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Gov’t pins hope on division in Turkey as Erdoğan resorts to hateful speech
In an attempt to divert pressure from public opinion from him, Erdoğan is waging a war against the Hizmet (Service) movement, which has openly called on the government to clamp down on the wrongdoers and clean politics of dirt.
Swoboda accuses Erdoğan of using Hizmet movement as a pretext
Socialist leader Hannes Swoboda asked “You were still supporting the Hizmet movement a year ago. Now you use the movement as an excuse for halting reforms. Why do you see them as a danger to Turkey now?”
Sources said Swoboda made it very clear that the EU was very concerned about the state of the rule of law in Turkey. “We are very concerned about the rule of law and the separation of powers, especially the independence of the judiciary,” he stressed.
TUSKON says systematic campaign of defamation under way
The Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) has criticized what it calls a “systematic campaign of defamation against the business conglomerate,” stressing that its business activities, which help contribute to the Turkish economy, should be welcomed.
[Cafe Capital] Excessive attempts to manipulate people’s perceptions to backfire
The tension caused by a Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) bill that is designed to restructure the HSYJ, the witch-hunts against police officers, teachers and other public employees who have been profiled as members of the Hizmet community (Gülen movement) and the victimization of tens of thousands of people have created unease among the general public. People started reacting negatively to the accusations and slander, which went far beyond the limits of criticism against the Hizmet community, and started saying: “This is too much!
EC official: Turkey should address issues within limits of rule of law
Turkey should deal with its problems within the confines of the rule of law and the legal instruments of democratic societies, Alexandra Cas Granje, European Commission (EC) director of enlargement, has said in reference to a recent corruption scandal and draft bill on the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).
TUSKON says systematic campaign of defamation is under way
The Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists’ (TUSKON) has criticized what it said a systematic campaign of defamation against the business conglomolarete, stressing that its business activities that help contribute to Turkish economy should only be welcomed.
Erdoğan using hate speech against Gülen movement, says MEP
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s accusations against a faith-based movement led by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen amidst a corruption scandal are both uncalled for and amount to “a kind of hate speech” that has the risk of sparking violence against the group, a senior member of the European Parliament has said.
Tension at home hits Turkey’s brand overseas
ESİDEF President Mustafa Özkara said: “Top government officials, who during the Turkish Olympiads only six months ago called the Hizmet movement the ‘peace movement of the century,’ now define the same movement as a ‘parallel structure,’ a ‘gang,’ a ‘criminal organization’ and even Hashashins.
Likely case against Hizmet will bolster authoritarian character of Erdoğan gov’t
Rumors have it that the Erdoğan government will file criminal charges against people alleged to be associated with this “parallel structure,” a veiled reference by Erdoğan to the Hizmet movement, inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, that the government claims as the force driving the massive corruption investigations that have shaken the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
Former US envoys to Ankara say Erdoğan doing great harm to democracy
“Whatever his achievements over the past decade, Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is destroying his country’s parlous democracy. That is a profound problem for Turks and Turkey’s Western allies. Staying silent, out of fear that speaking out would harm some short-term interests, risks Turkey’s longer-term stability.”
LDP leader says received ‘indecent proposal’ from pro-gov’t paper
“They said I would make the headline story of the newspaper if I agreed to speak to them about the existence and alleged activities of a parallel state. I rejected this indecent proposal. Let them keep their headlines and proposal,” the LDP leader said on Thursday, speaking to Today’s Zaman.
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.
