March 24, 2014

Gülen: Purge of public officials seems ‘arbitrary'

The Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has inspired the popular civic and social Hizmet (Service) movement, has said that the reassignment of thousands of public officials from their posts without any disciplinary procedures following the Dec. 17, 2013 corruption scandal seems to have been conducted on an arbitrary basis.

In Conversation with Fethullah Gülen

In the first part of this interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, the Turkish Islamic scholar talks about the Hizmet movement, the Turkish government ban on private prep schools, the Hanafi school of Islam, and the relationship between Islam, politics and democracy.

Gülen's friends slam Erdoğan's offensive language

Criticisms and reactions are pouring in from family members and friends of moderate Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has become a prime target of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's offensive language since the Dec. 17, 2013, corruption scandal that implicated members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and high-ranking officials close to the prime minister's inner circle.

Erdoğan, Gül and Arınç: Parting of ways for the troika

Mümtazer Türköne

We had quickly become accustomed to a frequently repeated assertion immediately after the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was established in 2001.

Erdoğan's hate speech moves to US

Unidentified individuals have graffitied offensive remarks on a wall of the Turkish Cultural Center (TCC) in the city of West Haven, Connecticut.

We are not pro-Gülen movement but what the heck is this, bro?

Ahmet Hakan, Hürriyet

I am not an enthusiast of the International Turkish Olympiad [which is organized by an association affiliated with the Hizmet movement].

Why will the AKP's votes be less than 30 percent in the elections?

Hayri Taşkan

There is less than a week to the local elections now in Turkey. Every person who follows Turkish politics knows that this time it is more than just a local election. Although there is no recall process in the Turkish Constitution, this time the local election has turned into something similar to a recall election.

VESKON says officials' hate speech could draw society into violence

The International Vefa Health Confederation (VESKON), the umbrella organization of health associations in Turkey, has warned of the potential for “social insanity” in the country, defined as a pathological form of mass behavior that stems from the deterioration of value and standards-based systems that regulate social behavior, stating that government officials are responsible for the possible development of this phenomenon due to the frequent public use of hate speech that is already prompting violence across Turkey.

Hallmark of political Islam criticizes Erdoğan's policies

The Milli Görüş (National View) movement that gave birth to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has voiced its harshest criticisms against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AKP government, which is embattled by a serious corruption scandal. The Milli Gazete daily, the mouthpiece of the National View movement, and the Felicity Party (SP), the movement's political wing, have argued that the AKP led by Erdoğan has tarnished the prestige of Islam and accused Erdoğan of committing a hate crime against the Hizmet movement by describing it as a "parallel structure."

Kimse Yok Mu uplifts orphans in Tacloban

Kimse Yok Mu Foundation has launched a health center, women’s shelter and an orphanage it renovated after the devastating Haiyan typhoon of the last November in Tacloban, the Philippines. Additionally, it handed over a total of 50 computers and an ambulance vehicle to the Filipino officials.