Fethullah Gulen Calls Crackdown ‘Dark Pages’ in History - Responses to World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

Fethullah Gulen Calls Crackdown ‘Dark Pages’ in History – Responses to World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

Date posted: September 16, 2016

Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen whom Turkey accuses of masterminding July’s abortive coup again condemned the Turkish government crackdown on his supporters, saying Thursday that his “heart is aching.”

In videotaped remarks to the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, Fethullah Gulen said the Turkish government is using the attempted coup to justify persecuting his followers, who he said are being “subjected to oppression and tyranny, molestation and unlawful acquisition of their private properties.”

Related News

Leaked document sheds light on Turkey’s controlled ‘coup’

Two and half years later, evidence is trickling out to support what the EU initially suspected – that president Recep Tayyip Erdogan knew what was going to happen and let it go ahead as a pretext to create one-man rule.

‘Young Turks’ Of Bridge Building

Cross-cultural program between Jewish and Turkish Muslim teens flourishes in south Brooklyn as Israel, Turkey eye calm. The Young Peace Builders, which was launched three years ago by the Kings Bay Y, a Jewish community center, and the Amity School, a private K-12 school that admits students from all ethnic and religious backgrounds, serves a primarily Turkish-Muslim student body.

Governor’s office closes 3 Gülen-inspired prep schools in Çorum

Despite a ruling from the Constitutional Court and the Council of State annulling a Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government-sponsored law that required privately owned exam preparation schools in Turkey to be closed down or converted, the Çorum Governor’s Office has ordered the closure of three prep schools as part of the government-led operation against institutions and businesses owned by the faith-based Gülen movement.

AKP deputy calls on Turkey’s religious officials to declare Gülen followers apostates

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) İstanbul deputy Metin Külünk has said Turkey’s top religious officials should declare supporters of the Gülen movement apostates, the Yeniakit daily reported on Monday. Erdoğan himself has called Gülen movement people “terrorists,” “traitors,” “vampires,” “leeches,” “tumors” and “viruses.”

Gülen Speaks to Süddeutsche Zeitung daily, warns of on-going witch hunt against Hizmet

“The impression is that Turkey is moving away from a state of democratic, secular and social values and turning into a single party, and even further, a one man state,” noted Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-exposed exile in the US, echoing widely expressed criticism of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the current government.

Refugee helps refugees

Syrian refugees are getting a helping hand from central Pennsylvania thanks to an effort being led by a refugee in Cumberland County. Zuhra Korkutovic knows what it’s like to have to leave your homeland and start over.