Why was Mr. Gulen’s name brought up in the coup attempt in Turkey?


Date posted: July 17, 2016

Q: Do you know why the president (Erdogan) needed to bring your name up in this [coup attempt]?

Fethullah Gulen: He (Mr. Erdogan) has always had a reaction to those who do not obey him since the beginning.

As I previously expressed in other occasions, maybe, he was concealing some of his feelings.

There are things they were not able to achieve worldwide. People in the Hizmet Movement opened schools in 170 countries.

They tried to open Yunus Emre houses in 14-15 locations but they could not be successful. Turkish Olympiads displeased them.

Before founding the [AK] Party, he came to consult with me about founding the party. I met with him twice. One is when he came to ask my opinion about founding the [AK] Party. I suppose, he went to other people as well. It was not only a matter of asking opinion but also seeking support. I expressed my own considerations at the time.

Then my friends told me this. After he met with me in the 5th floor (Altunizade, Istanbul), when he was in the elevator, he said to the person next to him “we need to defeat them, vanquish them first.”

That is, they do not want any alternative formation, any service to exist.


Related News

Police takes careful approach on Turkish schools issue

The National Police is not in a hurry to deal with the Turkish government’s request to close nine international schools linked to Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused by Ankara of being behind the recent coup attempt in Turkey.

The Turkish “Great Teacher” – Fethullah Gülen and his Amazing Social Reforms

The Anatolia Cultural & Dialog Centre in Hong Kong (ACDC) invited and hosted two delegations from HKU – Centre for Buddhist Studies Alumni Association (CBSAA) during July and August this summer. The ACDC is a non-governmental Turkish cultural organization that promotes cultural & interfaith dialogue exchange to promote understanding between different communities. The Buddhist groups […]

In Greece, Turks tell of lives full of fear in Recep Erdogan’s Turkey

Dominika Spyratou of the Greek NGO SolidarityNow, which provides assistance to refugees, says that more than 1,000 Turkish citizens came to Greece seeking asylum after the July 2016 failed coup, while almost 300 Turkish families are now in Thessaloniki.

Gülen’s lawyer likens hate campaign against his client to Nazi era

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s attorney Nurullah Albayrak said the smear campaign targeting his client to marginalize him has peaked, stressing that the hate speech Gülen has been subjected to for months is comparable to Nazi era discriminatory practices.

Kurds, Turkey and growing with Öcalan’s help?

As far as the Kurds living in other countries are concerned, as Fethullah Gülen underscored in his Rudaw newspaper interview, Turkey should not only be interested in the well-being of Turks’ ethnic brothers in other countries but also Kurds’ and other ethnically non-Turkish citizens’ brothers and relatives all over the world. Thus, instead of seeing an autonomous Kurdish region in northern Syria as a threat, we must be happy that our Kurdish relatives on the other side of the border will hopefully have better living standards and human rights.

2-month-old denied breast milk for 17 days while under detention with mother

Put under detention with his mother at Ankara’s Sincan Prison, a two-month-old newborn had been denied access to breast milk for 17 days.

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

TUSKON says 2 businessmen threatened members with ‘blacklisting’

Fil-Turkish gives out beef amid terror threats

Irrationality rules

Gülen’s brother at risk of death in prison

Kimse Yok Mu conducts cataract surgeries in Nepal

Afghans collect 1 million signatures to prevent seizure of Turkish schools by Erdoğan regime

Ankara forces Arbil to close Turkish schools in KRG

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News