January 21, 2014

Islamic scholar Gülen: Turkish people upset that democratic progress is being reversed

The Turkish people are upset that democratic progress has gone into reverse over the last two years, Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has said, speaking in his first interview since the graft probes that have damaged the government and widened the rift between his movement and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Fethullah Gulen’s interview with The Wall Street Journal

Joe Parkinson and Jay Solomon

1. The Prime Minister has repeatedly attacked you and Hizmet in recent weeks. Do you believe that your alliance with his faction of the AKP is now definitively at an end?

If we can talk about an alliance, it was around shared values of democracy, universal human rights and freedoms — never for political parties or candidates. In 2010 constitutional referendum I said that if these democratic reforms, which are in line with European Union’s requirements for membership, were done by CHP before, I would have supported them.

Brookings: Takvim's news on Hizmet movement incorrect, totally ignorant

Turkish analysts at the Brookings Institution, one of the most respected think tanks in the US, have voiced their criticism over a news piece published by the Takvim daily which projects the institute as part of the Hizmet movement.

Drowning the Turkish Watergate, playing the Kurdish card

Mustafa Gürbüz

Amidst corruption probes against the government, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is passionately seeking allies in his war against critics. A fascinating coalition between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), a pro-Kurdish party, seems to be emerging.

Fenerbahçe's Yıldırım: My views were displayed as if targeting a community

Leading football club Fenerbahçe's embattled chairman, Aziz Yıldırım, has corrected remarks quoted in news stories in some Turkish media outlets, saying his remarks in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Monday were distorted to make it look like he was targeting the Hizmet movement.