Persistence for pursuing plans to build a mall, according to Gülen, was the biggest cause of the exacerberating of developments that culminated in loss of young lives during Gezi protests. The social unrest might have been defused and cooled down if the politicians didn’t appeal to polarizing language that alienated significant segments of the society, said Gülen, pointing to lack of common sense among political establishment.

Gülen‘s full statement:

“We’re passing through difficult days when the raison d’etat (reason of the state), which should have been knotted with common sense and reconciliation, is defeated by anger and rancor. This atmosphere of hatred undermines efforts to understand one another as well as love and stability that the country needs these days. It also reinforces a bellicose rhetoric from top to the bottom. Instead of taking steps to calm the events kicked off by an obsession to build a shopping mall, the flames of the incidents fanned through a polarizing language and caused the death of a number of our youth. 15 years old Berkin Elvan is the latest victim of this atmosphere.

I express condolences to family and relatives of Elvan family and pray for all the best patience for our Alevi brothers, who have suffered a lot of pain until today but were successful in maintaining their restraint and remained alert.”