AfSV Statement on the Turkish government’s detainment of Kutbettin Gülen


Date posted: October 8, 2016

Alliance for Shared Values issued the following statement on the Turkish government’s detainment of Kutbettin Gülen

News of the detention of Kutbettin Gülen, the brother of Fethullah Gülen, is as unsurprising as it is troubling, and it is yet the latest example of the Turkish government’s persecution of innocent citizens in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt. Kutbettin Gülen, like tens of thousands of others in Turkey, has been detained on trumped-up charges used by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s administration to silence dissent and cement his autocratic hold on power. Just in the last few days, Erdoğan extended the country’s state of emergency, issued arrest warrants for more than 100 citizens and suspended more than 12,000 police officers, adding to a total of more than 100,000 innocent people systematically detained, jailed or purged.

 About the Alliance for Shared Values

The Alliance for Shared Values (AFSV) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves as a voice for dialogue organizations affiliated with Hizmet, a civil society movement inspired by prominent preacher and peace advocate Fethullah Gülen. Based in New York, the Alliance strives to promote peace and to eliminate prejudice and discrimination against any or all ethnic, cultural and religious communities. To learn more about the Alliance please visit www.afsv.org.

About Fethullah Gülen

Fethullah Gülen is an Islamic scholar, preacher and social advocate, whose decades‐long commitment to interfaith tolerance and altruism has inspired millions in Turkey and around the world. Gülen is the honorary chairman of the Rumi Forum, Washington, DC; the Intercultural Dialogue Platform, Brussels, Belgium; and the Foundation of Journalists and Writers, Istanbul, Turkey.

-For legal inquiries, please contact:

Jason Weinstein

Steptoe & Johnson LLP

202-429-8061

jweinstein@Steptoe.com

-For all other inquiries, please contact:

Dr. Y. Alp Aslandogan

Alliance for Shared Values

212-682-4278

media@afsv.org

Source: Alliance for Shared Values , October 4, 2016

Tags: | | | |


Related News

PM’s discourse over ‘no family, children’ offensive, hurtful

On Feb. 23, Prime Minister Erdoğan targeted Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli due to his criticism of the government in the ongoing corruption investigation, saying: “He does not have any concept of family. He has no such concern. We know what children mean,” in an obvious reference to Bahçeli’s unmarried status.

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

A new book released on October 15 says Ankara pursued a systematic campaign to erase a civic movement from public life. “The book is about the systematic and relentless persecution … to bring about their civil death,” Turkish lawyer and human‑rights advocate Coşkun Yorulmaz, co-author of the book, told Turkish Minute in an interview. “Erdoğan’s […]

Why should education in Pakistan be held hostage to the politics of other countries, however brotherly?

If Pakistan does indeed give in to pressure from the Turkish government, the move will be ironic, given the number of madressahs currently operating in the country with established links to political, religious or denominational movements that have a more than suspected record of terrorism, violence and spurious religious indoctrination.

Turkey Heads Toward Radical Islamic Dictatorship

Thousands have been arrested. Civil rights are suspended. People are jailed with no way to consult lawyers or present a defense. The coup has become an excuse for Erdoğan to purge state institutions, and even the private sector, of his critics, regardless of their guilt with regard to the insurrection. The Turkish government — and a 100% state-controlled media — has accused the U.S. government of being behind the coup attempt itself and harboring its purported mastermind, Fetullah Gulen.

International photography contest “Peace at the Frame”

The Journalist and Writers Foundation’s (GYV) Intercultural Dialogue Platform announces its first, annual photography contest. GYV likes to draw attention one more time to the peace, which is need more than ever these days through art of photography .GYV intends to unite everybody who can put the peace at his/her frame with the expertise of the art of photography.

Did Erdogan STAGE the coup?

‘Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force,” Gulen said. “I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly.’ Gulen sharply rejected any responsibility: ‘As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt.

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

Filipino student wins prestigious Turkish Olympiad song contest

Diverging points between AKP and Hizmet movement: Kurdish question

Gülen’s German collaborator, or the German slap?

‘Nigeria, Turkey trade volume hits N250bn in 4 years’

Turkish School strengthens ties with Turkmenistan

The Hizmet movement and external forces

Obama is the real turkey in this scenario

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News