Gülen says many would like to be in detained journalists’ shoes

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen (Photo: Today's Zaman)
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen (Photo: Today's Zaman)


Date posted: December 19, 2014

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has said he believes many people, including he himself, would like to be in the shoes of Zaman daily Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı and Samanyolu Broadcasting Group General Manager Hidayet Karaca, who were detained in a police operation on Sunday, implying that it is an honor for the journalists to be in custody under Turkey’s current circumstances.

In his latest speech broadcast on herkul.org, a website that usually streams his speeches, Gülen commented on the reactions of people to the detention of several journalists, including Dumanlı and Karaca — who are still in custody. He said many are talking about the crackdown with smiling faces, as if it had happened in the past.

“I think there are many people who would like to be in the shoes of Hidayet Bey and Ekrem Bey,” Gülen said. “I would also like to be in their shoes just like most of you,” he added.

He also commented on claims that a red notice will be issued for his capture by Turkish authorities, saying he would welcome it with pleasure. “But if they aim to intimidate [me] with this, they should know that real believers never bow to the idea of discord. They always stand upright, with God’s permission and help,” he said.

Dumanlı, Karaca and a number of other journalists, columnists, scriptwriters and producers were arrested on Sunday in a large-scale media crackdown. Some of the detainees were later released following questioning.

The operation is thought to be an act of revenge for last year’s major corruption and bribery scandal that implicated many state officials and pro-government businessmen.

The corruption scandal went public on Dec. 17, 2013, and implicated then-prime minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and members of his family and inner circle in addition to businesspeople close to the government. The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government accuses the Hizmet movement of being behind the corruption and bribery scandal.

A Twitter whistleblower had earlier said that in addition to several journalists, Gülen, who inspired the Hizmet movement, was among the names of those to be detained in operations that would be carried out by the police in the coming days. Gülen currently resides in the US in self-exile. The whistleblower, Fuat Avni, said Gülen was included on the detention list due to pressure from President Erdoğan.

Source: Today's Zaman , December 17, 2014


Related News

Turkey’s Changing Freedom Deficit

Erdoğan’s government is by no means the first to compel Turkish citizens to hide their preferences and beliefs. Under the secular governments that ruled Turkey from the 1920s to 1950, and to some extent until 2002, pious Turks seeking advancement in government, the military, and even commerce had to downplay their religiosity and avoid signaling approval of political Islam.

Row between Turkish government and Gulen Movement takes new twist

The row between Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Fethullah Gulen’s Hizmet Movement, one of the most influential religious communities in the country, has taken an interesting twist after the revelation of a 2004 document. In 2004, the National Security Council proposed a clampdown on the Gulen movement (aka Hizmet), which suggested that harsh sanctions should be enforced on them.

You can’t achieve democracy through military coup – Islamic scholar

“Once again, the Turkish media, under government control or pressure, is circulating horrific rumours, this time about a supposed second coup attempt in the works, supposedly prepared by my sympathizers with the backing of the United States. Such rumours are unfounded and irresponsible,” Gülen said.

Terrorist Bahoz Erdal calls on families to protect their children from the Gulen Movement!

“Bahoz Erdal” code-named Fehman Hussein, who represents the most bloody wing of the PKK terrorist organization and the organization’s Syrian wing, directs preposterous accusations to the Gulen movement and the police. He claims that the movement entraps Kurdish children and brings up them as spies. Bahoz argues, “They [the movement] recruit Kurdish kids at their […]

Gaza group: Oppression targeting Kimse Yok Mu harms needy the most

Gaza Peace Volunteers Association Chairman Dr. Nasser al-Sadi has expressed his frustration at a recent government decision to cancel the Turkish charity Kimse Yok Mu’s (Is Anybody There?) permission to collect donations for the rest of the year, saying that the charity’s ongoing flow of aid to many regions in Turkey and abroad, including Gaza, has now come to a halt.

A Prayer for the victims of Turkey from Nigeria

God in heaven, I pray for the hundreds of thousands of Kurds, Alevis, Hizmet movement participants and minority Christians languishing in Turkish prisons for no justifiable reason.

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

Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gulen Condemns Brussels Terrorist Attacks

Turkey’s Plans to Abolish Private Tutoring Centers Arrests Free Enterprise and Democracy

Panel on Middle East perspectives held at Ishik University

Strategic defamation of Fethullah Gülen: English vs. Turkish

Why is the government freeing bloody murderers?

Extradite Gülen? Really?

Turkey introduces new decree law to seize all Gulen-related companies

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News