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

Fethullah Gulen denies ties to attempted coup in Turkey

As a wave of violence washed over Turkey, President Erdogan pointed the finger of blame to Fethullah Gulen. In a rare interview with CNN’s

Escape from Turkey’s parallel reality

As a law-abiding citizen, I knew I had done nothing wrong to be stopped at the border. But in Turkey being a journalist from Zaman media group was enough for me to be considered an “enemy of the state.” And I was the editor-in-chief of Today’s Zaman which had been brutally taken over a few days earlier, earning me a suspended jail sentence for my tweets criticizing then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

Government drags military into politics

There are now serious question marks over whether the government orchestrated the operations at TİB to libel Hizmet for wiretapping with the aim of diverting attention from the separate spying case under way in Ankara and saving those uniformed men from facing judicial scrutiny over charges of spying.

Tanzanian students place first in Turkish Olympiad folk dance final

KÜBRA ENGİN, İSTANBUL A group of Tanzanian students won the final round in the 11th International Turkish Olympiad folk dance competition held at the İstanbul Sinan Erdem Sports Complex on Thursday night. Thousands of spectators were thrilled by the performances of foreign students in the folk dance finals as part of the Olympiad, a competition […]

Hakan Şükür’s resignation

The resignation of İstanbul deputy Hakan Şükür from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is not an ordinary resignation. It is the most serious incident that disrupts the prestige of the AK Party in the eyes of pious voters.
Şükür’s statement about his resignation must be carefully studied. This statement explains the Hizmet movement’s perspective regarding the recent row between the government and the Hizmet community for the first time and with a clear wording.

Guest post: Turkey and the problem of political continuity

Erdogan has not only replaced thousands of suspected Gulenists in the police force and the judiciary. He has also sought, with mixed results, to make the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors directly accountable to the government.

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

Case of Calgary imam accused of plotting failed coup in Turkey will remain in limbo

Body of Turkish woman fleeing to Greece found weeks after boat capsized

German intelligence did not warn against Hizmet Movement

Turkey’s New Constitution Would End Its Democracy

Should We Send A Man We Know Is Innocent To His Death Abroad?

Kenyan president hails Gülen-inspired schools in his country

Conference declares gov’t needs to be more active in preventing domestic violence

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News