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.”
Conspiracy theory par excellence [against Gülen movement]
That broad spectrum of people appears to be convinced that Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has advanced an interpretation of Islam in line with liberal modernity, and the faith-based social movement he has inspired, is to be blamed for all wrongdoing and crime that is going on in Turkey.
‘Fethullah Gulen is one of the leading Islamic thinkers in the world’
I think the Gulen, or Hizmet, Movement represents Islam by, on the one hand, maintaining a strong connection to and being rooted in the Islamic primary sources, such as the Qur’an and the Prophetic teachings, but, at the same time, not neglecting the world around it.
Police pressure businessmen who sued Erdoğan over Hizmet remarks
On one day, police paid a visit both to the residence and workplace of the businessman, who requested to remain anonymous, even though there had not been any violation of law on his part. Asking arbitrary questions at the businessman’s residence, such as, “Why did you sue the prime minister?”, “What does your husband [the businessman] do?”, “Do you own the house or is it rental?” and “Do you have a car?”, the police asked for the mobile phone number of the businessman and left. The policeman said that they came from the Tepebaşı Police Station in Ankara.
Fethullah Gülen’s message of condemnation and condolences for victims of the terrorist attack in Gaziantep, Turkey:
I condemn, in the strongest terms, the barbaric terrorist attack on attendees of a wedding ceremony in Gaziantep, Turkey that took the lives of more than fifty citizens, including children, and wounded many others.
Government as a black propaganda machine
In an effort to distract public opinion from the graft probe and the alleged involvement of the prime minister and his inner circle in corruption, Erdoğan has been conducting psychological warfare. Considering the Hizmet movement responsible as the force behind the investigation, Erdoğan declared the movement an enemy.
Gülen: Society not divided into Kemalists, Muslims in Turkey
“We can neither talk about two dissociated groups such as Kemalists or Muslims in Turkey, nor we can talk about a ‘divide’ that is impossible to fill. We are heirs of an ‘empire’ society, which possesses characteristics of a mosaic.
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