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

The AKP as a party: Is it Islamic, statist or just opportunist?

The situation is tense these days in Turkey between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Gülen movement.

The Hizmet movement and external forces

Fethullah Gülen Hocaefendi and the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) make statements on behalf of the Hizmet movement. Even the GYV’s statements can hardly be considered as binding for every individual who is inspired by the Hizmet movement and who participates in different projects in a different manner as the Hizmet movement does not have a central organization or membership mechanism.

Teacher tortured to death by Turkish police found innocent, reinstated to job

Teacher Gökhan Açıkkollu, who was tortured to death while in police custody in the wake of a coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016 over alleged membership in the faith-based Gülen movement, was found innocent one-and-a-half years later and “reinstated” to his job.

Destici: No one should attempt to change law to save themselves

Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Mustafa Destici, speaking about an ongoing corruption operation and the government’s response to it, said on Sunday that everyone has a responsibility to respect the laws in the country and that efforts to change the laws to protect a certain group of people from accusations are unacceptable.

Turkish court: There is no Gulen terror organization

The 2nd Criminal Court in the southern province of Hatay rejected an indictment prepared about the Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), a term used by the Turkish government to describe the Gülen movement, saying that there is no such a terrorist organization officially identified.

A House Divided: Civil Society and Democracy in Turkey

I am of the firm opinion that Hizmet movement had been practically the core civilizing, and transformative engine for strong Turkish civil society in this modern age. The movement has had, without any doubt, facilitated and consolidated Turkey’s strong civil society and democracy.

Latest News

Sacramento leaders gather for Iftar dinner in celebration of Ramadan

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

In Case You Missed It

Alliance for Shared Values Deplores Paris Shootings

A Family’s Journey from Turkey and Argentina to San Antonio

Netherlands investigating Turkish professor’s remark that killing Gülenists is permissible in Islam

Gülen says praying for kidnapped schoolgirls, Nigerian people

Turkey-Kurdistan Regional Government ties: How and why did they improve this much?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

World’s oldest temple closed to visitors due to excavation team links with Gülen

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News