Ex-President Demirel known for his support of Turkish schools abroad

In this undated file picture, late Turkish President Süleyman Demirel (L) is seen during his visit to a Turkish school in Turkmenistan along with the country's then-leader and former Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Çiller (R).
In this undated file picture, late Turkish President Süleyman Demirel (L) is seen during his visit to a Turkish school in Turkmenistan along with the country's then-leader and former Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Çiller (R).


Date posted: June 18, 2015

MAHMUT KURNAZ / ISTANBUL

Turkey’s ninth president, Süleyman Demirel, who died on Wednesday at the age of 90, was known for his open support of the Turkish schools abroad inspired by the views of the Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

In a speech that was posted on the Herkul.org website in 2014, Gülen wrote that Demirel was generous enough to say “Write whatever you want to say in a letter to leaders of a state where you want to open a school; I will sign it and send it [as the president of Turkey] to the leader of the state.”

While paying an official visit to Bangladesh in 1997, Demirel inaugurated Turkish Hope Schools in the capital, Dhaka, and also helped a teacher from the school, Süleyman Alptekin, who had been injured in an accident, to return to Turkey in his official plane.

Alptekin had lost a leg after being run over by a bus in an accident two weeks before Demirel’s visit to Dhaka. Unable to get the necessary medical treatment in his hospital in Bangladesh, Alptekin was then taken to an army hospital, where he was visited by Demirel, who had been informed of the incident during the inauguration of the school.

Seeing that Alptekin was unable to return to Turkey for financial reasons, Demirel then gave Alptekin the sleeping compartment of the official plane for the return trip to Turkey.

During the Turkish Olympiads of 2013, Alptekin and a group of students from the Turkish Hope Schools in Bangladesh visited Demirel at his residence in Ankara. Demirel said that Alptekin was doing a very important job teaching Turkish to the students there in Bangladesh. “That’s why we have love, sympathy and appreciation toward these people [teachers in the Turkish schools]” he said.

Demirel was also the chief guest at one of the dialogue meetings of the Journalists and Writers Foundation, whose honorary president is Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, soon after the 1997 military intervention into politics which led to many religious groups experiencing oppression from military-instructed state institutions. Demirel, who was the president at that time, said that he was the president of all the people of Turkey, without any discrimination. Upon receiving a plaque from Gülen in remembrance of the event, Demirel also noted that the community represents the unity of the people of Turkey.

Source: Today's Zaman , June 17, 2015

Tags: | | |


Related News

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

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.

Q&A: Turkish Imam Fethullah Gulen

Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based imam who Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused of masterminding Friday’s failed coup, answered questions from The Wall Street Journal’s Jay Solomon via email on Sunday:

Turkish-American community grapples with Turkey coup’s aftermath

Dr. Gokcek said he is not optimistic. He is fearful about the growing tensions in the country and coup sympathizers who might be stigmatized as traitors. On a basic level, Gokcek said, he has been able to sit down and eat with other Turkish-Americans with whom he might not always agree. “Some of those friends, I might not be able to now,” he said.

Another ‘coup suspect’ found dead in Turkish prison, bringing total to 21

At least 21 people have reportedly committed suicide either after they were imprisoned over ties to the movement or after being linked to the movement outside prison. The relatives of most of them claim that the detainees are not the kind of people to commit suicide, shedding doubt on the official narrative. Rumours also have it that some of the detainees were killed after being subjected to torture under custody.

Can a leader play a mediator role while terminating an aid charity?

Inspired and initiated by the recommendations of Mr. Fethullah Gülen, Kimse Yok Mu has been one of the foundations aiming to bring aid to those suffering from hunger around the world and is involved in almost every conceivable issue around the world. It is best known in the field of international assistance and relief wherever and whenever needed.

Kyrgyz President Atambayev: Ankara should not threaten us with coup

If someone wants to help Kyrgyzstan, this help should be unconditional, the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev said. “If you set some conditions; then, please, do not help us at all. We are not dictated anything… Do not tell us what we should do. We do not need such aid; then, take it away,” the president added.

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

Greece Warned Turkey Hours before the 2016 Coup Attempt

Fethullah Gülen donates $10,000 for victims of Typhoon Haiyan disaster in Philippines

Kimse Yok Mu lends helping hand to 1,650 Somali families during Ramadan

Islamism is dead!

Fethullah Gülen backs peace talks between government and PKK

Only the people of the land can create a spring, GYV President Yeşil says

On Hizmet: Why do I not criticize it?

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News