US-based watchdog Freedom House has stated that Turkey has drifted further from democratic reforms, with former Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rising to the presidency and overseeing government attempts to quash corruption cases against his allies and associates as well as with greater interference in the media and judiciary.
January 28, 2015
Turkey harshly criticized by panel in US over press freedom
The government's recent crackdown on the media was severely criticized during a panel discussion at the National Press Club (NPC) in Washington, D.C.
Gülen’s lawyers refute justice minister’s statement likening Gülen to Iran’s Khomeini
Lawyers for Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen have said via Twitter that Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ should have provided proof to back up his statement that Gülen planned to return from the US to Turkey in a similar way to Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
CHP deputy says gov’t polarizing public via media
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Bursa deputy Aykan Erdemir has said that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has been polarizing the public via the media, warning that bad incidents such as massacres and genocides took place at the end of such polarization processes in history.
Erdoğan’s attack on civil society
Mustafa Akyol
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan was on an “Africa tour” recently, a trip that included official visits to Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. There is much to support about Turkey's presence in these countries, especially Somalia, where Erdoğan really extended a charitable hand to an impoverished nation. However his trip has a less inspiring motive as well: To convince African leaders to close down the “Turkish schools” in their countries.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan was on an “Africa tour” recently, a trip that included official visits to Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. There is much to support about Turkey's presence in these countries, especially Somalia, where Erdoğan really extended a charitable hand to an impoverished nation. However his trip has a less inspiring motive as well: To convince African leaders to close down the “Turkish schools” in their countries.
Understanding the Hizmet Movement – Is Hizmet Islamist?
Uğur Kömeçoğlu
The Hizmet movement originated in Turkey and is now active in education, civil society, business and other activities in over one hundred and fifty countries worldwide. Fethullah Gülen (b.1941) is the social and the spiritual leader of the movement. The movement, which is not sponsored by a government or by a political party, is a transnational civic initiative rooted in the spiritual and humanistic tradition of Islam. One of the main goals of the Hizmet organization has been the elevation of a Muslim consciousness that is compatible with modern civil democracy and opposed to Islamism. For Gülen, Islamists are usually motivated by personal and political agendas rooted in the pursuit of worldly ambitions and power as well as by anger and hostility toward others:
The Hizmet movement originated in Turkey and is now active in education, civil society, business and other activities in over one hundred and fifty countries worldwide. Fethullah Gülen (b.1941) is the social and the spiritual leader of the movement. The movement, which is not sponsored by a government or by a political party, is a transnational civic initiative rooted in the spiritual and humanistic tradition of Islam. One of the main goals of the Hizmet organization has been the elevation of a Muslim consciousness that is compatible with modern civil democracy and opposed to Islamism. For Gülen, Islamists are usually motivated by personal and political agendas rooted in the pursuit of worldly ambitions and power as well as by anger and hostility toward others:
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