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

Mr. Gülen’s felicitous advice on Kurdish issue, freedoms

BÜLENT KENEŞ The interview Mr. Fethullah Gülen, a well-respected Turkish-Islamic scholar, gave to Rudaw, an online newspaper in northern Iraq’s Arbil, resounded powerfully in the Turkish media. I must note that it would be wrong to analyze the views Mr. Gülen expressed in this interview within the scope of the developments that have occurred in the wake of […]

Turkish schools are being closed down

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu stated he had ordered the closure of Turkish schools in 160 countries, arguing that the officials of those schools had sent letters to the leaders of foreign countries in which they complained about the Turkish government. The closure of these schools is a serious step, but the reason for the closure is not based on real evidence.

US intel director: Turkish purge impeding fight against ‘Islamic State’

Turkey’s purge has removed military officers who’d been key figures in the US-led fight against the so-called “Islamic State,” says US intelligence head James Clapper. He called it a setback in US-Turkish cooperation.

PM’s order echoes 2004 MGK decision [to undermine the Gulen Movement]

The prime minister’s order that Turkish ambassadors “tell the truth” to their foreign interlocutors about the corruption probe has brought to mind a controversial National Security Council (MGK) document indicating that Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) agreed to a planned crackdown on the Hizmet movement led by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen in 2004.

To escape from Turkey, they told their children it was a game

A Turkish family that was victimized by a government purge of the Gülen movement following a failed coup in July 2016 has fled to Greece in an inflatable boat, telling their children it was a “game,” Euronews reported on Tuesday.

CSOs slam ongoing black propaganda against Hizmet movement

The Law and Democracy Platform, which includes 60 CSOs in İzmir province, held a press conference to protest the polarizing language used by government officials. The representative of the platform, Ömer Mustafa Aytekin, said there have been very unpleasant developments that risk democracy and the rule of law in Turkey.

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

Georgetown University in Qatar professor authors book on interfaith dialogue, Hizmet Movement

Kimse Yok Mu establishes 16 water wells in Cameroon

Inability to generate values

Azerbaijan’s Turkish Schools celebrates 20th anniversary

Turkish Olympiads Cultural Festival attended by 3 million visitors in İzmir

Detained Gülen school director to ask for asylum to avoid extradition

Local Turks [in Chicago] fear for safety of friends, family overseas after failed coup

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News