Turkey's main opposition party Republican People's Party (CHP) submitted a parliamentary question to Interior Minister Efkan Ala on Friday asking if the government prepared and shared with some foreign countries a “secret file” which allegedly profiled members of a leading Turkish business confederation.
The CHP also asked Ala if the government excluded the terrorist group al-Qaeda from its list of dangerous organizations in the alleged file.
Complaints over the past month from the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) over increased political pressure and profiling of its members have now been conveyed to Parliament, with the CHP demanding a governmental explanation on the issue.
Representatives from the Turkish business world have publicly mentioned increased government pressure and interventions following the Dec. 17 corruption probe. Government pressure allegations have also come from TUSKON, which has described the government profiling as “dangerous.” TUSKON is a large business group affiliated with Turkey's largest volunteer-based Islamic group, the Hizmet movement. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has alleged since December last year that Hizmet is working to undermine his political power, but he has provided no sound evidence to prove his claim so far.
Regarding the claims of pressure on businesses, CHP İstanbul deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu asked Ala on Friday if his ministry had prepared secret files in which TUSKON members were profiled. Tanrıkulu also asked Ala if the minister's office had shared these alleged documents with foreign officials. “Who are these foreign officials and who met them to share what kind of information?” the CHP deputy asked. Tanrıkulu also asked if Ala is preparing to travel abroad for three days in June and share the alleged file with more foreign government officials.
A few days after his appointment as interior minister in December, Ala told media that a bank close to Hizmet had stocked up on greenbacks from the market before the Dec. 17 operation and made a profit of $2 billion when the exchange rates later registered a spike. Central Bank of Turkey data showed no such profit was made and Ala declined to comment further.
Published on Today's Zaman, 23 May 2014, Friday
Latest news, academic excerpts, commentary, book reviews and interviews on Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet Movement (aka The Gulen Movement).
Search This Blog
Overview
Content from 164 countries/states
Categories
New Audio Podcast
Some Highlights
- Top Three Reasons Why Turkey’s President Erdogan is Obsessed with Gulen
- Turkish witch-hunt against the Gulen movement lacks one thing: Evidence
- Bill Clinton on Fethullah Gulen's contribution to the world
- Erdoğan’s war against Hizmet: Step by step
- Is Gulen Movement a religious order?
- Is the Gülen Movement a civil society initiative?
- Popular Islam – Hizmet-Gülen Movement and Fethullah Gülen
- Why do they lie about Fethullah Gülen?
- The Responsibility of the Hizmet movement
- Gülen movement is a chance for humanity, American professor says
- Gulen Movement: An attempt to represent Islam and Muslims positively
- Muslims Must Combat the Extremist Cancer
- The Place of the Gulen Movement in the intellectual history of Islam
- A Universal Islamic Phenomenon in Turkish Religious Practice: the Gülen Case
Suggested Readings
Disclaimer: Copyrights and ideas in the articles belong to their respective owners. Hizmet Movement (Gulen Movement) Blog may not be held liable from the content of articles nor their potential misuse by third parties. Articles shared are not necessarily endorsed. Links and images used in the blog posts may differ from those at their original source. Translated articles are solely intended for the convenience of the readers, and may include minor errors.