Lawyers for Gulen Call Flynn’s Comments ‘Troubling’


Date posted: November 18, 2016

Michael Rubinkam

Lawyers for a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric accused by Turkey of masterminding a failed coup said Friday they’re confident he won’t be extradited, even though President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for national security adviser recently denounced him as a “masked source of terror” and argued the U.S. shouldn’t allow him to stay.

Michael Flynn, a former Army lieutenant general tapped Friday by Trump, was highly critical of Fethullah Gulen in an Election Day op-ed for the Washington, D.C.-based newspaper The Hill.

“Gulen’s vast global network has all the right markings to fit the description of a dangerous sleeper terror network. From Turkey’s point of view, Washington is harboring Turkey’s Osama bin Laden,” Flynn wrote. “We should not provide him safe haven.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan contends Gulen orchestrated an attempted military coup in July and has demanded his extradition. President Barack Obama’s administration has not complied.

Gulen has never been charged with a crime in the U.S., and he has consistently denounced terrorism as well as the failed coup in Turkey.

One of Gulen’s lawyers, Jason Weinstein, called Flynn’s comments about Gulen “troubling” but said the extradition process is a legal matter in the hands of the Department of Justice.

“We hope and expect that the law will be followed here and that politics will not interfere with the judgment of career officials at DOJ. If the law is followed, then we are confident that Mr. Gulen will not be returned to Turkey, where he is certain to be subject to torture, a sham trial, and execution,” Weinstein said in a statement.

According to Senate records, Flynn’s company, Flynn Intel Group, registered as a lobbyist on Sept. 15 for a Dutch-based company headed by a Turkish businessman, Ekim Alptekin. The Senate disclosure says Flynn “will advise client on U.S. domestic and foreign policy.”

Alptekin told The Associated Press on Friday that while he believes Gulen leads a “criminal organization,” he has no connection to Erdogan’s government and had nothing to do with Flynn’s article.

“It is simply preposterous,” said Alptekin, who also chairs the Turkish-American Business Council. “I would never dare suggest anything like that, and if I had, my relationship (with Flynn) would have been immediately over.”

He said his business consultancy, Inovo B.V., hired Flynn Intel to advise it on security issues in the Middle East.

Robert Kelley, the chief counsel to Flynn Intel Group, didn’t immediately return an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Flynn said in a statement previously that if he returns to “government service, my relationship with my company will be severed, in accordance with the policy announced by President-elect Trump.”

In the op-ed, Flynn asserted that Gulen’s moderate image masks a hidden “radical Islamist” agenda. He did not provide evidence.

Gulen has criticized Erdogan, his onetime ally, over the Turkish leader’s authoritarian rule. The Erdogan regime has launched a broad campaign against Gulen’s movement in Turkey and abroad, purging civil servants suspected of ties to the movement, seizing businesses and closing media organizations.

In the United States, a lawyer hired by the Turkish government has lodged numerous accusations against a network of about 150 publicly funded charter schools started by followers of Gulen, whose philosophy blends a mystical form of Islam with advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Nobody associated with the U.S. schools has been charged with wrongdoing.

Gulen has lived on a compound in the Pocono Mountains since 1999.

Source: ABC News , November 18, 2016


Related News

Bilal Erdogan: Italy names Turkish president’s son in money laundering investigation allegedly connected to political corruption

Bilal Erdigan, son of the Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, is under investigation in Italy for money laundering, in connection, it has been claimed, with the 2013 corruption scandal that rocked the Turkish political establishment. The Bologna public prosecutor has opened a file on Bilal Erdogan after a key opponent of the Turkish regime officially denounced the president’s son, alleging he brought in large amounts of money to Italy last September to be recycled.

Turkey investigating 4,167 Gülen followers in 110 countries

At least 4,167 people in 110 countries are being investigated in Turkey over their links to the Gülen movement, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday.

Italian professor: Fethullah Gulen is a true lover of the Prophet

Professor Francesco Zannini, a prominent figure in the field of Islamic Studies in Italy, described Fethullah Gulen as a true “lover of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).” At a conference held at Torino University about Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen movement (aka Hizmet movement), Dr. Zannini explained he saw that preserving religious values did not require […]

Huntsville’s Peace Valley Foundation sets annual Dialogue Dinner and awards

A specialist in comparative theologies, Professor Loye Ashton, will deliver the keynote address at the 2013 Peace Valley Foundation’s Dialogue Dinner and Award Ceremony in Huntsville on Thursday, April 18, 2013. The annual dinner, sponsored by the non-profit organization dedicated to solving educational, cultural, environmental, social and humanitarian challenges, provides an opportunity for building bridges between people […]

Abant Platform takes on sustainable growth, separation of powers

The separation of powers has been systematically contravened by the government through recent laws eradicating the judiciary’s power and subordinating it to the Justice Ministry.

Pro-gov’t columnist claims Obama could be Gülen’s White House ‘imam’

Mehmet Barlas, a columnist from the pro-government Sabah daily who is known as a staunch supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, claimed in his column on Wednesday that US President Barack Obama could be an “imam” of the faith-based Gülen movement in Washington.

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

Turkey’s extradition adventure undermined Kosovan rule of law – Expert

Dumanlı: Accusations directed at Hizmet Movement is a great disappointment

Taraf daily to sue PM Erdoğan over treason accusations

Erdogan at UN urges global action against preacher

Indonesian-Turkish Schools host 5th Science Olympiads

Gülen-linked gold firm’s operations halted for second time in two months

Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gulen Condemns Brussels Terrorist Attacks

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News