April 14, 2011

Vicious cycle of quotations and freedom of expression

Kerim Balcı

The conspiracies forged about Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet Movement sometimes wrongly named after him [as the Gulen Movement] are not simple lies stemming from hatred or fear. These are deliberate fabrications aimed at harming the movement and forcing it to suspend its activities worldwide.

The liars use a skillful method of “cycle of quotations,” where one particular liar writes a book in one particular country, then she or he is quoted in another country’s press selectively and the same lie finds its way back to the original country as if it were an established fact. The fabricated stories cross the borders without any truth-control and they are perceived as nothing but the truth by the prosecutors of those countries.