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

Gülen’s solution to Kurdish issue discussed at panel

A solution to the Kurdish issue proposed by Turkish religious figure Fethullah Gülen has been discussed at a symposium in the southeastern province of Bingöl. Prof. Cengiz Yıldız spoke at the “Kurds from Ottoman to Today” symposium and gave a presentation describing a solution to the Kurdish issue as put forward by Gülen, daily Zaman […]

In Turkey today, mother who delivered baby yesterday detained

Fadime Günay, who delivered a baby yesterday has been detained today. Although she was in hospital to give birth, police awaited at the hospital to detain her. She was brought to the courthouse with her one-day-old baby and her mother.

9 Months imprisonment for hate crimes against Gülen Movement in Germany

Hakan Koçak was sentenced to 9 months’ imprisonment due to insulting and threatening the volunteers of the Hizmet Movement in Nürnberg, Germany. The judge also told Kocak long-term advice and explained that Germany is a constitutional state.

The next phase in Turkey’s political violence – third and coming coup could be the most violent

It has now been almost three months since the failed coup in Turkey. The events of July 15 were predictable, but they nevertheless mark a watershed in modern Turkish history. Still, it would be a mistake to view the coup as a single event. Turkey actually experienced two coups, but it will be the third and coming coup which could be the most violent and might very well cost Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan his life.

Damage assessment report for Erdoğan

The wounds Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is suffering as a result of a war waged against the Gülen movement in connection with the corruption and bribery probe are becoming clear. Whether or not Erdoğan has become more authoritarian is now less debatable; it is a concrete fact rather than a perception.

Will Turkish corruption scandal lead to return of military to politics?

The tactics the government has developed to defend itself against the graft investigations and their implications have once again brought the role of the military, military tutelage and potential coup attempts back onto Turkey’s agenda.

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

Gov’t ban on charity Kimse Yok Mu hits orphans

Turkish Cleric, Accused in Coup Plot, Calls Crackdown ‘Dark Pages’ in History

Turkish opposition: Enquiry against Gülen politically motivated

Turkey’s first private Arabic station starts to broadcast

Kimse Yok Mu volunteer doctors back from Central African Republic

Politics and communities

Hizmet, Erdoğan and the US

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News