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

What’s Friendship Got to Do With [Mr. Gulen’s] Extradition?

On a visit to Washington to lobby for Gülen’s extradition, Nationalist Action party parliamentarian Kamil Aydin expressed his belief that “America is going to refuse losing Turkey as a good partnership in the region.” But even if Turkish politicians do not believe that America operates according to the rule of law, they should at least be aware that most Americans are proud to think that it does.

Bank Asya’s corporate governance rating increases

Bank Asya, a leading Turkish financial institution, announced on Sunday that their corporate governance rating had increased in June over its score from last year.

The end of ‘unshakable’ AKP myth

For the last couple of days, the codes and rules, which have been turned upside-down by Turkey’s ruling AKP, have become hard to keep up with since the AKP was forced to fight a self-created “monster.” The option for a snap election call seems the wisest option for his party but stakes are high over there too if he fails in his traditional “victimization” rhetoric, which worked well in many previous crisis, to convince his electorate.

Destici: No one should attempt to change law to save themselves

Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Mustafa Destici, speaking about an ongoing corruption operation and the government’s response to it, said on Sunday that everyone has a responsibility to respect the laws in the country and that efforts to change the laws to protect a certain group of people from accusations are unacceptable.

What does Turkey deserve?

Once the remaining human capital exits Turkey, the country will be left to bigoted seculars and even more bigoted political Islamists. Given the shameful silence and support for the worst witch-hunt the country has ever witnessed, maybe this is what Turkey deserves: swaying between secular authoritarianism and popular Islamist dictatorship.

Police raid successful Gülen-inspired schools in western Turkey

Just after another Gülen-inspired school was raided by the police in the southern province of Gaziantep on Monday, private schools established by the volunteers from the Hizmet Movement were raided in the western province of İzmir on Tuesday morning.

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

Romania hosts 12th International Language and Culture Festival finals

Gülen says many would like to be in detained journalists’ shoes

Government [in Turkey] replaces military in defamation tactics

Turkish-Americans in Tennessee worry about their homeland

African Union and Kimse Yok Mu sign landmark agreement to further aid efforts in Africa

‘I wanted to die during torture’ – teacher speaks on 2016 coup arrest

American academic: Hizmet Movement serves for entire humanity

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News