News
Lambsdorff: PM’s explanations on corruption cases were not convincing
The vice-chairman of the Liberal Group in the European Parliament, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, who represented his group in the meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday, said he was not convinced by the arguments put forward by the Turkish prime minister to explain the corruption cases which erupted on Dec. 17 and the unfolding events afterwards.
Gülen’s lawyer warns about possible doctored tapes
Lawyer Nurullah Albayrak in a written statement referred to lies and defamation about Gülen in the media which have become widespread and said Gülen’s phone calls have been illegally wiretapped. “These calls are reported in the media without taking any ethical principles into consideration,” he said, adding that it is very likely there will be edited phone calls as part of a black propaganda campaign against Gülen.
UN and Turkish charity provide 17,000 Syrian refugees with financial aid
Up to 17,000 Syrian refugees living in difficult conditions, some of them begging on the streets, outside of camps established in Turkey for Syrians will be able to benefit for two months from the project Kimse Yok Mu is conducting in cooperation with the UNHCR.
The philosophical and intellectual contest “Know Thyself” held in Bishkek
The contest aims to ensure students are informed about philosophies and civilizations of world nations and promote tolerance and dialogue among civilizations and contribute to the emergence of a generation of young intellectuals.
PM Erdoğan has one tone for Brussels, another for Turkey
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shifted his rhetoric on his official visit to Brussels, dropping talk of a “parallel state” that is trying to unseat him when addressing European Union officials and foreign journalists — although he continued his defamation campaign against the Hizmet movement in meetings where he addressed Turkish audiences.
CSOs across Turkey slam campaign under way to discredit Hizmet movement
Representatives of civil society organizations across Turkey issued press releases on Wednesday to condemn a defamation campaign targeting the Hizmet movement, a volunteer-based grassroots movement particularly working in the field of education around the world while aiming to spread interfaith dialogue inspired by Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen.
Court imposes punitive fine on author for libeling Gülen family
Mısıroğlu was found guilty of fabricating lies about Gülen’s father and grandfather in his book, “Manipulation Movements from Past to Present – 3.”
Gülen’s brothers Seyfullah and Salih Gülen and his uncle Seyfettin Gülen sued the author at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, arguing that the claims in the book are baseless and defamatory. Fethullah Gülen’s lawyers have filed a second libel suit against Mısıroğlu at the İstanbul 12th Criminal Court of First Instance.
Hizmet movement sticks to principles, AK Party transformed by the state
Holding ia press conference in light of the recent row between the government and the Hizmet movement on Wednesday, Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) President Mustafa Yeşil asdi the Hizmet movement has not changed its principles in the last half century but the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has been transformed by the state and lost its reformist nature.
Kimse Yok Mu and UN launch relief project for Syrian refugees
UN funded 3,5 million Turkish Liras (around 1,75 million USD) to the project while KYM will organize the delivery of the money to the bank accounts of 17000 Syrian refugees in amount of TL 100 throughout January and February.
Speaking about their commonly organized project with UNHCR, Head of KYM’s İstanbul office Celal Türkoğlu stated that they are frequently in touch with the UN while KYM is accredited to the UN’s Economic and Social Council.
Upholding of Yıldırım’s conviction; another case of ‘significant timing’
Nowadays, Erdoğan is leading a defamation campaign to black out the truth and to distort the facts through the discourses of ‘parallel state,’ ‘there is no corruption; but a coup’ and ‘international conspiracy’.” Çandar then quoted Yıldırım responding to a question asking if he thinks that the Hizmet movement is behind the case against Fenerbahçe, in an interview he recently gave to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), saying: “This is not what I think. This is what the prime minister of the Turkish Republic thinks.”
Bank Asya says it weathers ‘stress test’, still strong
Turkish media say state-owned companies and institutional depositors loyal to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have withdrawn TL 4 billion ($1.79 billion), some 20 percent of the bank’s total deposits, over the last month to try to sink the lender. The government has declined to comment. Bank Asya’s chief executive Ahmet Beyaz said the bank’s founders included sympathizers of cleric Fethullah Gülen, who officials say is behind the corruption investigation posing one of the biggest challenges to Erdoğan’s 11-year rule. But he said the bank was not at risk.
Nearly 500 police officials reassigned in Ankara, İzmir
Erdoğan has reacted furiously to the corruption investigation, decrying an attempted “judicial coup” his supporters see as orchestrated by the Hizmet movement. He has reassigned thousands of police officers, more than a hundred judges and prosecutors, and purged official bodies of executives he suspects of being close to Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
