Gulen says he is certain Erdogan behind failed Turkey coup


Date posted: September 29, 2016

Michelle Martin and Humeyra Pamuk

BERLIN (Reuters) U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish authorities accuse of orchestrating a failed coup in July, told a German newspaper that he was sure President Tayyip Erdogan was behind the putsch.

Gulen said in an interview with the weekly Die Zeit that the military coup attempt betrayed the principles of the Turkish government and his global movement called “Hizmet.” He pointed to Erdogan’s comments that the July 15 putsch was a “gift from God” because it would allow the army to be cleansed.

Asked if he was suggesting that Erdogan was behind the coup, Gulen said: “Until now I only thought that was a possibility. Now I think it’s certain.”

Gulen said a Turkish officer had recently said that the chief of general staff and the intelligence chief met in the army headquarters during the night of the coup, adding: “They already knew everything that would happen later.”

Exactly how events unfolded on the night of the coup has yet to be fully uncovered but Erdogan has repeatedly complained of what he described as an intelligence failure, saying he found out about the putsch only from his brother-in-law.

Turkish officials have said an informant who came to Turkey’s national intelligence agency provided the tip-off on the coup. The head of the armed forces, along with several other senior commanders, were abducted by the putschists.

Gulen said the coup gave Erdogan the opportunity to dismiss thousands of perceived opponents in ministries, the military, police and judiciary authorities as well as to arrest lawyers, business people, journalists and wives of Gulen supporters, and added that this must have been planned in advance.

In the post-coup crackdown, some 100,000 people in the police, civil service, military and judiciary have been sacked or suspended. Another 40,000 people have been detained.

Turkish officials have said Ankara’s intelligence agency had already been trackingGulenfollowers well before the coup attempt and had identified many figures previously.

Gulen distanced himself from Erdogan, saying they had only met a few times before Erdogan became prime minister in 2003.

“Neither my friends nor I were close to Erdogan ourselves, even if that is being claimed,” he told Die Zeit.

The Hizmet movement once backed Erdogan because when he founded the AK Party he promised democracy and stronger human rights as well as to limit the military’s political power, Gulen said. But, he said, Erdogan broke his promises after the 2011 election.

Turkey wants the United States to extradite Gulen and prosecute him on charges he masterminded the attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen denies any involvement. Washington has said it is cooperating with Ankara on the matter and asked for patience as it processes the extradition request for Gulen to meet U.S. legal requirements.

Gulen also told Die Zeit he did not think the United States would extradite him to Turkey but said that if it did decide to hand him over, he would buy himself a ticket and fly there.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin in Berlin and Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul)

Source: Religion News Service , September 29, 2016


Related News

Recent poll on Hizmet movement

DR. DOĞU ERGİL, April 24, 2012 The MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Center conducted a nationwide survey during the last week of March and the first week of April. The topics polled included the clash between the Gülen community and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). The number of respondents who believe the Gülen community wants to […]

German minister says state not investigating Gulenists

The German authorities are not investigating Gulenists, the country’s justice minister said Tuesday, much to the frustration of Turkey which has asked that action be taken against the shadowy group.

Corruption scandal will consolidate Turkish democracy

” When all the dust settles in the aftermath of corruption, money laundering and racketeering involving higher-ups in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), we will have the chance to lay the foundation for a democracy by consensus, which is the only way to rule a large country like Turkey with a relatively young population and rising middle class.”

Debunking Erdoğan’s smear campaign against Gülen

Acting as prosecutor, judge and executioner, Turkey’s chief political Islamist, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has already convicted a well-respected Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gülen, of what he called a civilian coup attempt, a fabricated charge devised by Erdoğan to discredit the vast graft scandal that incriminates him and his associates, including his family members.

Erdoğan’s aide: Unjust to suggest Hizmet eavesdropped on PM

A political aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday that it would be “unjust” and “wrong” to associate the Hizmet movement with wiretapping devices found in Erdoğan’s office. Speaking to TV station NTV, Yalçın Akdoğan, an adviser to the prime minister and a deputy of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), said: “Some people placed those devices there…. This is a grave situation.”

Saudi Scholar al-Qarni: Gulen serves with wisdom

One of the most celebrated scholars of Saudi Arabia and the Arab world at large, Sheikh Aaidh al-Qarni delivered sermons on “Tabi’in” (a referral to the people who lived in an age right after the Prophet Muhammad’s companions’ generation) at several salatin mosques (mosques built by Ottoman sultans) in Istanbul, on June 1 thru 9. […]

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

Erdogan’s war on education: The exodus of Turkey’s teachers

Turkey wants India to crack down on ‘Gulen’ schools

Sarıgül’s first election promise: to protect İstanbul’s historic skyline

HAPPENED AGAIN: Police detain woman who just gave birth at Mersin City Hospital

Erdoğan has to respect civil society

Failed 2016 coup was gov’t plot to purge Gülenists from state bodies, journalist claims

Fatih College basketball court demolished despite ongoing case

Copyright 2024 Hizmet News