Keyword: Democracy
Hate discourse directed against Hizmet movement
It is impossible not to see the polarization among the people over the upcoming presidential elections; this polarization raises serious concerns. It is also possible to consider the verbal attacks and violence against the Hizmet movement in the context of the literature on politicide and genocide. However, not only the Hizmet movement will suffer from repressive-hegemonic politicide. The entire country of Turkey will be hurt by this.
200 public servants sue PM over ‘parallel state’ statements
Interior Minister Efkan Ala was questioned about the government’s actions against “the parallel state” and the “Cemaat,” referring to the followers of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has been in voluntary exile in the United States for over a decade.
AK Party government removing critical voices from state bodies
Many bureaucrats who are just doing their jobs and have no affiliation with any political groups now face [the prospect of] being dismissed with a claim of having links to the Hizmet movement. However, it is widely known that many of the bureaucrats discharged from their posts do not have any links with the movement,” Arslan said.
Erdoğan officially declares his despotism
Erdoğan delivered a speech that will be remembered as a disgrace in political history as he referred to the struggle against the Hizmet movement.He not only confessed that the government has been tyrannizing certain social segments but also openly revealed future illegalities.
Turkish opposition leader: No witch hunt in democracies
Leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his threatening remarks against the Hizmet movement, which the prime minister claims, without providing any evidence, is involved in a plot against the government.
Witch hunt spreads to courthouse
Erdoğan’s government is continuing to harass his opponents, especially people and companies affiliated with the Hizmet movement, inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, for their critical stance against the corruption that has implicated senior government officials.
Extraditing Gulen and other dark conspiracies
Despite his pressures, Turkish prosecutors have not agreed to write an indictment against Gulen. On the other hand, Gulen has already been tried in absentia between 1999-2008 for all the accusations now recycled and repeated by Erdogan. The Kemalist military establishment was very powerful at the time and they were almost in full control of the state but they still could not produce concrete evidence against Gulen.
Reaction mounts against PM’s witch-hunt remarks
Politicians, members of the judiciary and journalists have spoken out against threatening remarks by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who stated that the government will carry out a witch hunt against followers of a faith-based group [Hizmet movement].
Erdoğan says his gov’t will carry out ‘witch hunt’
There are rumors that the only criteria behind these purges is links to a “parallel state,” a term the government has been using to define the Hizmet movement, which is a grassroots movement based on voluntary participation to spread interfaith dialogue and tolerance, with a particular emphasis on education.
Ex-employee files complaint against TİB head over purge
An email claimed that the agency tampered with its system logs to fabricate evidence that the “parallel state,” a term the government uses to describe the Hizmet movement, had listened in on around 2,000 people. The message said the electronic serial numbers (ESNs) of these people were entered into the system as per instructions from TİB President Çelik and then erased — all to make it look like the Hizmet movement had spied on Turkish citizens and then covered its tracks.
Deviation, crisis and opportunities…
The recent crisis going on between the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the Hizmet movement is indeed not just a struggle between the two actors. It means much more than that. This fight represents a struggle between democracy and autocracy, freedom and oppression and a harmonious society and a polarized society.
