PM’s son: Dad, let’s initiate an operation against Hizmet’s senior members


Date posted: March 18, 2014

İSTANBUL

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son Bilal allegedly urged his father to trigger an operation to detain prominent figures of the Hizmet movement in response to an ongoing graft and bribery investigation implicating Erdoğan, his family members and a number of ministers and businessmen close to him.

An audio recording uploaded onto YouTube by Twitter user Başçalan (Prime Thief) purportedly has Erdoğan talking to his son to arrange a time to meet and assess their measures in reaction to the investigation. A voice allegedly belonging to Bilal is heard telling his father that he is not sure whether to say it over the phone or not, but that he thinks an operation against the Hizmet movement is “a must,” adding that “their big guns [higher-ups] should be prosecuted.” Erdoğan replies, “Anyway, son, don’t go there now, stop.”

Despite the prime ministers words, his son continues, “It is of no use to [only] dismiss or change the positions of police chiefs, prosecutors and so on.” An intro text accompanying the audio claims that Bilal was panicked over the impending possibility of arrest for his involvement in a number of illegal practices.

Several previously leaked phone conversations purportedly between Erdoğan and Bilal implicate them rushing to “zero” money stashed at Bilal and other family members’ homes on the morning of Dec. 17, when a graft scandal erupted. The money allegedly amounted to $1 billion cash in US dollars and euros.

The conversations between the prime minister and his son show a lot of effort on Bilal’s part to get rid of the money. In one of these wiretapped phone calls, Bilal tells his father that they had decided to distribute the money to several businessmen to whom they owe money, effectively liquidating a significant part of it by paying for a number of different projects.

Source: Todays Zaman , March 18, 2014


Related News

EU and Turkey’s rights abuse

How did Turkey plunge into this mess of freedom suffocation, and what has really gone wrong with the once-admired President Erdogan ? While I keep pondering on these questions, I believe it is not too late for the Turkish government to retrace its steps and embrace full democratic norms.

Smear campaign websites cleared while targeted journalists accused

The smear campaign websites have made accusations and lies and committed libel in order to defame journalists who work in media outlets close to the Hizmet movement as well as those critical of the government.

Too Good to Be True

Emre Celik When was the last time you heard that? I’ve heard it a few times — here’s the story. I am now in my fifth year in Washington, D.C., having immigrated from Australia. Here I have had the pleasure and responsibility of presiding over the Rumi Forum, an organization dedicated to interfaith and intercultural […]

Abant Africa forum: Freedom of Speech and Respect to Sacred

Abant Platform and African Union Commission are jointly organizing an International Forum titled “Freedom of Speech and Respect to Sacred” on 8-9 March, 2014 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Sessions will be in the form of free discussions in the spirit of the Abant Platform. The program will be held at the Large Conference Hall of the African Union Commission Headquarters.

Setting the facts straight on the Gülen movement

25 April 2012 / JAMES C. HARRINGTON Much of what Dan Bilefsky and Şebnem Arsu’s recent article in the International Herald Tribune (“Shadow Force Grows in Turkey,” published on April 18 describes about Fethullah Gülen and Turkey’s recent history is accurate, but the authors cast a shadow of innuendo and loose conclusions, apparently more driven […]

The Guardian view on Turkey’s repression: stop this stalemate

Turkey’s western allies are alarmed, but against a complex geopolitical backdrop, they have chosen discretion rather than valour. After the EU parliament last week voted to freeze EU accession talks with Turkey, Mr Erdoğan lashed out by threatening to open the country’s borders to migrants heading to Europe. This is tantamount to blackmail.

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

Ramadan Tent brings faiths together in Virginia

Turkish Charity in Virginia send 30 thousand blankets to Syrian refugees

Turkey pledges to help rebuild Bosnia after floods

Bridge-building in ‘enemy country’ – Story of a Turkish asylum seeker in Greece

Austrian President Fischer receives Turkish Language Olympiads team

Parents of Nigerian-Turkish International College students decry call to close schools

Turkey’s Erdogan and ISIS’ new breeding ground

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News