Minister says ‘parallel state’ claims not realistic, cites lack of evidence


Date posted: January 27, 2014

İSTANBUL
A minister has rejected claims of a “parallel state” as “not very realistic,” citing a lack of evidence and document to back up the oft-cited claims frequently voiced by the prime minister and government officials.

Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazıcı told reporters on Saturday in the Black Sea town of Rize that there is a lack of evidence to substantiate claims of a “parallel state,” recalling the government’s motto of “one state, one flag, one homeland, one nation.”

As a far-reaching corruption scandal has shaken the roots of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, with three ministers resigning from their posts over allegations of bribery and tender rigging, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has struck a defiant tone, deeming the graft probe an international plot to weaken his ruling party and Turkey.

With the probe widening, some journalists affiliated with the ruling AK Party — along with the prime minister and government officials — have labeled the Hizmet movement an organization within the state, a “parallel state.”

“In these lands, there can never be a parallel structure along with the state but some people are said to be involved in parallel implementation [of their duty] within the state’s administrative scheme. This could be said. I think considering these as a parallel state is not very realistic. This cannot happen because there is only one state. There are claims that there are parallel workings within the state’s administrative scheme considering the recent events. These all of course should be unearthed with evidence and documents. If such a [parallel state] is spotted, we all will see it together,” Yazıcı told reporters, according to a text provided by the private Cihan news agency.

Source: Todays Zaman , January 26, 2014

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Global Muslim networks: How far they have travelled

IT IS a long way from the Anatolian plains to a campus in the heart of London, where eminent scholars of religion deliver learned papers. And the highlands that used to form the Soviet border with China, an area where bright kids long for an education, seem far removed from a three-storey house in Pennsylvania, […]

Turkey Should Protect All Prisoners from Pandemic

Terrorism may sound like the gravest of offenses, but in Turkey, the government misuses the charge for political ends. Many inmates are placed in lengthy pretrial detention or sentenced without evidence.

Silencing Taraf daily

The liberal Taraf daily, where I write a column, is one of the few independent newspapers in this country. Those who don’t know the Turkish media well need to know that media outlets are largely owned by private holdings which have close ties to the government. Thus, Turkish newspapers need to consider whether their reporting would harm their bosses’ business connections with the government.

Mysteries, and a Crackdown, Persist a Year After a Failed Coup in Turkey

Mr. Erdogan’s own statements have also raised questions about the sequence of events. In an account posted on the president’s website, Mr. Erdogan said he was first warned of unusual military activity at 4:30 p.m. by his brother-in-law. He tried to contact Mr. Fidan and Mr. Akar around 5 p.m., he said but was unable to reach either of them.

Turkey seizes billions of dollars worth 691 companies over alleged ties to Gülen movement

The state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) has announced that a total of 691 companies, some of whose assets are worth billions of dollars, have been seized by the government due to alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement. The government has been confiscating the private property of non-loyalist businesspeople without due process on unsubstantiated charges of terrorist links.

AK Party İstanbul head: Purge in state institutions began long before

Maintaining that the reassignment of thousands of people in the police force and dozens in the judiciary since the breaking of the corruption probe, in which four former ministers of the AK Party have also been implicated, should not be considered routine reassignments, Babuşcu said

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

Will Turkish corruption scandal lead to return of military to politics?

The Gülen Movement and Turkish Soft Power*

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

‘Fethullah Gülen and Today’s World’ to be a reference book in Eurasia

Pak–Turk cooperation: Turkish NGO to support free eye surgeries

Forget about the gentleman living in Pennsylvania, US tells Ankara

Internship opportunities at Rumi Forum

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News