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

One of his sons is with the PKK, the other is with the Gulen movement

As PKK terrorist organization burns the schools in southeastern Turkey, the question “Where is the Government?” has arisen. A father’s school preference for his son, located in the city of Batman has started a debate. The remarks of a father, who has a son with the PKK terrorist organization and another son in Gulen movement […]

Election results and the Hizmet movement

Unlike the perception that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tried to create, with the help of tremendous media power, the contention in the run-up to the elections was never between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Hizmet movement (or the so-called foreign forces that colluded with it).

Gülen says abusive language to cover up sins is hypocrisy

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has strongly criticized abusive language and remarks within pro-government circles insulting members of the Hizmet movement, saying this kind of behavior is hypocritical and is being employed to cover up their own sins.

Turkish Olympiads Cultural Festival attended by 3 million visitors in İzmir

Nearly 3 million people attended the Cultural Festival of the 11th International Turkish Olympiads, an event celebrating the Turkish language that will bring together 2,000 students from 140 countries this year. The event, which began on Friday, was held by the Turkish Education Association (TÜRKÇEDER) and attracted considerable interest from both visitors from İzmir and […]

Champion of YGS university exam from Hizmet-affiliated FEM prep courses

The champion of this year’s Higher Education Exam (YGS) university entrance examination, Oğuz Türkyılmaz, who prepared for the exam with the Hizmet movement-affiliated FEM University Preparation School in Malatya, says he owes most of his success to his prep school teachers.

GYV: PM’s discriminatory rhetoric undermines social peace

Arguments and discriminatory rhetoric used by the prime minister against the Hizmet movement spoil the emotional well-being of our people; undermine social peace and prepare the groundwork for violence by sowing the seeds of hatred in society, the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) said in a forceful statement published on its website on Thursday.

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

Terrorist PKK targets Gulen movement’s schools in Hakkari

Esposito urges Muslims to integrate better to defeat Islamophobia

Culture Day Celebrated In The Turkish Schools

Foreign students express bewilderment over gov’t bid to close Turkish schools

Exiled Turks Fleeing Erdogan Find New Lives in Greece

Woman, 5-month-old son under custody after visiting husband in prison

Turkish NGO Kimse Yok Mu handed over 296 houses for flood affectees

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News