24 businessmen sue Erdoğan over insulting remarks against Hizmet Movement

Twenty-four businessmen in İstanbul filed a libel suit against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his insulting remarks against the Hizmet Movement members.

The group made a press statement in front of court building after they submitted their petitions to the court. Speaking on behalf of the group, Serkan Şen said the prime minister deems the Hizmet Movement, inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, as a “parallel state” without any concrete evidence and removed large numbers of police officials undeservedly after the far-reaching graft probe which began on December 17.

“We would like to remind that ones, who were involved with corruption and covered something not to damage their ruling party, were erased from political stage,” stated Şen. The businessman added that some sentences uttered by the prime minister lead to polarizations and fractures in the society since the minister targets a specific group while speaking which insults directly the Hizmet Movement.

The prime minister drew great criticism while addressing a Justice and Development Party (AK Party) meeting. Erdoğan compared members of a certain group to “hashashin.” This was perceived as a thinly veiled reference to the Hizmet movement, which he has accused of orchestrating a sweeping corruption investigation that has implicated members of his inner circle.

Published on Cihan, 24 January 2014, Friday