News
Council of Europe concerned over government’s ‘hasty’ judicial bill
“This was approved in a referendum. To revisit this in a very hasty manner after that long process of consultation and democratization that took place at that referendum raises a lot of questions on why this is being done so quickly and what the aim of it is,” Muiznieks said.
Winds of friendship were enjoyed in different parts of Turkey during the month of Muharram
HIZMET NEWS In relation to month of Muharram, friendship programs were organized in Istanbul and Ankara as well as several cities of Anatolia including Tunceli, Balikesir, Corum and Tokat in November 2013. In Istanbul, government officials and representatives of religions came together at the traditional Muharram iftar (fast breaking) dinner organized by The World Ahlul […]
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.
Gülen’s Dialogue on Education: A Caravanserai of Ideas
Professor Tom Gage portrays eight modern educators and the development of their theories viewed from personal, cultural, and historical perspectives. He links their ideas to those of Fethullah Gülen, a highly influential educator of today who draws on an entirely different tradition.
Major reshuffle in Turkish judiciary amid graft probe row
Çolakkadı, Öz, Seçen and Kansız are prosecutors who had overseen a number of probes and court cases such as Ergenekon, Balyoz and KCK between 2007-2012 against alleged coup attempts by groups within the military and outlawed Kurdish organizations during the time when Erdoğan favored the support of Gülen, who allegedly has sympathizers particularly in the judiciary and the police force.
Opposition asks for parliamentary session on MİT wiretapping
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen will file a criminal complaint against those responsible for the illegal wiretapping of his phone conversations, Gülen’s lawyer Nurullah Albayrak said in a written statement on Tuesday.
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) İstanbul deputy Ferit Mevlüt Aslanoğlu called for a parliamentary session to inform the deputies about the technical details of wiretapping.
Ambassadors uneasy over Erdoğan’s orders concerning graft probe
Turkey’s ambassadors have expressed displeasure over Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks that called on them to “tell the truth” to their foreign interlocutors, saying that defending the government against corruption allegations in not the ambassadors’ business.
Gülen files criminal complaint over illegal wiretapping
Illegal wiretapping has been an issue in Parliament as well, as opposition parties have asked for a parliamentary session to address wiretappings carried out by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) İstanbul deputy Ferit Mevlüt Aslanoğlu called for a parliamentary session to inform deputies about the technical details of wiretapping.
Reactions snowball after PM likens Hizmet members to Hashishin
According to Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Özcan Yeniçeri “The Hashishin was a separatist organization that inflicted great damage on the Turkish nation. Their purpose was to divide the nation and disrupt peace. The Hizmet movement, on the other hand, is a civilian initiative that strives for Turkey not to be divided and for youths not to fall into the hands of the terrorist PKK. For us, the real Hashishin are the separatists. If the prime minister is looking for a Hashishin, he should look into the mirror,”
Six heads of organized crime unit dismissed as hundreds relocated in new police purges [just after an operation against al-Qaeda]
The new relocations come as two heads of anti-terror units who conducted an operation against al-Qaeda and raids against a local branch of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH) charity were dismissed on Jan. 14.
Turkish anti-terrorism police carried out raids in six cities, detaining at least five people with alleged links to al-Qaida
The police raid “is a deliberate attack on the IHH,” said Yasar Kutluay, the group’s secretary general. “They are trying to portray the group as an organization with links to terrorism.” He blamed Israel and Gulen’s supporters, for the operation — a charge Gulen’s movement immediately rejected as “slander and false incrimination.”
Gülen-linked journalist association warns that movement’s support for gov’t can end
Erdoğan and his supporters have cast the corruption probe as a smear campaign devised by Gülen, who exercises broad, if covert, influence in the media and judiciary through his followers. In response, the government has staged an unprecedented purge of the police forces and has moved to increase its control over the judiciary. Yeşil said that all these allegations were unfounded.
