Keyword: Defamation of Hizmet
Pro-gov’t columnist claims Obama could be Gülen’s White House ‘imam’
Mehmet Barlas, a columnist from the pro-government Sabah daily who is known as a staunch supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, claimed in his column on Wednesday that US President Barack Obama could be an “imam” of the faith-based Gülen movement in Washington.
Erdogan regime keeps defamation of the Gülen mov’t, calls it crusader organization
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chairman Yasin Aktay has said the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Gülen movement are crusader organizations that are serving the same purpose.
Erdoğan vows to strip Gülen sympatizers off Turkish citizenship
Speaking in his Black Sea hometown of Rize on Saturday, Erdoğan repeated his unsubstantiated accusations against the Gülen movement, calling its sympathizers “terrorists.” Erdoğan urged these people under persecution to become citizens of the countries in which they are living, saying that “they will not be considered citizens of this country.”
Council of Europe warns against hate speech by senior state officials in Turkey
The human rights body of the Council of Europe, the Commission against Racism and Intolerance, issued a report on Wednesday about the increasing use of hate speech, even by senior state officials. While President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the Gülen sympathizers “viruses,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım labeled them microbes. The movement is the main target of a massive purge and witch-hunt in Turkey.
Turkish ambassador leads an unrealistic mission: bringing a reclusive Muslim cleric before Turkish courts
Although Turkey immediately blamed Gulen for the coup attempt, it took Ankara nearly six weeks to make a formal request for his extradition — and that was based on earlier alleged crimes, not for his supposed role in the coup.
You can’t achieve democracy through military coup – Islamic scholar
“Once again, the Turkish media, under government control or pressure, is circulating horrific rumours, this time about a supposed second coup attempt in the works, supposedly prepared by my sympathizers with the backing of the United States. Such rumours are unfounded and irresponsible,” Gülen said.
Teacher gets arrested, wife suffers miscarriage amid gov’t crackdown on Gülen movement
A letter sent Turkey Purge has received from the elder brother –known by the initials A.D.– of an arrested school teacher reveals that those detained within past few years as part of the witch-hunt have been subjected to many kinds of ill-treatment under custody.
Woman gave birth while in detention, handcuffed to bed by police
A Turkish woman who was arrested when she was eight months pregnant has recently been released after giving birth while incarcerated. Turkeypurge.com reached out to the victim, who spoke about her experiences under arrest. She preferred not to reveal her identity due to concerns over Turkey’s socio-political environment.
Turkish prosecutor discredits Gülen movement to counterparts in 121 countries
Chief Public Prosecutor of Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals Mehmet Akarca has sent letters to prosecutors in 121 countries around the world explaining the failed July 15 coup in Turkey, joining Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in accusing the Gülen movement of masterminding the putsch.
Turkish official says 252 companies seized over Gülen links
The companies are alleged to be connected to the Gülen movement, a civic initiative based in Turkey, with the government coining the term “FETÖ” to designate the movement a terrorist organization despite the lack of any court verdict to that effect. A court last week in fact ruled out the existence of such an organization named “FETÖ.”
Pro-government paper claims with photoshopped image that Gülen has Vatican passport
In one more of a series of fabricated reports, the pro-government Takvim newspaper ran a lead story on Saturday claiming that Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen holds a passport from the Vatican since he receives instructions from the Catholic Church. It was discovered that an image of a Vatican passport found on Google was photoshopped by Takvim daily.
Turkish minister: Gulenists are more dangerous than ISIL because they’re well-educated
Berat Albayrak, Turkish energy minister and son-in-law of President Tayyip Erdoğan, has said at a conference that people affiliated with the Gülen movement are more dangerous than Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants because they’re well educated and have “higher IQs” than his own.
Princeton professor accuses Gulen of orchestrating Turkish coup, Harvard professor disagrees
Edward Owen, professor of Middle East history at Harvard, said that he did not believe in Reynold’s certainty of Gülen’s guilt. Owen added that when a person writes “alarmist pieces” like Reynolds’, the main audience for the pieces is Washington. “It is a way of calling attention to yourself, and I imagine that Professor Reynolds would like his name registered by the people in Washington as somebody to go to, to employ, when there is a change in administration in Washington,” Owen said.
