TURKEY’S IHH DENIES CNBC POLITICAL ACCUSATION
Jakarta, 25 Shawwal 1435/22 August 2014 (MINA) – Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) has denied CNBC allegations in its article that says the IHH “ridden” by the son of the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan to carry out its political interests.
IHH today confirms that Bilal Erdogan, has no business association or interest with IHH and does not currently or has ever previously occupied any position within the organisation including being present on the board of members.
Additionally, the allegations raised in respect of the IHH’s supposed links with terrorist organisations are equally false and misleading and are denied by IHH with full force, the IHH said in a statement received by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA), Thursday.
CNBC’S David L. Philips has written an article titled “Why is Turkey supporting Islamic State fighters in Iraq,” in which he accused President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son, Bilal Erdoğan with providing funds to an aid organization, who he accused of assisting the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Erdoğan’s lawyer said the story has no grounds and is totally based on false claims.
The IHH added the article lacks precise reference to the facts and sources Mr Phillips rely upon in making such serious and defamatory claims. It is concerning to IHH that there are so few substantiated realities present in this article which Mr Phillips’ purports as the bases for the various claims espoused.
Speaking to Daily Sabah on Sunday, Bilal Erdoğan’s legal representative Hakan Camuz said that the article is politically motivated and all that written about his client are totally false. In his article, Philip claimed that Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) is supporting extremist groups in Turkey but he did not show a source to back up his claim.
He then furthered his claim and accused Bilal Erdoğan of having ties with the IHH and that one of its trucks was found with weapons heading for extremist groups in Syria, which the IHH strongly denied.
“Mr Erdoğan has no ‘ties’ to IHH. He has never been involved with IHH nor sat on IHH’s board. He has not been involved in fundraising for IHH, whether using his father’s political contacts or otherwise,” Camuz wrote in a pre-action protocol letter to CNBC.
Philips, who previously asked the U.S. government to remove the PKK from its terrorist organization list and to suspend Turkey’s NATO membership, had not shown any tangible evidence for his article. He is known for his strong opposition to the ruling government and President-elect Erdoğan.
The truck that was stopped by a prosecutor with links to the Gülen Movement – led by U.S.-based imam Fethullah Gülen belongs to Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency and was carrying aid to war-stricken Turkmens in Syria.
The controversial attempt to stop the truck was a move that violated national security law and was allegedly a move to cause rumors in the international arena that Turkey was sending arms to groups in Syria.
Camuz told Daily Sabah that on behalf of his client, he requested the CNBC remove the article, publish an apology, and pay a substantial amount of damages and all the legal costs.
CNBC had been given seven days to reply and act upon the demands of Erdoğan’s lawyer; otherwise a lawsuit will be opened against the media outlet and its writer under allegations of defamation.
The IHH, which serves millions of needy people across the globe, has continuously denied any sort of connection to extremist groups and said the accusations in certain media circles are targeting the aid organization, only to punish them for sending an aid ship to Gaza in 2010, in which 10 unarmed activists were killed by Israeli forces.
In his article, Philips alleges Bilal Erdoğan of being an IHH board member; however, CNBC later published a correction at the bottom of the article.
“This story was updated to reflect that Bilal Erdoğan, Presidentelect Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son, has ties to the IHH board, and allegedly uses his father’s political network to raise funds for the organization. Some sources say Bilal has served on the IHH board, but the IHH website does not currently list him as a board member,” the correction read, which furthered Philips’s claims.(T/R04/P3)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
