Turkey’s Internet watchdog blocks access to website broadcasting Gülen’s speeches

A screen shot from herkul.org shows a video featuring Gülen. (Photo: Today's Zaman)
A screen shot from herkul.org shows a video featuring Gülen. (Photo: Today's Zaman)


Date posted: February 12, 2016

Turkey’s state-controlled Internet watchdog, the Telecommunications Directorate (TİB), has blocked access to herkul.org, a website that regularly broadcasts speeches by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Turkish users could not access the website on Thursday but met with a notification saying TİB imposed a “protection measure” for the website based on a decision taken by the İstanbul 7th Penal Court of Peace on Thursday.

The website’s editor, Osman Şimşek, condemned the ban on Twitter. “Access to our herkul.org website was blocked by a court decision. Now it will not be able to build bridges among our hearts… God is generous!” he tweeted.

The move comes amid increasing pressure on the Gülen movement inspired by Gülen.

Since Turkey’s largest-ever corruption investigation was made public on Dec. 17, 2013, following police operations in the homes and offices of people from the inner circle of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), then-Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Party leadership have accused sympathizers of the Gülen movement, especially those in the police forces and judiciary, of plotting to overthrow the government. The movement strongly rejects the allegations brought against it.

Since the scandal, a number of business groups, media outlets, aid organizations, civil society organizations, universities, private schools and prep schools that were established by people sympathetic to the Gülen movement have been targeted by government-orchestrated police raids and investigations.

Erdoğan has openly announced on several occasions since December 2013 that he would carry out a “witch hunt” against anyone with links to the movement. He has also ordered officials in AK Party-run municipalities to seize land and buildings belonging to institutions that are linked to the Gülen movement by any means necessary.

Source: Today's Zaman , February 11, 2016

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Purge accelerates Islamist radicalization in Turkey

The ongoing purge leaves no room for doubt that the Turkish government is ready to go to any lengths to eliminate the Gülen movement. The current rise in homegrown Islamist radicalization is another sign that Turkey’s social fabric is undergoing a noxious change. The major effect of this change has been damage to the traditional mainstream understanding of Islam in Turkey.

Islamic scholar Gülen rejects involvement with graft probe and wiretappings

“If among those who conducted the graft investigations were some people who might be connected to the Hizmet movement, was I supposed to tell these people, ‘Turn a blind eye to the corruption charges?’ It appears to me that some people were expecting me to do this. Did they expect me to do this? How can I say something that would ruin my afterlife? How else can I act?” Fethullah Gülen said.

Who staged a coup against whom on Dec. 17?

When its involvement in corruption and bribery became public, and that this seemed like the tip of an iceberg, the government thought that it must cover up the subsequent investigation, fearing that yet more investigations would be started — and so crushed the police force and the judiciary like a steamroller.

Criminal complaint filed against media organizations publishing Gülen’s speeches

An organization called the Law and Democracy Foundation which was established by lawyer Mehmet Ali Canlı, a Justice and Development Party (AK Party) hopeful in the June 7 general election, on Wednesday filed a criminal complaint against media organizations that publish the speeches of Fethullah Gülen, a renowned Islamic scholar.

Gov’t attack on Bank Asya taints Turkey’s image

Attempts by the Turkish government to sink Bank Asya have tainted Turkey’s image, according to French-based Institute for Research on the International Economy expert Deniz Ünal, speaking to the Cihan news agency.

Turkish gov’t planning slaughter of jailed Gülen followers in staged riot, lawyer claims

The Turkish government is headed for mass killings of people jailed over alleged or real links to the Gülen movement, in a staged riot in Silivri prison, a lawyer representing a former police chief imprisoned as part of a crackdown against the movement claimed, underlining that he is worried about the lives of his clients.

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

Niagara Foundation Ohio Award Ceremony gathers a large attendance

Rising Value of Turkey: ‘The Gülen Movement’

When paths part…

Filipina, infant freed from Turkish jail, but…

Atlantic Institute promotes peace through dialogue

First female chairwoman appointed at Kimse Yok Mu

Niagara Foundation Michigan bestows 2013 Peace and Dialogue Awards

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News