introduce mayoral candidates.

“You are denigrating the people — among whom you are based — who are working for the sake of God. Who are you? Who are you? Are you strong enough to deal with this? Is this nation helping you in this? How dare you rise up and initiate a coup plot?” Ala said in his speech.

Ala’s speech was also condemned by other residents of Erzurum.

ARABAŞLIK Civil society organizations call on Erdoğan to stop slanderous accusations

Meanwhile, 70 civil society organizations in Erzurum have called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to stop what they called “his slanderous accusations” against the Hizmet movement.

Critical of the defamation campaign against members of the faith-based Hizmet movement, Mustafa Yıldız, head of the Eastern Anatolia Industrialists and Businessmen’s Federation’s (DASİDEF) high advisory board, said in a joint statement made on behalf of 70 civil society organizations on Monday that “it is better to get rid of the behaviors that are damaging our fraternity.”

Yıldız said the government initiative to close private preparatory schools (dershane), the alleged profiling of Hizmet-affiliated individuals — including classifying, archiving and monitoring them with reference to their religions, opinions and lifestyles — and the allegations that the Hizmet movement is behind an ongoing graft scandal are efforts to harass the movement and cast doubt on its achievements. Yıldız stated that the Hizmet movement is a civil movement that uses volunteers from various segments of society. It serves the public benefit, he said, and labels such as “parallel state” and “Hashashin” are a defamation campaign that is much more aggressive than the tactics widely seen during the postmodern coup of Feb. 28, 1997.

“Blacklisting the businessmen who give their heart to the Hizmet movement and attacking Turkish schools abroad through Turkish ambassadors is wounding our consciences,” Yıldız said.

Erdoğan described a corruption probe involving former ministers of his government as a “treacherous plot” to sabotage Turkey’s international standing during his speech at an annual gathering of ambassadors in Ankara on Jan. 15 and ordered Turkish ambassadors serving abroad to “tell the truth” to their foreign interlocutors.

Without openly naming it, Erdoğan has accused the Hizmet movement led by Turkish Islamic scholar Gülen and its foreign collaborators of attempting to overthrow his government through a “judicial coup” ever since the corruption probe that shook his government became public on Dec. 17, 2013 with a wave of detentions.

Noting that the Hizmet movement receives support, interest and praise from many corners of the world, Yıldız called for a stop to all efforts to defame the Hizmet movement.

Source: Todays Zaman , January 28, 2014


Related News

Turkish cleric demands fatwa to amputate hands, feet of Gülen followers

Turkish cleric Nurettin Yıldız demanded a fatwa from Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate suggesting that supporters of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who is accused by the Turkish government and Erdoğan of masterminding a failed coup in July, be executed, their opposing hands and feet be amputated or be exiled instead of keeping them in prisons.

Turkish authorities use charges of terrorism to silence free speech

Journalists in Turkey are being charged with “being involved in terrorist activities” and “endangering state security” to justify the current crackdown on the media, as this is the only legitimate way for Turkish leadership to silence and censor dissident voices while shielding themselves from being seen as infringers on the freedom of speech and expression, unambiguously protected under international law.

Global Dignity Day marked in Turkey

The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) organized a number of activities in Turkey to mark the Annual Global Dignity Day, which is celebrated with Global Dignity-led events around the world with the participation of 350.000 young people across 50 countries.

EP says Erdoğan’s ‘treason’ accusation ‘totally unacceptable’

Two of the most senior politicians of the European Parliament (EP) have strongly criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “treason” remarks against the Taraf daily and its reporter Mehmet Baransu, calling the prime minister’s comments unacceptable. Hannes Swoboda, the leader of the second-largest group in the EP, said he was “gravely concerned” by Erdoğan’s remarks and the subsequent cases filed against the daily and its reporter Baransu.

Islamic scholar Gülen says Turkey’s graft scandal can’t be covered up

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has said a recent graft scandal that has rocked Turkey for nearly five weeks cannot be covered up despite massive efforts by the authorities to weather it down and crush those who speak out on the matter.

[Political Scandal a la Turca] What is happening in Turkey right at this moment?

Responding to the allegation that the Hizmet community is behind the investigation, and to a broader one suggesting that the Hizmet movement is fighting the AKP government, both Mr. Gülen himself and the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), based in İstanbul, denied any such motivation or involvement. Furthermore, they invited the state authorities to prove those allegations, and take legal action if any evidence is found substantiating them. Mr. Gülen’s lawyer condemned and rejected the allegations as an attempt to divert public attention away from the massive bribery scandal and defame his client.

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

Fethullah Gulen: I am not hiding and not on the run

Ex-FM Yakış defends Turkish schools as the torch bearer of Ottoman vision

Fethullah Gulen – a humanist par excellence

Pro-gov’t troll says sympathizers of Gülen movement should be ‘wiped out’

Kenya Embassy Donates Food & Warm Clothes to Syrian Refugees

Conspiratorial minds, authoritarian politics

Doğan: Gülen stood against anti-cemevi campaigns

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News