Islamic scholar Gülen calls for calm among supporters

A large group of people, supporters of the Gülen movement, gathered in front of the Çağlayan courthouse late Dec 11. (Photo: Hurriyet Daily)
A large group of people, supporters of the Gülen movement, gathered in front of the Çağlayan courthouse late Dec 11. (Photo: Hurriyet Daily)


Date posted: December 12, 2014

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has called on his supporters to remain calm and be patient in the wake of rumors that Istanbul police were planning to start an operation to round up hundreds of people close to his movement.

Gülen called for patience and calm among the relatives of those who are being probed or expecting probes against them, advising them to pray and read the Quran, according to the Herkül.org website, which released his latest speech in a video.

“Those [operations] are completely … a perception operation that targets people’s psychology. But they do not know that when these have passed, they will be stronger,” said Gülen, adding that those who conduct the operations will receive payback in the future.

Hundreds of Gülen sympathizers gathered in front of the Zaman office and the police headquarters in Istanbul late on Dec. 11 in solidarity with journalists who were expected to be arrested. Journalists from daily Zaman and a group of supporters went to the Çağlayan courthouse in Istanbul on Dec. 12 and asked whether prosecutors were conducting such an operation. The journalists said the prosecutors told them that they were not aware of such an operation.

In his most recent tweets posted on Dec. 10, a mysterious Twitter user named “Fuat Avni,” whose identity remains unknown, suggested that several journalists close to the Gülen movement, including Ekrem Dumanlı, the editor-in-chief of daily Zaman, would be detained in a raid on Dec. 12. He also gave many details about the dates, names and cities of alleged police operations, but later on Dec. 11 he posted more tweets suggesting that the police operations had been canceled after the raid was revealed.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said rumors voiced by Fuat Avni over the potential detentions should be taken “seriously.”

“I find the Twitter posts to be serious. I hope they will not come to pass, or not come true to this extent, for anything to happen out of jurisdiction,” Arınç said during budget discussions at Parliament late on Dec. 11.

Fuat Avni similarly provided advance warning about Oct. 21 police raids to detain top police officers suspected of involvement in illegal eavesdropping on senior officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Dumanlı told the supporters gathered in front of the daily’s building late on Dec. 11 that there was a “problem with the protection of freedom of speech in Turkey.”

“Those who take this issue as a matter between a [Gülen] community and a political party [the ruling Justice and Development Party – AKP] are wrong. Fundamental human rights are under threat in Turkey. But we are not hopeless. The media, the Parliament, the people cannot be silenced in this country,” he said.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News , December 12, 2014


Related News

Academics praise Gülen’s contribution to world peace at symposium in Washington D.C.

Speaking at a conference titled “The Hizmet Movement and Peacebuilding” in Washington, D.C., at the weekend, prominent professors praised peace initiatives inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen as a great contribution to world peace. Numerous academics and scientists from more than 20 countries delivered speeches on various topics covering the impact of the Hizmet movement on society and its contributions to it as a whole.

A Turkish couple spent their wedding day feeding 4,000 Syrian refugees

Hatice Avci, a spokesperson for aid organisation Kimse Yok Mu, told i100.co.uk that last Thursday the newlyweds donated the savings their families had put together for a party to share their wedding celebrations with the refugees living in and around the town of Kilis.

When the masks have fallen

It seems that the judiciary will be forced to investigate the claims of a so-called illegal organization, and sham trials will be performed to intimidate the Hizmet movement and cover up the corruption claims that become public on Dec. 17, 2013, by taking tactics from the former Ergenekon supporters nested within the army, the bureaucracy, business circles, the media and the judiciary.

Fountain’s Yeşilova: We believe human life and the universe are each a book to read

English-language The fountain magazine Editor-in-Chief hakan yeşilova has said his magazine has an editorial policy that promotes love and respect for all, adding that they see human life and the universe as books that need to be read.

Erdogan purge far worse than the McCarthy era

What is happening in Turkey right now makes the McCarthy era in the US look like a picnic. When communists were targeted under McCarthyism they were blacklisted; hundreds were jailed, and many were compelled to leave the country. In Turkey it is not communists, but Gulenists. Anyone remotely associated with the Gulen movement is being rounded up and jailed – not by the hundreds, but by the tens of thousands.

Fethullah Gulen Issues Strong Condemnation of ISIS

As a practicing Muslim deeply influenced by tenets of my faith, I strongly condemn the brutal atrocities of the ISIS terrorist group. Their actions are a disgrace to the faith they proclaim and are crimes against humanity. Religion provides a foundation upon which to establish peace, human rights, freedoms and the rule of law. Any interpretations to the contrary, including the abuse of religion to fuel conflicts, are simply wrong and deceitful.

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

Erdoğan distorts Gülen’s NYT op-ed, says it is about Bank Asya operation

Kimse Yok Mu: A charity with a difference

Pakistan – Of friends and us

Businessman jailed over Gülen links dies of cancer after his belated release from prison

Businesses link to increase Pakistan-Turkey bilateral trade

Abant Platform raises support for EU process, criticism for parties

Turkish school leaves tight quarters for spacious former Wayne corporate building

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News