UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on Gülen and the Hizmet Movement


Date posted: December 6, 2016

Foreign Affairs Committee Inquiry into UK’s relations with Turkey: hearing session on on Gülen and the Hizmet

The UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee is examining the bilateral relationship between the UK and Turkey, focusing on rights and freedoms as well as how Turkish foreign and security policies relate to those of the UK. The inquiry is ongoing. The Committee inquiry will cover topics such as the current state of UK-Turkey relations, and the FCO’s recent record in managing this relationship; the status in Turkey of the rights and values supported by the FCO, including freedom of speech and assembly, minority rights, and the status of democracy; Turkey’s aspirations to join the EU and how that is impacted by Brexit; Turkey’s foreign and security policies in the Middle East, and how these correspond with FCO policies in the region; Turkey’s policies towards different Kurdish groups, both with Turkey itself and the wider region; and Turkey’s role as a NATO partner to the UK, including its capabilities in the fight against ISIL. The Committee will also consider recent developments in Turkey such as the failed coup of July 2016 and the declaration of a state of emergency, which gives President Erdogan enhanced powers for an additional three months, which has implications for Turkey’s democracy and human rights. Since the Turkish government have sought to justify their crackdown on human rights and democracy on the pretext of eradicating the Fethullah Gülen-inspired Hizmet movement, the Committee invited participants of the Hizmet movement in the US and UK to address the allegations. The following hearing is the outcome of this invitation. Written evidence was also submitted to the Committee before this oral hearing and can be accessed here.

The hearing was held on Tuesday, 15 November 2016 and without the intermissions, lasted 1:07 hr. The witnesses were: Dr Yüksel Alp Aslandoğan, Executive Director, Alliance for Shared Values, and Mr Özcan Keleş, Chairman, Dialogue Society.

For the original source please click visit: Parliament Live Tv

Source: Youtube , December 1, 2016


Related News

The Scale of Turkey’s Purge Is Nearly Unprecedented

Only rarely in modern history has a leader detained and fired as many perceived adversaries as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has since a failed coup attempt last month. Here is how Mr. Erdogan’s vast purge would look if Americans were targeted at a similar scale.

Erdoğan admits calling Habertürk executive to change reporting during Gezi protests

Erdoğan’s interference in a news channel’s reporting by instructing a top manager at the channel to immediately remove a news ticker, an act exposed by a voice recording, has been met with serious criticism from several political parties as well as society.

Caretaker AK Party gov’t criticized for police operation against youth association

The Yağmur Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Association, which was founded in 2013 by Ahmet Turhan, the Balıkesir governor of the time, has been giving Quran lessons to 60 children during Ramadan.

Turkish business suffers under Erdogan’s post-coup Gulen purge

Critics of the ruling AKP expect it to sell Gulen-linked companies to government allies in the business world at a large discount. In mid-October the AKP-linked Metro Holding applied to the TMSF to acquire all of Koza Ipek Holding’s shares. Akin Ipek, the fugitive former owner of the conglomerate, asked on Twitter how Koza Ipek’s $600 million in cash and $20 billion in mining assets could be acquired by a comparatively unimpressive entity. Metro Holding’s capital comes to just over $95 million.

Written Evidence to UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Hizmet

The Alliance for Shared Values of the US & The Dialogue Platform of the UK have prepared a report on “UK’s relations with Turkey” that focuses on the Hizmet Movement. The report may be downloaded, disseminated for free and even printed. Representatives from these organizations were personally invited to submit written evidence by the Committee to explain Hizmet and provide Hizmet’s response to the AKP government’s allegations against Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement.

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.

Latest News

Sacramento leaders gather for Iftar dinner in celebration of Ramadan

SEO Skill Suite: Tools for Keyword Research, Technical & Backlink Analysis

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

In Case You Missed It

Culture Day Celebrated In The Turkish Schools

The mother of all wars

The Alliance for Shared Values Statement on Ankara Attacks

Kimse Yok Mu provides water to 50,000 people in Pakistan

Astonishing questions about the failed coup attempt in Turkey

Turkish students win most awards at int’l math contest

The Hizmet movement, social democracy, the religious left

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News