Keyword: Turkey
Turkish authorities withdraw license of station linked to PM Erdogan’s opponents
Fatih Karaca, head of the media unit of Ipek group of companies, said Thursday Turkey’s radio and television watchdog revoked the license of KanalTurk television, citing a 2010 court decision. He maintained that the decision against the station — which is linked to a movement led by U.S.-based moderate Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen — was “politically-motivated.”
KADİP’s 1st international photography contest held for peace
The Intercultural Dialogue Platform (KADİP) of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) announced the winners of its very first international photography contest, “Peace in the frame,” at a gala on Tuesday night at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in İstanbul.
AK Party promises more despotism if it wins big in local polls
Since the Dec. 17 corruption and bribery probe, Prime Minister Erdoğan has threatened to order an “operation” against certain civil society organizations and business groups that have voiced demands for the prime minister and his government to be held accountable in the face of alleged irregularities.
Is Hizmet being subjected to genocide? (2)
In a recently leaked voice recording, which was not denied by those involved in it, Erdoğan’s son, Bilal, tells his father that an operation should be launched against the Hizmet movement. All these incidents indicate that the ruling party has used and will use laws in accordance with Erdoğan’s plans. Thus, a group cannot be destroyed solely with mass killings. It can be destroyed also with unfair and unlawful practices by passing specific laws, as we saw in many cases in the past.
Gülen: purge of public officials seems ‘arbitrary’
The Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has inspired the popular civic and social Hizmet (Service) movement, has said that the reassignment of thousands of public officials from their posts without any disciplinary procedures following the Dec. 17, 2013 corruption scandal seems to have been conducted on an arbitrary basis.
Is Hizmet being subjected to genocide?
Indeed, the word genocide brings to our minds mass killings and relocations of members of a race, usually under war-like conditions. Yet, genocide is not a war crime. It is not a type of crime committed against a specific race. Rather, it has wider connotations. This crime may be committed against a specific group, without massacring them and in a peaceful setting.
[Event of the Week] Gülen breaks his silence, responds to allegations
Having stayed largely silent in the face of relentless attacks amounting to hate speech by beleaguered Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was incriminated in a massive corruption scandal, Fethullah Gülen spoke to Today’s Zaman and provided his account of how he sees the recent events in Turkey in his first interview with the Turkish media since Dec. 17.
GYV Presient Yesil: We knock on all doors
Mustafa Yesil is the president of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), which is known as the Gulen community’s institutional representative. He has addressed a wide range of issues, among them the Gulen movement, eavesdropping, the arrest of Aziz Yildirim (chairman, Fenerbahce soccer team), the National Intelligence Institution’s (MIT’s) head Hakan Fidan’s query.
TUSKON: Twitter ban a disappointment in information age
Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) Chairman Rıza Nur Meral voiced his disappointment on Friday over the decision by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which tries to attract voters with promises of democracy, more human rights, increased rule of law and reforms to gain EU membership, to block access to Twitter.
In Conversation with Fethullah Gülen (Interview in Asharq Al-Awsat-I)
While it is a movement inspired by faith, this [Hizmet movement] community of volunteers develops and delivers reasonable and universally acceptable projects which are in full compliance with humanitarian values and which aim to promote individual freedoms, human rights and peaceful coexistence for all people regardless of their faith.
Islamic scholar Gülen’s family criticizes PM’s offensive language
Kemal Gülen addressed allegations about the scholar’s financial situation, explaining that Fethullah Gülen resides at a facility that belongs to a foundation and for which he pays rent, rejecting the claim that the scholar owns the property.
“Hizmet” movement, the current tensions and self-criticism (Interview with Ihsan Yilmaz)
My fourth criticism is the lack of empathy. We haven’t empathized enough with Kurds, Armenians and Greeks. In 2011, Journalists and Writers Foundation said to the commission of Constitution in the parliament that, besides Turkish, using Kurdish as a language of education should be considered a human right.
Gülen interview received high praise from intellectuals, NGOs, politicians
The in-depth interview with Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has inspired the popular civic and social movement called Hizmet, and was published this week in a five-part series by both Zaman and Today’s Zaman was received well by people from all walks of life including intellectuals, academics, politicians and human rights activists.
