So you say Fethullah Gülen is a terrorist?

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen in his room, in the US state of Pennsylvania.(Photo: Today's Zaman, Selahattin Sevi)
Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen in his room, in the US state of Pennsylvania.(Photo: Today's Zaman, Selahattin Sevi)


Date posted: October 31, 2015

BÜLENT KORUCU

The Interior Ministry has prepared a list of “terrorists,” showing well-respected Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen among the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members.

Posters reminiscent of those that were affixed to walls of bus stations during the coup d’état of Sept. 12, 1980, are now decorating the pages of pro-government papers. Their headlines remind one of those of the Feb. 28 post-modern coup era. They are apparently enjoying the moment. Until very recently, they were praising the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leaders including Abdullah Öcalan, and now, in the same pages, they refer to Mr. Gülen as a terrorist.

They equate a person who inspired people to open up schools in Hakkari, Şemdinli and Cizre to those who establish terror camps. Is it Gülen’s fault for encouraging people to work as teachers in Yüksekova when the Ministry of Education cannot send teachers there? Have you, the government, grown so unscrupulous as not to see the difference between the PKK, which has killed so many teachers to create a no-education zone in the region and those teachers who chose to work there risking their lives? Can’t you differentiate between those who give children bombs and those who give them pens?

Your anger has dulled not only your conscience, but also your mind. And you have placed Gülen atop the red list — showing the most dangerous criminals — but put the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) suicide bombers who killed around 150 citizens into the “less dangerous” blue list. You tried hard not to call ISIL a terrorist organization although it has killed our soldiers and police officers and raided our consulate in Mosul. After ISIL militants started to launch attacks inside our borders, you finally whispered in a low voice: “ISIL is a terrorist organization.” What has Gülen done to attract the grudge that you withhold from ISIL? We don’t know any crime of his other than encouraging the establishment of the schools to which you rush to send your kids. You failed to find any criminal content in the nurseries which were raided and searched by anti-terror police.

“Those sacrificial souls who shouldered everything that would make up a school and took it to Mongolia,” former Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç once, with tears in his eyes, referred to those teachers of the school now linked to terrorism. Do you know that they are trying to market it as a crime as well? They are seeking ways to call support to world-class Turkish schools, which are run by Turkish entrepreneurs inspired by Mr. Gülen, as “terrorism.” In such a case, Arınç would be sentenced to at least 10 years in prison on charges of praising the crime and the criminal! Recently, Arınç said: “Now, some people try to associate Gülen with a terrorist organization — called pro-Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ). There is no such reference in the National Security Policy Document or in the decisions of the National Security Council (MGK). There is no court decision. Rather, there is a Court of Cassation decision.” He noted that he suspects there is an organization that tries to make this happen. Is that organization something like what Bediüzzaman Said Nursi would refer to as “secret subversion committee”?

By the way, there is a TL 4 million reward on offer for anyone who notifies the police of Gülen’s whereabouts! I would imagine that interim Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who, along with his family, happened to visit Gülen not so long ago, may rush to become the first informer. That huge reward would be a good bonus for his nearing retirement. If Davutoğlu fails to remember Gülen’s address, a long and comprehensive list of informers may be obtained from Google. The spin doctors who would heartily act as an informer abound. They may even present a photo as taken at the organization’s cell after cutting the section showing them apart. If that doesn’t work, you can ask the Doğan media for help.

If you believe you can toss this slander on Mr. Gülen, who was quick to strongly condemn all forms of terrorism disguised as promoting religious purposes, then go on. If you treat a person who swears that he hasn’t killed even an insect knowingly in his life as equal to a person who killed hundreds of people, then it is up to you. But stop arguing that his opening of schools abroad is proof of his terrorist activities. Otherwise, you will continue to make Turkey feel ashamed on international platforms.

Source: Today's Zaman , October 30, 2015


Related News

Nigerian Federal Government ignores Turkey’s request to close Turkish schools

The relations between Nigeria and Turkey have been traditionally cordial, and bilateral trade has grown over the years between them. The annual trade volume between Turkey and Nigeria was $1.2 billion by second quarter of 2016, and this consists of clothing, food, engines and automobile parts, as well as pharmaceuticals.

Why didn’t Chuck Hagel visit Turkey?

The government took new measures to prevent the graft probe from proceeding, in an attempt to create the public perception that the corruption allegations are the making of the Hizmet movement and its alleged foreign collaborators. For instance, a new measure introduced by the government to tighten control over the Internet, including powers allowing the authorities to block websites for privacy violations without a court decision, is part of a campaign to prevent news related to the corruption scandal from being disseminated further through the Internet.

Renewing Islam by Service: A Christian View of Fethullah Gulen with Pim Valkenberg

Renewing Islam by Service offers a theological account of the contemporary Turkish faith-based service movement started by Fethullah Gülen, and placed against the backdrop of changes in modern Turkish society. The life and works of Gülen are analyzed against the background of developments in Turkish society, and of spiritual Islamic tendencies in the transition from the Ottoman empire to the secular republic.

Guest post: Turkey and the problem of political continuity

Erdogan has not only replaced thousands of suspected Gulenists in the police force and the judiciary. He has also sought, with mixed results, to make the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors directly accountable to the government.

Was prime minister able to convince the EU?

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan makes all of his political reinforcement in the judicial system. He uses all his political power, charisma and charm to block the corruption probes. For this reason, instead of convincing the EU, he tries to secure a temporary peace so that he can finish his job.

‘Erdoğan has replaced 1980 coup generals’

Dr. Selim Kaptanoğlu, former Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) politician and former doctor of late iconic MHP leader Alparslan Türkeş, said on Tuesday that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has replaced the National Security Council (MGK) of the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup by amassing power.

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

Turkey’s Changing Freedom Deficit

Ethiopian schools put Turkey on curriculum

Hizmet, politics and political parties

How can a government allow damaging their very own successful educational system to please another country?

AK Party Deputy Chairman Huseyin Celik: Turkish teachers beat the odds

Hizmet in Context: Societal Islam Versus Political Islam

Which Turks hate Israel most?

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News