February 13, 2020 – A recent report by the Washington advocacy group CREW suggested that a Turkish-American’s individual political donations were connected to the Alliance for Shared Values’ transparent advocacy efforts and to the broader Hizmet movement. That could not be further from the truth. The report also was riddled with multiple factual errors and insinuations.

The Alliance for Shared Values was not contacted for this story. We welcome and assist with inquiries regarding AfSV’s advocacy efforts and would have assisted with this report, too, had we been contacted.

The political donation that is the subject of the article is completely unrelated to the AfSV’s advocacy efforts. American citizens and permanent residents have the right to participate in the political process, regardless of where they were born, their religion, their race, or any other affiliation.

At the same time, the Alliance for Shared Values has advocated transparently in Washington for many years to highlight the human rights abuses of the Turkish government, particularly against persecuted groups such as journalists, academics, Kurds, Alevis and Hizmet participants. The Alliance properly disclosed these efforts through proper government registries and noted their objectives.

For CREW to try to connect these disparate points is sloppy and misleading.

About Alliance for Shared Values 

The Alliance for Shared Values (AFSV) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves as a voice for cultural organizations affiliated with Hizmet, a civil society movement inspired by prominent preacher and peace advocate Fethullah Gülen. The Alliance strives to promote peace and social harmony by helping reduce misinformation and false stereotypes about any or all ethnic, cultural and religious communities. To learn more about the Alliance, please visit www.afsv.org.

Media contact

media@afsv.org

212-682-4278