Dialogue Platform’s Statement on Developments in Turkey
Fethullah Gülen (Photo: herkul.org)
Date posted: July 16, 2016
Dialogue Platform which is connected with Gulen’s mouvement Hizmet, in a Statement denied any involvment in Turkey’s coup.
The Statement says:
“Our Honorary President Fethullah Gulen has consistently advocated for democracy and insisted “there is no return from the democracy” at every stage of his life.
Hizmet participants have always denounced the military interventions and demonstrated the attitude for the peaceful coexistence, freedom and democracy. Thus, Dialogue Platform strongly condemns any attempt to throw an elected government by military coup.
We have always supported development of Turkey’s democracy and its membership to European Union despite of the increasing anti-democratic practices in recent years.
President Erdogan and his close circles’ blame on the Hizmet Movement is very irresponsible and concerning.
We hope that Turkey will overcome these difficult days and take this sad incident as an opportunity to strengthen its democracy.”
Helen Rose Ebaugh, an American professor specializing in the sociology of religion, sees the movement founded by the controversial Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen as both an opportunity for the West and a serious alternative to religious extremism.
Hizmet really has expanded my understanding of what it means to be human.
Kenneth Hunter is the Principal of the Prosser Career Academy High School. He studied theology at Chicago Loyola University and taught world religions in high schools. He served as the chairperson of Illinois State Board of Education Language Arts Assessment Advisory Council (2002-2012). He is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago.
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