Self-exiled Islamic scholar Gülen rejects Khomeini analogy for potential return to Turkey

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen (Photo: Today's Zaman)
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen (Photo: Today's Zaman)


Date posted: March 5, 2014

ISTANBUL

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has rejected suggestions that he will return to Turkey in a similar manner as Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran ahead of the Islamic revolution in 1979.

“I am not Iranian, how can I be like Khomeini? Nor have I ever had the pretensions that Khomeini had. I’m the child of my own country. If one day I return to Turkey, I will be the same as I’ve always been,” the U.S.-based Gülen said in a video-recorded message on March 5.

The comparison had been made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was quoted in daily Yeni Şafak on March 5. “Gülen was making calculations to return just like Khomeini. He is considered the ‘Imam of the universe’ in the [Gülen’s movement] diagram,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying during a question-answer session after a meeting in the southern province of Osmaniye on March 3.

Without directly mentioning Erdoğan, Gülen said those who compare him to Khomeini “would end up ashamed.”

“I have never returned to Turkey with fanfare and brouhaha. I never expected a future. I never had anything to do with Khomeini due to my character, my confession or my nationality,” he added.

‘Not an imported leech’

In the same message, Gülen said that although he has been living outside Turkey for years he had never given his allegiance to another country.

“I am not a leech imported from abroad, pestering the Turkish people. I would never change a handful of the land of my country, even if they gave me the world in exchange,” he said.

Prime Minister Erdoğan has repeatedly accused Gülen of orchestrating the graft probes against the government and of wiretapping thousands of people, including his family and close advisers. He has also accused Gülen of being a tool of foreign powers.

“As I said, if God is willing, when I return, they will hear about it. Perhaps they will ask themselves, ‘Has he returned or not? If he has, where is he staying? How come we didn’t see him?’” Gülen said.

“When they do not know someone by his character, they can speak without knowing. This is a suspicion thrown inside them by the devil,” he added.

Source: Hurriyet Daily , March 5, 2014


Related News

Erdoğan calls for expanded witch hunt against Gülen followers

Having purged more than 150,000 people from state jobs and jailed over 50,000 due to alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday called on people to inform on activities of Gülen followers, saying that if they fail to do so, they will be held responsible.

Kimse Yok Mu first to respond to call for Crimea

Crimea Foundation’s board member and Crimean Turks Culture and Solidarity Foundation’s director in Seydisehir, Konya, Mustafa Sarikamis said they are to provide food aid to one thousand families following the talks with Kimse Yok Mu Foundation official.

Turkish gov’t profiling went on until 2013, report claims

The Turkish government profiled a large number of individuals whom it believed to be followers of certain religious and faith-based groups and monitored their activities up until 2013, a Turkish daily reported on Monday. According to the report, the profiling of individuals did not end in 2010 as previously claimed, but it continued between 2011 […]

11th Int’l Turkish Olympiads kick off in İstanbul

The 11th International Turkish Olympiads, which is a festival celebrating the Turkish language and brings together 2,000 students from 140 countries this year, began in İstanbul on Wednesday. The event began with a news conference held in Atatürk Olympic Stadium attended by the Turkish deputy parliamentary speaker and International Turkish Language Olympiads organizing committee chairman, […]

Financial Times: Turkey’s crackdown on dissent has gone too far

More troubling is evidence emerging that his government is now using the attempted coup as a pretext to round up all manner of troublesome opponents, not just the Gulenists. It is also damaging the fabric of Turkish society and undermining its institutions, including the security forces. That is a dangerous move in a country whose immune system is already weakened by jihadism and which is battling armed opponents on several fronts.

Leaked photo shows 11 hijabi women, 2 babies in Bursa prison on terror, coup charges

The women are accused of having a membership in the Gülen movement, accused by the Turkish authorities to mastermind a coup attempt on July 15, 2016. The movement denies any involvement.

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

What does religion have to do with corruption?

Sophia Pandya on Hizmet Movement

Women gather for UN development agenda in İstanbul

Turkey’s Erdogan and unending human rights repression

Fethullah Gulen: I am not hiding and not on the run

Flynn stopped military plan against ISIS that Turkey opposed – after being paid as its agent

Society, not community!

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News