{"id":10073,"date":"2026-02-12T00:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T00:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/10073\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T00:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T00:36:12","slug":"former-akp-executive-calls-for-elimination-of-gulen-supporters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/10073\/","title":{"rendered":"Former AKP executive calls for \u2018elimination\u2019 of G\u00fclen supporters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

M\u00fccahit Birinci, a former senior executive of Turkey\u2019s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has called for the \u201celimination\u201d of supporters of the faith-based G\u00fclen movement, referring to them as \u201czombies\u201d who cannot be considered normal human beings.<\/p>\n

Birinci said in a post on X that he supported identifying what he described as the movement\u2019s senior leadership and the core structure and \u201celiminating\u201d them, \u201ceven if they are abroad,\u201d adding, \u201cThey cannot be normal human beings in any other way. Since they are zombies, they should be treated as zombies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben bu konuda netim. Do\u011fu Bey\u2019e kat\u0131l\u0131yorum.<\/p>\n

Bak\u0131n, FET\u00d6 denen al\u00e7ak yap\u0131 g\u00fcn\u00fcn sonunda PKK\u2019dan daha tehlikeli bir \u00f6rg\u00fctt\u00fcr. Bununla ilgili uzun uzun konu\u015fur, ge\u00e7erli sebeplerimi anlat\u0131r\u0131m. Yaln\u0131z\u2026<\/p>\n

Madde madde anlatmak gerekirse:<\/p>\n

1- \u00d6rg\u00fct\u00fcn y\u00f6netici kadrosu, az\u0131l\u0131 \u00e7ekirdek\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/ONGpWroP6f<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 M\u00fccahit Birinci (@birincimucahit) February 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Birinci\u2019s remarks came after comments by Do\u011fu Perin\u00e7ek, leader of the ultranationalist Homeland Party (VP), who suggested that the government should seek to \u201creintegrate\u201d supporters of the movement, describing them as \u201cour lost people\u201d who could be pardoned if they publicly denounced it as \u201can organization serving American imperialism and Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Perin\u00e7ek-affiliated Ayd\u0131nl\u0131k daily republished his post without criticism or editorial comment.<\/p>\n

Birinci previously served on the AKP\u2019s 50-member Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK), the party\u2019s highest decision-making body, before resigning in August 2025 following public backlash over corruption allegations.<\/p>\n

He was accused of demanding $2 million from a businessman detained during investigations targeting the \u0130stanbul Metropolitan Municipality, allegedly promising his release in exchange for signing a prepared testimony and making the payment.<\/p>\n

The investigations into the \u0130stanbul Metropolitan Municipality are widely seen by critics as politically motivated and part of growing pressure on the main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party (CHP).<\/p>\n

Birinci has also previously referred<\/a> to members of the G\u00fclen movement as \u201cdemons\u201d and promised to make life unbearable for them anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan has been targeting followers of the G\u00fclen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah G\u00fclen, since corruption investigations in December 2013 implicated him as well as some members of his family and inner circle.<\/p>\n

Dismissing the investigations as a G\u00fclenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdo\u011fan began to target the movement\u2019s members. He designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016 and intensified the crackdown on it following an abortive putsch in July of the same year that he accused G\u00fclen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.<\/p>\n

Since 2013 Erdo\u011fan has employed increasingly hostile rhetoric against movement members. He described them as \u201cterrorists,\u201d \u201ctraitors,\u201d \u201cvampires,\u201d \u201cleeches,\u201d \u201ctumor\u201d and \u201cvirus.\u201d He\u00a0developed a unique vocabulary<\/a>\u00a0of hateful slurs and insults that singled out the G\u00fclen movement and eventually declared that the followers of the movement \u201chave no right to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the 2016 coup attempt, this rhetoric evolved into a broader campaign carried out through official government statements and the mainstream media. As part of that effort, the Turkish government coined the derogatory term \u201cFET\u00d6,\u201d short for \u201cFethullahist Terrorist Organization,\u201d to refer to the G\u00fclen movement.<\/p>\n

International organizations, foreign governments and major international media outlets avoid using the term except in direct quotations from Turkish officials.<\/p>\n