MİLAD Co-Chairman Says Oppression Of Hizmet Members Akin To Genocide

Co-chairperson of the Party of Nation and Justice (MİLAD) Mehmet Bozdemir has said the government's crackdown on the followers of the Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet movement, is tantamount to genocide.

“Trying to annihilate some groups is genocide. What is being done to the followers of the movement is genocide,” Bozdemir said, adding that followers of the Gülen movement could file cases against the Turkish government at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched a battle against the Gülen movement after a corruption probe implicating senior members of then-Prime Minister Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government went public on Dec. 17, 2013. He accuses the movement of plotting to topple his government.

Since the Dec.17 probe, Erdoğan and the AK Party government have launched a crackdown on individuals and organizations affiliated with the Gülen movement.

Bozdemir also harshly criticized efforts by Erdoğan and the AK Party government to close Gülen-affiliated Turkish schools across the world.

“Each of those schools is a legend. The Islamic world does not have a single brand in the international arena. There is a brand [that has been] created by the Turkish schools. They want to eradicate this brand,” he said.

Hasan Karalı, Ankara (Cihan/Today's Zaman)