Turkish Cleric, Accused in Coup Plot, Calls Crackdown ‘Dark Pages’ in History

M. Fethullah Gulen
M. Fethullah Gulen


Date posted: September 15, 2016

Rick Gladstone

The Turkish Muslim cleric accused by Turkey of plotting a failed coup two months ago denounced the repression of his supporters on Thursday, calling the crackdown “dark pages in world history.”

The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, said the arrests, purges and dismissals undertaken by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, a former ally, reflected the behavior of a man “seeking sovereignty for himself.”

Mr. Gulen accused the government of subjecting his followers to “oppression and tyranny.”

“My heart is aching,” he said.

Mr. Erdogan and his subordinates have blamed Mr. Gulen for the coup attempt, which left at least 271 people dead. Mr. Gulen is the overseer of a religious movement that runs schools, charities and other enterprises in a number of countries, but that the Turkish government considers a terrorist organization.

Mr. Gulen, 75, who has repeatedly denied involvement in the coup attempt, made his remarks in Turkish in a recorded video address to the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, which streamed the address and provided a simultaneous translation.


The Turkish Muslim cleric accused by Turkey of plotting a failed coup two months ago denounced the repression of his supporters on Thursday, calling the crackdown “dark pages in world history.” The severity of the crackdown in Turkey has raised concerns in the United States and Europe that Mr. Erdogan has used the failed coup as a pretext to eradicate political rivals and groups he deems a threat to his power. 


It was Mr. Gulen’s first public comment about the coup attempt and its aftermath since Turkey, a United States ally, formally requested that the American authorities arrest him while Turkish prosecutors seek to have him extradited. Turkey’s semiofficial Anadolu news agency said Tuesday that the Justice Ministry had demanded his arrest on charges of “ordering and commanding the attempted coup.”

Mr. Gulen did not address the extradition issue. But his principal deputy, Y. Alp Aslandogan, who spoke to the World Affairs Council after the video was shown, said Mr. Gulen had no plans to leave the United States.

“He hasn’t done anything wrong,” Mr. Aslandogan said. “It’s not possible for the Turkish government to satisfy conditions for extradition. He’s not worried about it.”

The Obama administration has said it is taking the extradition request seriously. While Turkish officials have acknowledged that the process could take months, many are angry at the United States for what they view as lenient treatment of Mr. Gulen.

The severity of the crackdown in Turkey has raised concerns in the United States and Europe that Mr. Erdogan has used the failed coup as a pretext to eradicate political rivals and groups he deems a threat to his power. Mr. Erdogan and his subordinates have rejected those concerns.

Mr. Gulen said he believed that Mr. Erdogan had been caught off guard by the international response to the crackdown, saying the Turkish leader “did not realize how this would be perceived.”

Source: New York Times , September 15, 2016


Related News

Turkish Islamic preacher – threat or benefactor?

Alexandra Hudson Smiling 11-year olds Serra and Liyna, fellow pupils at the 5,000-pound-a-year Fatih College primary school in Istanbul, chime in similarly confident English that their favourite subject is science and they want to be doctors. (Reuters) – Nine-year-old Burak says his favourite subject is maths, he loves studying and writing in English, and when […]

GYV President Mustafa Yeşil answers questions about the Gulen movement

March 26, 2013 Hizmet does not expect anything from the political authorities. Our only expectations are that the EU process must be kept alive and democratization must be achieved; that rights and freedoms are improved; that the ongoing fight against military tutelage is completed; and that the new constitution materializes. We do not even want […]

Statement on Chapel Hill Shootings

The Alliance for Shared Values strongly condemns the slaying of the three Muslim students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is heartbreaking to see the loss of young, innocent lives and to see the assault on peace and tolerance we so cherish in the U.S. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased.

Why didn’t Chuck Hagel visit Turkey?

The government took new measures to prevent the graft probe from proceeding, in an attempt to create the public perception that the corruption allegations are the making of the Hizmet movement and its alleged foreign collaborators. For instance, a new measure introduced by the government to tighten control over the Internet, including powers allowing the authorities to block websites for privacy violations without a court decision, is part of a campaign to prevent news related to the corruption scandal from being disseminated further through the Internet.

Reflections on my first trip to TÜRKIYE

Last week I had the pleasure of accompanying a group of Jewish community leaders on a Niagara Foundation sponsored trip to Türkiye (Turkey). Our mission: to provide the group with windows into the Jewish experience in Turkey. One of the trip participants would describe this as, “not a Jewish trip to Turkey but a group of Jewish people traveling to Turkey.”

Who wants peace?

ORHAN MİROĞLU The Hizmet movement also wants peace. And peace is of course desired by the movement’s leader, Fethullah Gülen, who has worked for so many years to see the brotherhood between Turks and Kurds improved. Words of sincerity and courage spoken by Gülen should stand as examples for the leaders of our political parties. […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

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

In Case You Missed It

Liberals silent as Turkey targets its own Khashoggi

Michael Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, was paid to investigate Fethullah Gulen during election campaign

Turkish Olympiad students visit top level gov’t officials in Ankara

Fuat Avni claims Gülen-inspired schools to be closed due to fabricated auditing standards

Preventing Disease: Turkish charity donates 22 wells to Pakistan

An NBA Center Faces Imprisonment And Possible Execution In Turkey

[Part 3] Gülen says gov’t cut back on rights and freedoms in Turkey

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News