‘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


Related News

UN Body Asks Immediate Release Of Arbitrarily Jailed Police Chief

The United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), which works under UN Human Rights Council, has called on Turkish government to immediately release police superintendent Kürşat Çevik who are arbitrarily arrested and still kept in Şanlıurfa prison over his alleged links to the Gülen movement and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.

Turkey’s Erdogan and ISIS’ new breeding ground

Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan appears to be having a double dealings on taking the fight to ISIS. He has instead prefer a cosmetic approach in tackling the terrorist group. It is high time Erdogan purged himself of insincerity and religious rhetoric in the fight against ISIS and joined forces with other leaders to bring enduring peace to Turkey, the Middle-East and the various parts of the world.

Turkish police raid media close to cleric rival Gulen, detain 24

Turkish police raided media outlets close to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric on Sunday and detained 24 people including top executives and ex-police chiefs in operations against what President Tayyip Erdogan calls a terrorist network conspiring to topple him.

“Noah’s Pudding Approach” to Address Immigration Problem

Gulen Institute, jointly established by Houston University Graduate College of Social Work and Institute of Dialogue in Texas continuous to offer solutions and encourage action for challenges the contemporary world is facing.  Youth Platform, which is an annually-held international essay contest under the institute’s umbrella, has recently announced the winners of 2013 essay contest with […]

Witch-hunt-targeted mother dies in Kabul, family could not attend funeral in Turkey

İsmail Eyüpoğlu (42), who has been living abroad for 25 years, lost his wife early in the morning on Saturday, February 3. He was straddled between the idea of going back to Turkey with his children and bid farewell to his wife for 18 years in her last journey and on the other hand, the fear of being arrested at the airport and sadden his two children.

Is the Hizmet movement statist or populist?

In the last three years the AK Party established their new “center” with the new statism away from the periphery. The Hizmet movement viewed this change as a new centralization and thus a new statism and tutelage with new political and capitalist actors. Due to this change in attitude, the Hizmet movement broke faith with Erdoğan and the AK Party.

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

US House Intel Chair Says ‘Hard To Believe’ Gulen Behind Turkey Coup

Turkey’s Erdogan vows to cut off revenues of Gulen-linked businesses

Is Erdogan’s smile worth more than the tears of Pak-Turk students?

Another woman faces detention at hospital just after giving birth

Albania: Erdoğan given appropriate response to ‘political’ request on Turkish schools

The Gulen Movement: A Paradigm for the Engagement of Faith and Modernity

What should we expect from 2015?

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News