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

Overshadowing the graft probe

Erdoğan’s government has removed around 113 police chiefs from their posts in a major overhaul and issued a decree that dealt a serious blow to judicial independence since the operation, which targeted some members of his inner circle, was initiated on Dec. 17. All these draconian measures taken by the government are intended to prevent the police and judiciary from carrying out criminal investigations without the government’s — i.e., the executive’s — knowledge.

Dozens take to Parliament Hill to protest Turkish human rights violations

Dozens of protesters packed the steps of Parliament Hill Saturday to draw attention to human rights violations against women and children in Turkey, in the wake of last summer’s failed coup.

We could not have imagined so many insults

They hope to cover up the corruption investigation and the reassignment of thousands of police officers and dozens of prosecutors and judges that had been planned much earlier. When the prime minister opted to use the language of insult, his copycat ministers and deputies who want to be popular with the prime minister began to use even more violent language.

Speaking about Gülen, Chomsky: ‘Mandela declared as terrorist, too’

World-famous philosopher, philologist and historian Prof Dr. Noam Chomsky gave a speech about the claims of ‘terrorist’ against Fethullah Gülen in Boston. Chomsky reminded that legendary leader Nelson Mandela, who was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle against racism and insistence on peaceful solution for racism, had been in ‘list of terrorists’.

Journeys with the Gülen [Hizmet] Movement: 2008-2012 by James Harrington

James C. Harrington*, January 27, 2013 Journeys through life take strange twists and happen in mysterious ways – some would say providential, although I might not – but one does wonder at times. My journeys with the Gülen movement began one Summer Sunday morning in 2008, when a judge friend of mine announced from the back […]

Fresh political raids targets leading Turkish NGO Kimse Yok Mu

Police teams from the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime division stormed the office of UN member NGO Kimse Yok Mu’s branch in Turkey’s northwestern province of Kocaeli on Wednesday in the latest political raid to sweep the country.

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

Prime minister’s inconsistencies raise eyebrows

Ex-AK Party delegate slams persecution of Hizmet movement

Gülen movement-backed Abant Platform to discuss Alevi-Sunni ties

Imam who lives in rural Pennsylvania arouses praise, concerns

Congratulations to Fethullah Gulen and Izzettin Dogan

Kimse Yok Mu establishes town in Pakistan

Gülen movement’s engagement with political processes

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News