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

Canadian Globe Editorial- It just gets worse in Turkey

We can reasonably hope that there won’t be any large-scale bloody purges, Stalin-style. But Turkey is likely to grow further away from Europe. The convenient travel visas to the rest of Europe, which many Turks have hoped for, may be a long time away.

Japanese journalists express concern over Turkish gov’t pressure on critical media

A group of Japanese journalists who came together with their Turkish colleagues at the Turkey-Japan Media Forum last week in Tokyo expressed shock at the pressure placed on independent media outlets by the Turkish government while speaking about the violation of media freedoms in Turkey.

EP’s Rebecca Harms Visited Turkish Educator Çabuk In Georgian Prison

Rebecca Harms, a member of the European Parliament and co-president of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly visited Mustafa Emre Çabuk, a Turkish school administrator who was arrested by Georgian authorities last year at the request of the Turkish government, on Thursday according to her post on her Twitter account.

Police chiefs removed in four provinces across Turkey

The purges are thought to be an attempt to remove those the government believes are members of the Hizmet movement from public sector jobs.

Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gülen

As evidenced by the findings I briefly described, there is a great contradiction. Those who criticize Gülen argue that he is a pro-Shariah Muslim, but he is also a hidden cardinal, extreme nationalist or an agent at the same time.

AFSV Statement on Media and Business Crackdown

The Alliance for Shared Values denounces the politically-motivated raids on Koza Ipek holding group, publisher of opposition Bugun daily, as well as the arrest of two British journalists and their translator. These disgraceful actions by President Erdogan and his oligarchy are aimed at silencing independent media in preparation for upcoming November elections, and at deflecting criticism resulting from massive government corruption, nepotism and failure to accept election defeat.

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

Tamsil: The inadvertent overspill of internalization

Turkish minister: Gülen movement is worse than Nazis

Turkish American Society Builds Bridges

Turkish opposition deputy: Women jailed with children are treated like enemies

PKK terrorists set dorm on fire, one student injured

Only the people of the land can create a spring, GYV President Yeşil says

Turkey could find itself facing hefty legal bill for mass purges

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News