This is beyond a witch-hunt – Turkey now blames Gülen movement for 9/11 attacks

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief advisor Yiğit Bulut.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief advisor Yiğit Bulut.


Date posted: October 31, 2016

In yet another example of scapegoating the Gülen movement for anything bad in Turkey or in anywhere else in the world, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief advisor Yiğit Bulut hinted at connections between FETÖ and the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US.

“FETÖ” is an abbreviation for the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization, coined by the Turkish government to label the movement as a terrorist organization. Erdoğan accuses the movement of masterminding a July 15 coup attempt in Turkey.

“This ‘terrorist network’ owns at least 230 schools in the US, and US nationals graduating from these schools hold positions at military and other institutions there. Such details are of crucial importance to the wise and to those who wish to figure them out.

“Considering these findings, let’s go back and ask: ‘Can there be a deep link between the FETÖ terrorist network and Sept. 11, 2001? What do you say, is it possible?” Bulut asked in his column published by the pro-government Star daily on Monday.

Bulut writes three columns per week for Star and also acts as a board member for Türk Telekom, Turkey’s largest telecommunication provider, which is partly owned by the state.
Accusing the movement of anything bad is nothing new in Turkey as top state officials as well as criminals and suspects also pin the blame on the movement for crimes, negligence and sometimes wrongdoing.

Last week, the infamous police officer who sprayed tear gas directly into the face of a female protestor, for which he received a suspended 20-month jail sentence, blamed his superior, whom he considers to be affiliated with the movement.

Earlier, Soma Holding Chairman Can Gürkan said Turkey’s worst mining accident that killed 301 people at his mine was a plot by the movement.

Sentenced to 19 years in prison for his ex-wife’s murder, Turkey’s infamous mob boss Alaattin Çakıcı earlier claimed that judges and prosecutors affiliated with the movement blocked a fair trial in his case.

Late in September, a report that the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office attached to its investigation into the movement stated that the removal of talented pilots from within the military and FETÖ’s ensuing infiltration has increased the occurrence of crashes.

Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli also suggested alleged links between the movement and the recent downgrade in the country’s sovereign debt rating by Moody’s.

Source: Turkish Minute , October 31, 2016


Related News

Misreading Turkey’s Twitter Controversy

Gülen and the participants of the movement he helped create have no interest in the privileges of power, which is evident from their purposeful abstention from holding political office or negotiating for political advantage.

The UN High-Level Reception Highlights the Role of Public-Private Partnerships

Education, along with few other factors, has been the centerpiece of the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda. During the evaluation period of the successes of the Millennium Development Goals, it was obvious that even though the number of children attending schools significantly increased, the higher education they got did not meet the standards of the contemporary world and labor markets.

Young Peacebuilders Honored

Fatih Sahin, Anisha Menezes East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet! The Turkish Cultural Centers in America believe in bridging the chasm between the east and west, seeking peace through community building. The 6th Friendship Dinner hosted by the Turkish Cultural Center of Brooklyn, was themed ‘Hate Crimes and […]

Is it struggle between AK Party and Hizmet?

A prosecutor, Mr. Sadrettin Sarikaya, recently invited head of Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) for testimony that caused political controversy. Many journalists and politicians claimed that behind this was Fethullah Gulen. Mr Sarikaya’s accusation was that some intelligence agents that infiltrated the Kurdish terrorist group to provide intelligence were actually not performing their job, and moreover […]

Once lauded as model, Turkey’s Africa initiative loses momentum

One of the main reasons behind the loss of momentum in Turkey’s once-intense efforts to boost relations with African states is the Turkish government’s effort to win domestic battles at any cost. In one such attempt, the Turkish government started to work on a plan to get states to close down Turkish schools abroad that are affiliated with the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by the teachings of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and known as one of Turkey’s most important soft-power instruments.

3,623 Aggravated Life Sentences Sought In Turkey For Scholar Fethullah Gülen

Turkish prosecutors, part of a judiciary strongly under the influence of Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have demanded 3,623 aggravated life sentences for Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the US.

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

Five global challenges: how might Hizmet respond?

Education Ministry sought to profile students, teachers through surveys

KADİP’s 1st international photography contest held for peace

Turkish school honored with state medal in Laos

Woman says husband abducted after losing job in post-coup crackdown

Threat to destroy the Hizmet Movement a hate crime

Report: White House denies remarks attributed to Obama about Gülen

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News