March 28, 2014

Erdoğan again quick to attribute Syria audio link to Hizmet with no proof

Only hours after the posting online of an alleged conversation between some state officials about a possible incursion into Syria, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was quick to attribute the leak to the Hizmet movement, without showing a tiny shred of evidence.

Politicized Friday prayer sermon supports blocking of social media platforms

The Religious Affairs Directorate has lent its support to restrictions on access to social media platforms YouTube and Twitter, which were blocked by the government to silence simmering dissent against it, after suggesting a politicized sermon be read in mosques across Turkey on Friday.

600 complaints filed alleging slander, libel against Gülen

A total of 600 complaints have been filed against those who have slandered and libeled Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen since a major corruption and bribery investigation became public on Dec. 17 of last year.

Turkish officials cancel green passport of Islamic scholar Gülen


The governor's office of the eastern province of Erzurum has cancelled the green passport of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, citing some irregularities in his obtaining the passport in 1990, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Friday.

Police officer warns prosecutor of fabricated Hizmet evidence

An unnamed police officer who is said to be working at the National Police Department's Anti-smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau (KOM) has sent a letter to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in which he discloses the ongoing efforts to fabricate evidence to serve as the legal grounds for a police operation against the faith-based Hizmet movement.