The Gülen Movement-linked Turkish daily Zaman recently published an interview with Nuray Mert, a journalist who holds anti-Justice and Development Party (AK Party) views and a columnist for Hürriyet Daily News, stating that she had said, "Gülenists prevented the emergence of authority." The interview conducted by Zaman frustrated Mert, who said that her statements were distorted. She said she was shocked when she saw the title of the article.
The Gülen Movement's Zaman daily has carried out similar distortions of words of those they have interviewed. Mert strongly emphasized that she will no longer give interviews or any sort of opinion to any daily. Mert continued her statement by saying that "those who know me, know that I do not hesitate to say what I think. I do not understand how they could give such a title to an interview in which I did not say anything related to it in any way." She also added that since members of the Gülen Movement have been the most discussed topic in Turkish politics, she did not want to exclude them, but that "such a publication is clearly taking advantage of good intentions."
Furthermore, Bülent Yıldırım, who is the current president of Turkey's IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, also experienced a similar situation back in Jan. 2014. Zaman selectively published Yıldırım's statements from an interview he gave to a local magazine. During the interview Yıldırım criticized the leaders, institutions and countries of the Islamic world staying that they are insufficient. However, according to Yıldırım's statement, his words were manipulated and were twisted into a different meaning.
The Gülen Movement is seen as a threat to national security by the Turkish government as they are accused of infiltrating top state institutions, including the police and judiciary and wiretapping thousands of people including senior officials, journalists, actors, nongovernmental organizations and others. Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S., is accused of leading a criminal organization and officials have reported that sufficient evidence has been discovered to prove his alleged crimes. The movement has been under scrutiny in numerous countries including Russia, the U.S., Azerbaijan, Germany and others.
