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

Fethullah Gulen Denies Coup Involvement

Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in self-exile in the U.S. and a political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, insisted Saturday that he had no involvement in Friday’s attempted coup.

The Gülen community and the AKP

TAHA AKYOL The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), which is in line with Fethullah Gülen, has issued an announcement on relations with the ruling party. It is certain that Gülen made the last retouches on the text himself. Gülen defines the movement shortly as “Hizmet” (translated roughly as “service” in English). I asked those who […]

President Gül dismisses calls to help tackle political turmoil

During a press conference held on Monday, the GYV, whose honorary chairman is Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, stated that a hate crime is being carried out against the Hizmet movement in Turkey and called on President Gül to take the initiative to investigate the executive branch’s recent attempts to render the judiciary dysfunctional.

Turkey’s Erdogan Is Already Making the Most of His ‘Gift From Heaven’ After Coup Attempt

Erdogan is establishing the regime he wants even if the constitution is not amended, a regime that ensures complete loyalty, whether out of support for him or out of fear he is instilling in tens of thousands of government officials, hundreds of thousands of teachers, thousands of judges and prosecutors and army officers. The shakeup in the education system is perhaps the most significant, even more than in the justice system or the army.

Shutting down prep schools against free enterprise, analysts say

“It’s not possible to make out of this behavior befitting a government that defends a market economy,” Seyfettin Gürsel, director of Bahçeşehir University’s Center for Economic and Social Research, told Today’s Zaman. Opponents of the government’s plan have also noted that the prep schools are a consequence of the many inadequacies of Turkey’s education system, and said that prep schools help low-income students enter university.

Erdogan: A Classic Case Of How Power Corrupts

To consolidate his reign, Turkey’s president Mr. Erdogan intimidated his political opponents, emasculated the military, silenced the press, and enfeebled the judiciary; most recently, he pressed the parliament to amend the constitution to grant him essentially absolute powers.

Latest News

Sacramento leaders gather for Iftar dinner in celebration of Ramadan

SEO Skill Suite: Tools for Keyword Research, Technical & Backlink Analysis

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

In Case You Missed It

Gülen: PKK employing tactics similar to those of Feb. 28

Cabinet bans charity Kimse Yok Mu from collecting donations

Nigeria Turkish College to Host Language, Culture Festival

Erdogan at UN urges global action against preacher

Erdoğan calls for expanded witch hunt against Gülen followers

Punjab university: Honorary PhD given to Turkish scholar Fethullah Gulen

AKP deputy: “Imprisoned Gulen supporters and PKK members will be massacred by furious mobs”

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News