Erdoğan calls for expanded witch hunt against Gülen followers


Date posted: June 26, 2017

Having purged more than 150,000 people from state jobs and jailed over 50,000 due to alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday called on people to inform on activities of Gülen followers, saying that if they fail to do so, they will be held responsible.

“Wherever you know of or find a member of FETÖ [a derogatory term coined by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and Erdoğan to refer to members of the Gülen movement] you will report them to us. If you do not inform us, you will held be responsible,” said Erdoğan during an event organized by the İstanbul branch of his AKP to mark Eid al-Fitr.

“We will hold those who divide the Ummah to account,” he added.

Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the AKP government along with President Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.

Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.

Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police officers and civil servants since July 15.

According to a report by the state-run Anadolu news agency on May 28, 154,694 individuals have been detained and 50,136 have been jailed due to alleged Gülen links since the failed coup attempt.

The AKP government has seized a total of 942 companies with a total value of TL 40.5 billion since the failed coup attempt, according to a statement from Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli.

The total equity capital of the seized companies is TL18.1 billion, while their combined turnover is TL 21.5 billion, according to a Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) report.

Together the seized companies employ a workforce of 44,868.

Source: Turkish Minute , June 26, 2017

Tags: | | |


Related News

Somali students caring for the Soma orphans

The Somali students who were previously brought to Soma, Manisa, for study by Kimse Yok Mu Foundation (KYM) in 2011, recently donated stationery supplies for 105 orphans the mining disaster left behind.

The tragic story of a Turkish family fleeing to Greece from persecution

When the body of the 5-year-old Aylan Kurdi was found in the Greek island of Kos in 2015, Turkish president Erdoğan said: “What has drowned in the Mediterranean is not only the refugees. Humanity has drowned in the Mediterranean Sea.” However, President Erdoğan didn’t say a word about Turkish family’s tragedy, who were fleeing from the persecution of his own regime this time.

Minister says ‘parallel state’ claims not realistic, cites lack of evidence

Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazıcı told reporters on Saturday in the Black Sea town of Rize that there is a lack of evidence to substantiate claims of a “parallel state,” recalling the government’s motto of “one state, one flag, one homeland, one nation.”

Gülen says talk of raid against Zaman aims to intimidate

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-exile in Pennsylvania, said on Thursday that the rumors of a crackdown against Hizmet movement-affiliated media is a “perception operation and aims to intimidate and oppress people.”

Victim: We are being a subject to genocide

There’s a dramatic increase spotted in the number of victims of Erdoğan’s authoritarian regime in Turkey, aimed at extermination of the followers of so-called Hizmet Movement.

The Shadow Politics of Shadow Education

It is no secret that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has grown wary of the so-called Gulen movement, a faith-based network centered on the charismatic preacher Fethullah Gulen that promotes a mild and modern understanding of Islam. Started in the 1960s, it now runs or influences, through its adherents, a large network of businesses, think tanks, newspapers and television stations — as well as a successful chain of tutorial colleges and private schools.

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

Interview with Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP, at London Premiere of Love is a Verb

Speaking Truth to Power in Turkey: An Interview with Ekrem Dumanli

Global Doctors Movement goes to Africa, performs 65 cataract surgeries

Thousands bid farewell to Turkish teacher killed in Somalia

Systematic Efforts by the Erdoğan Regime to Portray Hizmet as a Violent Organisation

Education as a Bridging Factor of All Dimensions of the Sustainable Development

Turkish charities extend helping hand during Eid al-Adha

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News