Gülen offers condolences for slain İstanbul resident shot at protest
Date posted: May 24, 2014
ISTANBUL
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has offered condolences for Uğur Kurt, a 34-year-old who was waiting to attend a funeral outside a cemevi, an Alevi house of worship, was hit by a stray bullet allegedly from a police weapon and died in hospital on Thursday night.
Gülen said the sad event came at a time when Turkey needed social peace and stability, reminding the dangerous tension in the country.Two people died from injuries sustained during violent protests over a 15-year-old victim of police violence in Okmeydanı during events that began on Thursday and continued on Friday.
Riot police were in Okmeydanı on Friday to disperse groups that had set up barricades from which they threw stones. Police used tear gas and water cannon and brought down posters reading “murderer police” after the protesters dispersed. The police also took down posters put up by illegal groups calling on residents of the area to bring firearms. Illegal left-wing groups are active in Okmeydanı, a working-class district.
What follows is a translation of a recently-received one in which a family, sympathizer of the Gulen Movement, a.k.a. Hizmet, talk over their experience in leaving the country. Most of the credit go to the Samanyolu Haber for publishing the story that sheds light on personal stories in what many call Turkish brain drain, on September 6.
Gülen’s contribution to a pluralist democracy
The Hizmet movement, inspired by Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen, is a formidable actor in catalyzing change for a better Turkey and will remain so for the foreseeable future as a non-political force to be reckoned with.
Gulen Denies Involvement – Erdogan Uses Coup for Repression
“If there is anyone I told about this verbally, if there is any phone conversation, if one-tenth of this accusation is correct, I will band my neck and say, ‘they are telling the truth, let them take me away, let them hang me.'” Gulen conceded some supporters might have been among the rebels. I would consider them to be disrespectful of my long-time ideas.
Hizmet and self-criticism
Fethullah Gülen stated a few days ago that he made a mistake by supporting the Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the 2010 referendum campaign. Even though, as of today, I do not think that supporting the constitutional amendment package was wrong in itself, it seems that this package has paved the way for the AKP’s growing semi-despotism.
Police raid prominent journalists’ foundation GYV in Turkey
GYV’s members strongly protested the police measure. Underlining that the raid violated standard protocol, high-ranking GYV official Recep Usta expressed; “the protocol states that VGM technical teams can come to the building and conduct examinations; and should they find any violation, a period of a month is granted to us [to fix any issues].
An NBA Center Faces Imprisonment And Possible Execution In Turkey
Normally, the Oklahoma City Thunder would be trying to find a replacement for Kevin Durant, or figure out how to get past the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs or Houston Rockets. They probably didn’t expect they’d have to struggle to keep their center Enes Kanter from being jailed and possibly executed in Turkey by an increasingly authoritarian leader.
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