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

Parents criticize gov’t-led police raids on educational institutions

A number of parents staged a protest on Friday against raids police carried out by the police on Thursday as part of a government-led operation against 26 private schools and educational institutions in Kahramanmaraş province that are inspired by the Gülen movement, a faith-based civil society movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

28th Abant Meeting “Diverse Perspectives on Turkey” to be held in February 2013

Turkey’s foremost civil intellectual forum, Abant Platform‘s workshop on “Diverse Perspectives on Turkey,” will be held in February 8-10, 2013 in Abant, Bolu. The Abant Platform is founded as an intellectual forum by the Journalists and Writers Foundation to promote democratic engagement for expanding social consensus and the coexistence of society’s rich cultural resources within […]

HRW: 6 Turks taken from Kosovo to Turkey face risk of torture and abuse

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, on Saturday tweeted that six Turkish nationals who were arrested by Kosovar police on Thursday and apparently spirited out of the country by Turkish intelligence later in the day would face the risk of torture and abuse in Turkey.

Monday Talk with Michael Rubin on Trump, Iran and Turkey

There is a rule-of-law in the United States and a process which the president simply does not have the power to short-circuit. If Gulen is turned over, however, I suspect relations will get worse because the extradition will convince Erdogan that blackmail and bluster work.

It is unfair, unjust and politically motivated to incriminate the Gulen Movement

As a reader of Gulen’s thinking and a keen observer of the movement, I am convinced that they are aware of the viability of multiple approaches to resolve our global issues as well as the locally troubling scenarios. So to accuse and incriminate a movement that is based on the Islamic notion of hizmet (service) of a coup to topple a civilian rule is unfair, unjust and politically motivated for all practical reasons.

Turkish woman returned to prison with newborn 4 days after birth

Hatice Şahnaz, in pretrial detention on charges of alleged links to the Gülen movement, was put back behind bars in southern Turkey a few days after delivering a baby.

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

Principles of Gulen Inspired Schools – Boarding Schools

EU anti-terror chief: Gülen network not terrorist organization

Fethullah Gulen’s Maxim: Live So That Others May Live

Already feeling unsafe in Turkey

Critical journalist Ilıcak fired from pro-government daily Sabah

Turkish schools hold 4th annual Bengali Olympics

Real Islam can eliminate radical groups in Islamic world, say analysts

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News