Erdoğan has ruined the lives of 1 million people in Turkey

Abdullah Bozkurt

The criminal investigations, prosecutions and trials in politically motivated cases on trumped-up terrorism and coup plotting charges have ruined the lives of some 1 million people in Turkey, a country that is run by fanatical Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has declared war on a civic group popularly known as the Gülen movement.

Zabit Kişi, Turkish citizen abducted in Kazakhstan, jailed in Turkey after more than 5 months over alleged links to Gülen movement

Zabit Kişi, who was one of the two Turkish nationals who were abducted from a plane in Kazakhstan in mid-September 2017, was formally arrested by a Turkish court in Kocaeli province on Monday over his alleged links to the Gülen movement.

Content by Gülen-linked scholars removed from Turkey’s state-backed Islamic Encyclopedia

Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) has removed from its Islamic Encyclopedia content by some scholars are affiliated with the Gulen movement, according to theology professor Ayhan Tekines.

Oppression of Supporters of the Hizmet Movement in Turkey and Abroad

There is an ongoing suppression of dissidents following the attempted coup of July 15, 2016. The state of emergency and the decree laws pave the way for discrimination and segregation on the basis of ethnicity, religion, and political or other opinions. Women and children are discriminated and segregated on the basis of their identity or the identity of their family members and parents. Ordinary citizens including, women, men, children, elderly, and disabled people face discrimination based on physical or mental disability, birth registration, place of residence, social segregation, gender or health, and sometimes a combination of these reasons.

Erdogan’s diplomats have become ‘Gulenist-busters’

Selcuk Gultasli*

Their European counterparts usually admired Ottoman diplomats as talented public servants.

Turkey: A State Under One-Man Rule

Anwar Alam, PhD*

The July 15, 2016, failed military coup in Turkey, among others, has accelerated and strengthened the Erdoğan regime’s authoritarianism (albeit the democratic aspiration reflected in the people’s resistance against the coup), a process that was set in motion in the aftermath of the December 2013 corruption revelations about the regime. Turkey has been transformed into a state under one-man rule.

To Find an Authoritarian, Just Follow the Scapegoat

Antidemocratic leaders share a propensity for using scapegoats to weaken their opponents and break constraints on their own power.

ARO’s healthcare alliance with Cambodian Government agencies

Australian Relief Organisation has formed a trilateral alliance with Cambodian Government agencies, including the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Rural Development, and Mekong Charity to deliver healthcare projects in Cambodia. Through such partnership, ARO aims to establish or improve working conditions of 5 health clinics and reach out to 15,000 locals by 2020.

Turkish government’s ‘Global Purge’ targeted opponents in at least 46 countries: report

Turkish government has pursued an aggressive policy to silence its perceived enemies in at least 46 countries across four continents, as part of its post-coup crackdown, a Foreign Affairs article noted Monday.

21 NGO’s Address President to Grant Refugee Status to Mustafa Emre Çabuk

21 Georgian NGOs have recently signed a joint statement addressing the President of Georgia, with a request to grant refugee status to Mustafa Emre Çabuk and his family, with the statement being published on Georgian Young Lawyer's Association website.

Turkish gold businessman to sue Turkey's savings deposit bank

The founder of Turkey’s biggest mining company Akin Ipek has launched legal action against a Turkish state fund in the latest stage of his battle for control of London-based assets, a spokesman for the British subsidiary said.

Enes Kanter's life off the court is just as compelling as his game

Enes Kanter has been wonderful for the New York Knicks. Traded from the Thunder for Carmelo Anthony in the offseason, he’s seen more opportunities to become the player we always knew he could be. But the trade to NYC was just the second biggest story of Kanter’s offseason.

The Spiritual Heart in the Thought of Fethullah Gulen

Muhammad Shukur

If a person is to realize the true meaning intended by the creation of the human, they must come under the command of the heart and listen to the spirit, in spite of the body (humanity’s animal side) and worldly reason. It is possible to evaluate Fethullah Gülen’s approach and considerations about the heart and its spiritual life within the frame of two main facts. The first relates to his views about the Spiritual Intellect (latifa al-rabbaniya), or, which, in his own words, is an “expression of the spiritual existence of the human.” He essentially states his opinions about the matter in the four-volume series Emerald Hills of the Heart, and we will discuss this work in later chapters.

On the mysterious deportations of Turkish teachers

An unexpected flurry of activity took place inside a house in Lahore’s Wapda Town on September 27, 2017. At the unearthly hour of 2:25 am, about 12 men in plain clothes barged in, got hold of the people living inside, covered their heads, bundled them into a car and sped away. Those abducted included Mesut Kacmaz, a Turkish citizen living and working in Pakistan as a director at the PakTurk International Schools and Colleges, his wife and two children.

Targeted by dictator, Turkish family seeks refuge in Albany

Paul Grondahl*

Three generations of a Turkish family were stripped of their livelihoods, life savings, friends and culture in a sweeping purge by the authoritarian regime of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Enes Kanter: You need to know what is going on in Turkey

Enes Kanter is not only the top earning Turkish professional basketball player but also the most expensive sports transfer in Turkish history. He plays for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The Muslim Cleric Who Fell in Love With Democracy

Wesley Baines

His name is Fethullah Gülen, and for many years, he was a rarity. During the ‘80s and ‘90s, there were few—if any—Muslim Clerics who would have spoken well of the progressive values of the Western world. Gülen was one of them, and remains a staunch advocate for interfaith dialogue and tolerance.

Erdogan advisor likens Turkey purge to Aborigine, Native American, Armenian cases

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief advisor, Mehmet Uçum, has said the Turkish state can apologize to the victims of a post-coup era purge and witch-hunt targeting the faith-based Gülen movement years after the events take place, as Australia did for the Aborigines, the US did for the Native Americans and Turkey did for the Armenians.

Turkey’s counter-terrorism campaign discredited

Shannon Ebrahim

Turkey’s propaganda justifying its mass detentions and torture of followers of the Gulen movement as part of a counter-terrorism effort is being thoroughly discredited on multiple fronts. On Thursday, Human Rights Watch launched its 2018 World Report, documenting the rise in Turkey of allegations of torture in police custody, and the country’s widespread misuse of counter-terrorism laws.

HRW: Prosecutions of alleged followers of Gülen Movement lack of evidence of criminal activity

New York-based international human rights organisation, Human Rights Watch (HRW), has highlighted worsening situation with regards to human rights, rule of law, freedom of expression, association and assembly, press freedom as well as torture and ill-treatment in police custody, resumption of conflict and crackdown on Kurdish opposition in Turkey in its “World Report” for the year of 2017 and underlined that “prosecutions of individuals charged with F..Ö membership often lacked compelling evidence of criminal activity.”

Fethullah Gülen’s Message for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

The United States celebrates a national holiday today in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the foremost leaders of the civil rights movement. On this day, we celebrate the civil rights movement and its leaders who fought for equality for all without resorting to violence.

What can Christians learn from a global Islamic movement?

The world’s largest Muslim movement is in crisis. Tens of thousands of supporters of the vast international network led by Islamic theologian and philosopher Fethullah Gülen languish in prisons in Turkey and other countries. Gülen himself faces extradition to Turkey from the US to face charges of subversion if Washington accedes to the Turkish request. Ankara is now linking the release of American Pastor Andrew Brunson, imprisoned on trumped-up terrorism and espionage charges, with Gülen’s extradition.

Former intel chief calls for use of ASALA, MOSSAD tactics to kill Gülen followers

İsmail Hakkı Pekin, a former intelligence chief of the Turkish General Staff, has suggested that Turkey make use of tactics it used against Armenian militant group the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and those employed by Israeli intelligence agency MOSSAD against Nazis in order to assassinate followers of the faith-based Gülen movement abroad.

Seized Gülen dormitory in Istanbul transferred to pro-gov’t Ensar foundation

A private dormitory in İstanbul’s Atasehir district that belonged to the Gülen movement until it was seized by the government has been transferred to the pro-government Ensar Foundation.

[VIDEO] ‘Gulenists’ talk about finding a safe haven in Kosovo

Three Turkish nationals discuss their decision to seek refuge in Kosovo following ‘crackdowns’ in Turkey after a failed coup in 2016.

Turkey to halt extraditions to US until it gets Fethullah Gulen

On Thursday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that his country will no longer facilitate US extradition requests until Washington hands over US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan says the cleric is a "terrorist" and holds him responsible for orchestrating a failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016.

24 former Bank Asya shareholders put in pretrial detention

A total of 24 former Bank Asya shareholders were remanded in prison pending trial over on accusations of membership to the Gulen movement.

Jailed father allowed to attend son’s funeral only with handcuffs

Jailed father of Berk Görmez, a 14-year-old boy who died of intestinel cancer last week, could attend his son’s funeral only with his hands cuffed during the ceremony.

Erdogan supporter threatens to execute Gulenists: We will hang them on flagpoles!

Menderes Obay, a pro-government shopkeeper in Cengelkoy, Istanbul was revealed to have threatened suspected Gulenists in the district with brutal methods.

Turkish Spy Imams 2.0 coming up

Abdullah Bozkurt

European governments’ increased scrutiny of Turkish imams who were dispatched by Ankara to serve diaspora groups amid embarrassing revelations of pervasive and unlawful profiling and espionage activities in Turkish mosques has forced the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to change tactics and adopt a new scheme to mobilize diaspora groups.

[BOOK REVIEW] Peace and Dialogue in a Plural Society

Justin Pahl

It is a difficult global moment for the Hizmet movement, the civil service group inspired by the ideas of Fethullah Gülen. Targeted in a far reaching witch hunt by the Turkish government, Hizmet has been forced to defend its noble goals of peacebuilding, dialogue, and religious tolerance. Thomas Michel’s book Peace and Dialogue in a Plural Society is a great source to discover these goals.

Erdogan’s long shadow reaches Gülen’s schools in Afghanistan

Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi

The worsening state of affairs in today’s Turkey is a matter of concern. Only in 2017, 364 women were killed in Turkey. Scores of women—many of them pregnant—were battered, raped, maimed and kidnapped for sexual violence. According to the data from the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, in the last few years, the ratio of women murders has increased more than 200%. By the end of 2017, the torture of women in Turkey exceeded all limits when they were attacked for wearing “un-Islamic” clothing.

Turkey’s MİT received 25,000 informer reports on Gülen movement in 2017

Amid an ongoing witch-hunt targeting the faith-based Gülen movement, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported that 25,000 reports on the movement were sent to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) in 2017.

Erdoğan’s henchmen call on Turkish gov’t to seize assets of all Gülen movement followers to pay US fine

Journalists Cem Küçük and Fuat Uğur, staunch supporters of Turkish autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, called on the government to seize all assets of people linked to the Gülen movement to pay off a fine the US Treasury is expected to impose on Turkish state lender Halkbank for evading Iran sanctions.

Turkish gov’t detains Bank Asya’s 49 shareholders over alleged links to Gülen movement

Turkish government has issued detention warrants for 68 former shareholders closed Islamic lender Bank Asya and detained 49 of them so far on Wednesday over their alleged links to the Gülen movement as part of its massive pos-coup witch hunt targeting the alleged members of the movement.

What On Earth Has Gone So Wrong in Turkey?

Greg Barton

Six months on from the mysterious coup attempt of July 15, the situation in Turkey has become much clearer. Unfortunately, it has also become much darker. In the confusing hours of that terrible night, President Erdogan’s declaration upon landing in Istanbul that, “This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army,” was both enigmatic and foreboding. In the hours that followed, he sought to bring clarity to the confusion by alleging that a previously consistently pacifist civil society movement was in fact a terrorist organization and had been behind the coup attempt. At that moment, Erdogan had the empathy and attention of not just his nation but the global community. No one wants to see a military coup succeed and a democracy toppled – especially not when this democracy represented the hopes of the greater Middle East and entire Muslim world.

Turkish justice minister: Gülen cases won’t be on Turkey’s agenda in 2018

Turkish Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül said on Monday that cases against members of the faith-based Gülen movement, which the Turkish government blames for a failed coup in the summer of 2016, would no longer be on Turkey’s agenda.

AST urges foreign governments to ensure safety for participants of Hizmet Movement

Aydogan Vatandas

Since the attempted coup of July 15, 2016 the Government of Turkey has engaged in illegal extraterritorial and extrajudicial actions been taking strict measures to silence dissidents in other countries from various ideologies recently.

Erdoğan calls on people to show no mercy to Gülen movement

Amid an ongoing witch-hunt targeting the faith-based Gülen movement, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday called on people to not show mercy to the movement, saying the pitiful will be pitied, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Jailed Turkish journalist Hidayet Karaca reportedly put in solitary confinement

Hidayet Karaca, a jailed Turkish journalist and the former chairman of the now-closed Samanyolu Broadcasting Group, has reportedly been put into solitary confinement following now-closed Zaman daily columnist Mümtaz’er Türköne and Zaman daily’s renowned art director Fevzi Yazıcı.

Turkish gov’t detained 62,402 people over alleged links to Gülen movement in 2017

Turkish security forces detained a total of 62,402 people in 2017 over alleged links to the Gülen movement, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday based on data released by the Interior Ministry.

Prosecutor’s office says 11,500 mistakenly investigated for ByLock use

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday stated that 11,480 GSM users were found to have been involuntarily directed to mobile phone application ByLock, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

HDP deputy warns of assassinations of exiled Erdoğan critics

Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Garo Paylan on Wednesday said he has confirmed intelligence that exiled opponents of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan including Alevi and Armenian leaders, journalists and academics will be exposed to assassination or a series of assassinations in Europe, CNNTürk reported.

Human rights group urges foreign gov’ts to ensure safety of Gülen followers

Virginia-based human rights organization Advocates of Silenced Turkey (AST) in a piece on HuffPost has called on foreign governments to ensure the safety of participants of the Gülen, or Hizmet, movement.

Turkish gov’t puts columnist Türköne in solitary confinement after media designer Yazıcı

After jailed media designer Fevzi Yazıcı, was put a solitary confinement for not accepting the fake document made with photoshop, veteran journalist and political scientist Mümtaz’er Türköne was also reportedly put solitary confinement by the Turkish government.

OSCE says concerned on solitary confinement of Zaman’s art director Fevzi Yazıcı

Harlem Désir, the Representative on Freedom of the Media at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), has reacted the maltreatment of Fevzi Yazıcı, who is jailed art director of now-closed Zaman daily, on Tuesday and urged Turkish government to release all journalists in prison.

EU reacts to maltreatment of renowned media designer Fevzi Yazıcı by Turkish authorities

The European Union (EU) has reacted to the maltreatment of Fevzi Yazıcı, who is jailed art director of now-closed Zaman daily, on Thursday and stated that “The EU has repeatedly stressed that Turkey, as a candidate country, needs to respect the highest democratic standards and practices, including in the area of freedom of expression and media.”

Jailed media designer Fevzi Yazıcı threatened by Turkish gov’t, put in solitary confinement over a fabricated ‘letter’

Fevzi Yazıcı, the jailed media designer and the art director of the now-closed-down Zaman daily, was threatened at police headquarters to admit having carried a fabricated letter that was submitted to a New York court allegedly written by US-based Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen ordering judges in Turkey to release several police officers in 2015.

Journalist thrown in solitary as Erdoğan’s latest scheme unfolds

Abdullah Bozkurt

Faced with hard facts and bitter truths that exposed his corrupt Islamist regime, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has always found a sanctuary in false flags, conspiracy schemes and forged evidence to shift the blame, find a scapegoat and avoid any accountability whatsoever.

Indonesia deports Turkish businessman to Turkey over Erdoğan regime’s request

Mustafa Kenel, a Turkish businessman, was reportedly deported by Indonesian government to Turkey on December 16, 2017 over his alleged links to the Gülen movement.

Afghan-Turk Teachers Call Their Extradition Illegal

Following government’s move to arrest three teachers from Afghan-Turk Schools, other staff members said they are refugees in Afghanistan and that their extradition to Turkey by the Afghan government is illegal.

Why does Turkey’s President Erdogan want Knicks’ Enes Kanter in jail?

A Turkish prosecutor asked for NBA’s New York Knicks star Enes Kanter to be jailed for up to four years for insulting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Wednesday.

Turkey wants NBA star jailed for insulting President Erdogan

A Turkish prosecutor asked for NBA’s New York Knicks star Enes Kanter to be jailed for up to four years for insulting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Wednesday.

Lawyers: Associating the assassin of Russian envoy with Fethullah Gülen a big slander

The lawyers of US-based Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen have stated on Tuesday that the claim of their client knows police officer Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, the killer of Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov, is totally groundless and a big slander.

Afghanistan Releases Detained Turkish Teachers Linked With Gulen Movement

Afghan authorities have released four teachers linked with Gulen movement, an arch-rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, after keeping them in detention for several days, local media reported on Sunday.