Bal: Lobby close to PKK in AK Party wanted to punish Hizmet

Independent deputy Professor İdris Bal, who resigned from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) last year, has spoken to Sunday's Zaman about the consequences of a graft probe which became public on Dec. 17 and in which some senior government members have been implicated and the government's efforts to cover up the corruption and bribery claims.

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Bal: "If you have confidence in yourself, you don't interfere in the job of the judiciary and the police, but if you don't have confidence in yourself, you cannot say this. The AK Party ranks, being dominated by Prime Minister Erdoğan, did not show an attitude in compliance with the law and launched a psychological war [against the police and the judiciary]. Just like an ordinary Middle East leader, he made up an enemy, the so-called “parallel state” [a reference to the faith-based Hizmet movement]. The most influential lobby in the AK Party ranks is the one which is in contact with the terrorist PKK. The PKK is very much disturbed by the Hizmet movement, on the grounds that the movement undermines the PKK's grassroots support and promotes democratic values and civilization against ethnic nationalism. The Hizmet movement was preventing the PKK from appealing to Kurdish people, through its university preparation courses and activities. So, this lobby in the AK Party wanted to punish the movement and bring its activities to a close."

Excerpted from interview published on Sunday's Zaman, 03 August 2014, Sunday