‘A bridge should not demolish other bridges,’ says scholar Gülen

M. Fethullah Gulen
M. Fethullah Gulen


Date posted: June 19, 2013

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has issued a warning about the outcry that the name of the third bridge over the Bosphorus has stirred among the public in Turkey, especially among Alevis, urging fraternity.

Gülen said today via his website that naming the bridge “Yavuz Sultan Selim,” after an Ottoman Sultan historically known for slaughtering Alevis, should not demolish “others bridges.”

“It is not right that our brothers stick to the name of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and then say ‘We boycott this meal’ when a lot of bridges have been built. They should go there and come together with those who named the bridge,” the scholar said.

Following the announcement of the name, a group of Alevis had gathered at Garipçe village in Istanbul where the new bridge construction has been kicked off and protested the decision.

Gülen emphasized the ties between Alevis and Sunnis, wishing that both confessions were more in communion. “No, we do not have any differences! Everyone should respect the feelings of one another.”

Turkish President Abdullah Gül, who announced the name of the third bridge during the solemn sod-cutting ceremony, suggested that another project could be name after the mystic Hacı Bektaş Veli, who became one of the main teachers of Alevism, or the Alevi poet Pir Sultan Abdal.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News, 19 June 2013

Tags: | | | |


Related News

President Fox speaks about Fethullah Gulen and Gulen Movement

Vicente Fox served his term as President from 2000 to 2006. He was the first candidate from an opposition party to be elected president since 1920. Under his leadership, the country experienced a stretch of fundamental economic strength and stability. The perspectives of the Institute are inspired by the life and works of the distinguished contemporary scholar and civic leader Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Muslim scholar, thinker, author, poet, opinion leader, educational activist, and preacher emeritus. He is regarded as the initiator and inspirer of the worldwide social movement of human values known as the Hizmet (Service) Movement or the Gülen Movement.

GYV says Gülen did not send letter to Erdoğan

“In those days [of the corruption debate], it was conveyed to us that President Abdullah Gül, having held meetings with various groups in the name of peace for the nation and to prevent debates from escalating further, wished to send an envoy to Gülen to transmit his thoughts as well as to learn Gülen’s considerations,” Şimşek explained.

Dismissed top editor of Zaman: We made a mistake by not objecting to the imprisonment of journalists

Journalist Abdulhamit Bilici, who was dismissed as editor-in-chief of Zaman said the Zaman daily should have kept its distance from the ruling AKP. He also said his media group made a mistake by not objecting to the imprisonment of journalists in the late 2000s.

Informant on Gülen movement members says he fabricated testimony to avoid jail time

İbrahim Demirtaş, a major in the Turkish military who testified as an informant in investigations into sympathizers of the faith-based Gülen movement, has admitted that his statements were false and made in order to avoid prosecution and jail time.

Who is escalating tensions?

Whenever someone questions the government’s performance or flaws in Turkey, the Gülen movement is put under the spotlight. And whenever there is a mass protest, the Gezi figures and Alevis are accused of being behind it.

Growing Corruption Inquiry Hits Close to Turkish Leader

In building his political career, Turkey’s powerful and charismatic prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, relied heavily on the support of a Sufi mystic preacher [Fethullah Gulen] whose base of operations is now in Pennsylvania. Mr. Gulen’s followers “never approved the role the government tried to attain in the Middle East, or approved of its policy in Syria, which made everything worse, or its attitude in the Mavi Marmara crisis with Israel,” said Ali Bulac, a conservative intellectual and writer who supports Mr. Gulen.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Kimse Yok Mu reaches out to refugee families in Afghanistan

West Hartford State Rep. Receives ‘Statesman of the Year Award’

Turkey’s Erdogan attempts to have Gambia close down Turkish schools

My husband is being tortured and I am worried about his life

Post-Kemalist but still illiberal Turkey

Kimse Yok Mu volunteers help restore eyesight to African cataract patients

“Volunteers of education can end the chaos in the Muslim world”

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News