Human rights group urges foreign gov’ts to ensure safety of Gülen followers


Date posted: December 28, 2017

Virginia-based human rights organization Advocates of Silenced Turkey (AST) in a piece on HuffPost has called on foreign governments to ensure the safety of participants of the Gülen, or Hizmet, movement.

Followers of the faith-based Gülen movement have been the main target of the Turkish government’s recently engaging in “illegal extraterritorial and extrajudicial actions … to silence dissidents in other countries from various ideologies,” said AST.

The movement, inspired by Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, has been accused by the Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of orchestrating a failed coup in July 2016, an allegation strongly denied by Gülen.

A December report issued by the group states that “even though actions of the Turkish government against dissidents including the Gulen Movement are not appreciated by many countries around the world, there are some states who are in cooperation with Turkey neglecting human rights and fundamental freedoms,” citing the illegal detention and sometimes deportation of movement followers in Afghanistan, Sudan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Georgia, Myanmar and Malaysia.

“What is common in all these countries mentioned above is that human rights violations and corruption have already been a pattern and part of the government culture. It is safe to analyze that Erdogan Government tends to infiltrate the government bodies of these countries bribing the local officials and politicians,” says AST.

“In conclusion, AST urges foreign governments to take all the necessary steps to ensure safety to these people before it is too late. ‘Security officers must be aware of the potential risks. Officials working for the government abroad must be watched closely, they must be prevented if they are in preparation of any harm. Lastly, both individuals and organizations that are deemed to be Hizmet participants must be provided extra protection when there is an imminent risk targeting them’,” AST concludes in its report.

Source: Turkish Minute , December 18, 2017

Tags: | |


Related News

Al-Nusra Claims Responsibility For Murder Of Russian Ambassador, Warns Of More Attacks

The Jabhat Fatah al-Sham organization (formerly the al-Nusra Front) claimed to be responsible for Monday’s murder of Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov’s in Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu had even told his US counterpart John Kerry that both Turkey and Russia “know” that the Gulen movement was behind the ambassador’s murder.

Students, Parents Protest Over Afghan-Turk Schools’ Transfer To Maarif Foundation

Parents of the Afghan-Turk school students took out to the Kabul streets on Saturday to protest the government’s decision over banning a schools’ activity and transferring the schools, which have been affiliated with the Gülen movement, to the controversial Islamist Maarif Foundation.

Another ‘coup suspect’ found dead in Turkish prison, bringing total to 21

At least 21 people have reportedly committed suicide either after they were imprisoned over ties to the movement or after being linked to the movement outside prison. The relatives of most of them claim that the detainees are not the kind of people to commit suicide, shedding doubt on the official narrative. Rumours also have it that some of the detainees were killed after being subjected to torture under custody.

AK Party gov’t treats critical letters, columns as ‘treachery’

In an attempt to defame the Hizmet movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, the Turkish government and its media outlets have presented letters sent by civil society representatives affiliated with the faith-based movement to foreign officials providing them with information about the situation in Turkey as “treachery.”

Peshawar High Court halts government order to deport Pak-Turk school staff

Petitioner counsel Qazi Muhammad Anwar argued that all the Turkish teachers are very peaceful people who have committed no crime in Turkey as well as here in Pakistan.” He prayed the bench to suspend the federal government’s notice and stop deportation of the Turkish teachers and their families. The bench accepted the request and restrained the deportation of Pak-Turk schools’ staff.

Gov’t closes schools instead of resolving education problems

The Ministry of Education and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government have been focusing on closing down private prep schools for university preparation (dershanes) and Turkish schools abroad instead of spending its energy on resolving critical problems in the Turkish education system, experts say.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Turkish anti-terrorism police carried out raids in six cities, detaining at least five people with alleged links to al-Qaida

The Gulen schools are signposts to a silent transformation in Turkey

Zaman University in Cambodia: a candle in the darkness

Fethullah Gulen: Killing of Russian envoy ‘heinous act’

Turkish Syriac Catholic patriarch launches ‘Fruits of Dialogue’

Turkey’s New Constitution Would End Its Democracy

A word on the power of the Fethullah Gulen-followers

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News