Van NGOs: Calling Hizmet movement ‘virus’ and ‘hashhashin’ unnaceptable


Date posted: January 27, 2014

VAN
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active in the eastern province of Van said in a press conference that the tension experienced in Turkey recently has ruined the country and that any remarks or behavior against the Hizmet movement will not be tolerated.

Twenty NGOs operating in Van have also stated that labels such as “virus, “hashhashin” and “gang” should not be associated with people and organizations serving the country.

In mid-January, when speaking about those he accuses of orchestrating the ongoing government corruption investigation, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke about members of a group who are like “hashhashins.” His thinly veiled reference was aimed at Islamic scholar Fetullah Gülen‘s Hizmet movement.

Addressing the press conference on behalf of twenty NGOs, İskender Sezek, general secretary of the Van Active Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (VASİAD) said that likening the followers of the Hizmet movement to a historic group of assassins is an attempt to disgrace the Hizmet movement. “The Hizmet movement is being targeted and labeled as a parallel state, a gang, a virus, a secret organization and a group of hashhashins without presenting any legal information nor documentation and without any legal basis. A black campaign is being led about the Hizmet movement via all kinds of lies and slander by various media outlets, which totally undermines the journalism criteria,” Sezek said.

Sezek acknowledged that businesspersons affiliated with the Hizmet movement are being pressured by arbitrary threats from the regime and the licenses of some businesses are being abandoned. Sezek also said that the state is leaving some banks in difficult situation.

“Some officials and bureaucrats considered to be part of the Hizmet movement have been blacklisted without any legal justification. Educational institutions abroad, working to introduce Turkey to foreign countries where there aren’t even Turkish embassies, have been shut down despite their efforts to popularize our country among people who have no idea about Turkey,” Sezek said. He added that despite all of the closures, people have continued to be voluntary ambassadors of Turkish culture overseas.

Source: Todays Zaman , January 26, 2014

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Turkey – Baby with Down syndrome suffers major health problems in absence of jailed parents

A 15-month-old baby with Down syndrome, Ayşe Sena Bunlu, has been suffering from serious health problems ever since her parents, both of whom are police officers, were purged from their posts and jailed in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, according to a story in the Tr724 news portal on Friday.

Hiring based on ‘color lists’ a violation of Constitution, analysts say

A public sector employee selection process using personal data to create “color lists” that profiled and separated the candidates into acceptable and non-acceptable categories, as was recently maintained by the Taraf daily, is a violation of the Constitution, analysts have agreed.

Headlines or weapons of mass destruction?

Despite the fact that there is no evidence for parallel state structure accusations, the pro-government media has acted as a propaganda machine to demonize the Hizmet movement through smear campaigns.

Five global challenges: how might Hizmet respond?

Hizmet, the social movement inspired by the neo-Sufi thinker Fetullah Gülen, is currently being dismembered by the autocratic president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He accuses Gülen of ordering a coup attempt on 15th July 2016, saying it was was led by Hizmet members in the army.

Wiretapped recordings erased on orders of new police chief

Earlier this year, claims emerged in the media that police officials in the Diyarbakır Police Department who are members of the Hizmet movement carried out a number of illegal wiretaps since 2008. The prosecutor, unconvinced by the police department’s response, began to examine the circumstances surrounding the whereabouts of the recordings. He questioned several police officers from the department and found that the recordings had been erased on the order of Police Chief Halis Böğürcü, who was appointed head of the Diyarbakır Police Department in early January.

Sakarya court orders stay of execution on closure of Fatih Koleji

The Sakarya Administrative Court on Friday issued a stay of execution on the closure decision for Fatih Koleji, a Hizmet-affiliated school that has been running in the Beyköy district of Düzce province, saying that the school is allowed to continue to operate in the 2014-2015 education period.

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

GYV summit highlights link between education, sustainable development

Turkey’s Unethical Interference in American (Muslim) Civic Society is Dangerous

Turkish trade’s center of gravity shifting in TUSKON bridges

2017 model bigotry: Defamation of Jews and Gulen movement in Turkey

Turkish Schools Struggle to Exist in Afghanistan

Fethullah Gülen’s Statement on the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

Buhari’s wife hails culture

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News