Gülen movement

The Turkish government?s contentious new security bill is fully in line with EU norms and universal values, Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has stressed, vowing to pass the law despite delays and criticizing the opposition for trying to ?drag Turkey into chaos.? 

The balance of power at Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals is like a chess game played on a shifting platform. Five candidates are running for office in the elections scheduled to be held today, but understanding the situation in the chamber is impossible without taking a closer look at the back story.

What was the balance of power in the Supreme Court of Appeals before 2010?

Interior Minister Efkan Ala, while chatting with journalists the other day, made an interesting comment about media groups affiliated with the Fethullah Gülen movement: ?Until these incidents took place, these media outlets had not even once criticized the government. After these incidents, they started. Is this the media? I am asking: Didn?t the government make any mistakes from 2002 to 2013?

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has said his government will not succumb to the Jewish lobby, the Armenian lobby or the lobby of the Turkish-Greek minority, a sentence he said in regards to President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an?s words on Jan. 31 that the Gülenists in the country, which he dubs ?the parallel structure,? have joined forces with the Israeli intelligence service.

Turkish police launched a new wave of raids on Feb. 8 in nine provinces against police officers who were accused of illegal wiretapping high-profile figures.

Istanbul prosecutors issued warrants for 21 officers, the official Anatolia news agency said. The raids were focused on Istanbul but also took place in the western province of Afyon and the Black Sea province of Zonguldak.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an announced that those who allegedly wiretapped his office were finally caught in Romania, after singing his favorite song during an award ceremony organized by Turkey's Roma community on Feb. 6.

The Turkish banking regulator's decision to take over the management of Bank Asya did not affect the country's credit ratings, Standard & Poor's announced Feb. 6.

"The decision to transfer management of Bank Asya to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund does not affect the unsolicited sovereign credit ratings on Turkey," the U.S.-based credit ratings agency said in a press release.

A group of main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputies, under the leadership of CHP deputy chairman Sezgin Tanr?kulu, has applied to the Justice Ministry to visit Hidayet Karaca, the CEO of the Samanyolu Media Group, on Feb. 9.

The United States wants all governments to ensure the monitoring of corporate and financial activity is done in line with international legal standards, said deputy spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State Marie Harf on Feb. 5, upon a question about the seizure of a Turkish bank by a government body. 

Turkish EU Minister Volkan Bozk?r has reacted against the letter sent by 89 U.S. Congressmen urging Turkey to respect freedom of speech and criticizing the fact that 28 journalists are currently in prison for their journalistic activities.