Businessmen sue PM Erdoğan over Hashishin remarks against Hizmet
A number of Turkish businessmen sued Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after he likened members of the Hizmet movement, inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, to a shady group that carried out politically motivated assassinations in the past.
During his parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan again accused the Hizmet movement of orchestrating a wide-reaching corruption and bribery investigation which has implicated some members of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government.
Increasing the intensity of his criticism this time, the prime minister likened the Hizmet movement to the Hashishin, or Hashashim, a religious sect of Shia Muslims originating from Persia. The group, thought to have been active between the 11th and 13th centuries, reportedly carried out politically motivated assassinations after consuming hashish. They usually targeted Muslim rulers. The word “assassin” is derived from the Hashishin.
“We saw this in history during the rule of the Great Seljuk Empire. We saw how a fanatical secret organization tried to take the state higher-ups captive and cooperated with enemies to this end. The Republic of Turkey will never allow such insidious powers or attempts to paralyze the state,” Erdoğan said.
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