News
Erdoğan confesses anti-Gülen witch-hunt has gone off track
Despite Gülen and the movement having denied the accusation and calling for an international investigation, Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government launched a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
Obama is the real turkey in this scenario
Erdogan also made a statement, calling the president of the United States “Barack,” before launching into one of his usual self-serving rants. Typical of a violent Islamist appropriating the moral high ground, the Turkish president agreed that fighting terrorism is of utmost importance. But the “terrorists” to whom he mainly referred were Gulen and the Kurds.
Why on earth does a Hizmet follower flee Turkey?
What follows is a translation of a recently-received one in which a family, sympathizer of the Gulen Movement, a.k.a. Hizmet, talk over their experience in leaving the country. Most of the credit go to the Samanyolu Haber for publishing the story that sheds light on personal stories in what many call Turkish brain drain, on September 6.
Istanbul police display hundreds of books among evidence of ‘terror’
Police seized Gülen’s 1,500 books; 24 CDs featuring Gülen’s speeches; TL 435,200 ($148,000) along with $99,200 and 700 euros; several laptops; two guns and some digital data, during operations targeting the alleged terrorist network of the movement.
Wife of Calgary imam held in Turkey on coup allegations, says he still has no lawyer
The wife of a Calgary imam being held in prison near Istanbul, Turkey says she was pleased to hear that Prime Minister Trudeau recently spoke to Turkish officials about the matter. Rumeysa Hanci says her husband Davud had nothing to do with the attempt to overthrow the government. She says the family is still trying to get a lawyer for him.
Tables Have Turned for Some Media in Turkish Crackdown
Mr. Kenes says he should have been more outspoken in defense of fellow journalists when the government started targeting its critics more than a decade ago. “Frankly, we did not realize Mr. Erdogan’s real intentions,” said Mr. Kenes, who was convicted last year of insulting the president on Twitter and given a 21-month suspended prison sentence. “When I look at my history, I criticize myself for not showing more sympathy for their cases.”
Embrace Relief Worldwide Qurban (Feast of Sacrifice) Campaign
As part of their Hunger Relief program, Embrace Relief administers qurban organizations all over the world to bring joy to the table of people in need, while helping Muslims take care of their religious obligations. In 2015, qurban donations have been distributed amongst countries such as Bangladesh, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mexico, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and the United States. This year, qurban donations will be distributed to those in need in the United States, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
Dutch police arrest Erdogan backer for threats after failed Turkish coup
Dutch police on Monday detained a 42-year-old Dutchman of Turkish descent for alleged death threats and hate speech after the failed Turkish coup in July, which has ratcheted up tension among Turks in the Netherlands. The arrested man is an Erdogan supporter and he is suspected of having threatened Gulen backers online and in person, a Dutch official said on condition of anonymity.
Tensions rise in Germany’s Turkish diaspora, mirroring splits in Turkey
The group has been active in Germany for many years, operating 150 tutoring centres in the country, 30 government-recognised schools and a dozen interfaith dialogue projects. It has long been seen as a moderate Islamic group although it has faced criticism over a lack of transparency.
Time for a reality check for ISNA conventioneers – coup attempt in Turkey
Time for a reality check. This weekend many ISNA conventioneers are attending “panels” in which the so-called “Turkish delegation” will continue to attempt to justify the immoral and thoroughly un-Islamic persecution of countless innocent Muslim men and women in Turkey and around the world. While these conventioneers politely applaud the representatives of a regime which is attempting to destroy the lives of many of their fellow Turkish American Muslims right here in the US, here is just one example of what’s happening back in Turkey.
In Turkey, The Man To Blame For Most Everything(!) Is A U.S.-Based Cleric
It isn’t just last month’s attempted coup that the Gulen movement is being blamed for! Everything from suicide bomb attacks to past mine disasters are being laid at the cleric’s doorstep. Just to name a few: last November’s Turkish shootdown of a Russian fighter jet, an explosion at a coal mine in Soma led to an underground fire that killed 301 people in 2014, a horrific suicide bombing at a wedding in Gaziantep killed dozens in August and even killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007.
Canberra followers of Fethullah Gulen afraid to return to Turkey
Despite having recently become an Australian citizen, Mr Erdogan fears if he returned to Turkey at the moment he would be arrested as soon as he stepped off the plane. He has friends in Turkey who have been stripped of their livelihoods and forced to go into hiding as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cracks down on “enemies of the state”.
Erdogan purge far worse than the McCarthy era
What is happening in Turkey right now makes the McCarthy era in the US look like a picnic. When communists were targeted under McCarthyism they were blacklisted; hundreds were jailed, and many were compelled to leave the country. In Turkey it is not communists, but Gulenists. Anyone remotely associated with the Gulen movement is being rounded up and jailed – not by the hundreds, but by the tens of thousands.
Turkey Continues Its Witch Hunt Against Gülen Followers
The arrests and detentions took place more than 6 weeks after the Turkish military staged a failed coup. But people who had absolutely nothing to do with the coup, who are simply accused of sympathizing with Fethullah Gülen, were also arrested. In what’s becoming a repetitive story, a host of journalists, lawyers, teachers and civil servants were among those arrested by the authorities.
