Minister Yildirim’s high praise for Fethullah Gulen


Date posted: May 28, 2013

Minister of Transportation, Maritime and Communication, Binali Yildirim, spoke at the Turkish Language Olympiads Cultural Festival participated by two thousand students from 140 countries, at Kulturpark in Izmir. In his remarks, Yildirim said:

“Izmir is the city of tolerance, tourism and maritime, compared to a queen in Victor Hugo’s diaries. You’ve added to its beauty. I would like to thank the organizers for choosing Izmir to hold the cultural festival in the run-up to the Olympiads initially participated by 62 students from 17 countries and that evolved into a huge organization with the participation of two thousand students from 140 countries. These events are creating an atmosphere that encapsulates our souls, warms our hearts; reminding us of tolerance, brotherhood and bravery.”

“We’ve truly missed our children coming from different cultures to blow like breezes across our country, over the last year. Turkish is the language of love. It is language of Yunus Emre, who says “Come, let us be friends” or Rumi saying “Come, whoever you are.” It is a language that calls humanity for peace. It is the language of Fethullah Gulen who urges, “Be so tolerant that your bosom becomes wide like the ocean. Become inspired with faith and love of human beings. Let there be no troubled souls to whom you do not offer a hand and about whom you remain unconcerned.”

Yildirim went on to praise the Turkish schools inspired by Fethullah Gulen: “Turkish language builds invisible bridges between hearts. It sprung like a snowdrop at the heart of Asia, thousands years ago. Turkish will continue its existence as long as the world exists, just like it has done to date. To speak a country’s language is to become brothers with its people and culture, and to understand that country by communicating with it. Thanks to the Turkish schools worldwide, Turkey is growing in significance among the leader countries. It is now widely mentioned across the world. Behind this success are our Turkish teachers and volunteers of service, with their love for Turkish and native country deep inside their hearts, and serving in seven continents without expecting nothing in return.

I would like to send my greetings to those teachers. Like UN, we are addressing to 140 countries through the Olympiads. This is not possible to be accomplished in only a few days. It takes a lifetime for this idea to be embraced and spread. My greetings to those who devoted their life to this cause. And to the selfless, Anatolian parents and teachers who have raised these volunteer servants. May God be with you until we meet again at the spectacular show on June 9, in Izmir.

Source: [in Turkish] Bugun, 25 May 2013. English translation is retrieved from HizmetMovement.Com


Related News

Gülen’s lawyer says claims of luxury homes part of smear campaign

Gülen’s lawyer, Orhan Erdemli, denied the allegations, saying the claims are fabricated and were made up as part of a smear campaign against his client. According to Erdemli, Gülen adopts a modest lifestyle and pays rent for his room in a house in Pennsylvania where he lives.

Gülen lawyers file complaint against prosecutors over wrongful probe

Lawyers representing Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen have filed a complaint against two İstanbul prosecutors who are conducting an investigation into their client, accusing them of violating procedural rules in the manner the probe is being conducted. The prosecutors have also lied on many occasions in writing, according to Gülen’s lawyers, who say that the prosecutors […]

Analysis: Power of Turkey’s Fethullah Gulen

PM Erdogan accuses Hizmet supporters within the state of plotting a “coup” against the government. But the scale of the upheaval in the police, judiciary, Turkish state TV and other parts of the bureaucracy is already similar to what happens in a coup. The current Erdogan-Gulen stand-off is reminiscent of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s hostile relations with Said-i Nursi, a politically active Kurdish preacher in the formative years of the Turkish Republic.

Another dismissed gov’t employee abducted in black van in Turkey’s capital: wife

Yet another post-coup victim was forced into a black van in broad daylight in Turkey’s capital province of Ankara, according to a family member.

Central bank data disprove interior minister’s rigging claims

Ala’s remarks were widely interpreted as a reference to Bank Asya, a participation bank affiliated with the Hizmet movement, which the government has tried to scapegoat through conspiracy theories to evade corruption allegations. Some news stories broke soon after Ala’s claims, reporting that Bank Asya’s accounts were being scrutinized for misconduct.

An instructive crisis

The links revealed between the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), which have been maintained by MİT to embrace Kurdish politics and blur the line between legal and illegal activities, were not surprising to anybody because, in terms of its personnel, MİT is still a military organization. ETYEN MAHÇUPYAN, Thursday February […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Who are these pro-Erdogan mobs who even beheaded a soldier?

Somali students say Turkey feels like home

Call for Paper: Muslims, Sports and Physical Activity

Global peace as a dream to follow

U.S.-based Turkish cleric says used as scapegoat in graft scandal

Turkey’s tryst with democracy (1)

Hizmet turns theories of Millennium Development Goals into practice

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News