Former Turkish President Gül denies having any relationship with the Gülen movement or Fethullah Gülen but history tells…

In this 2011 photo, President Abdullah Gul greets Seref Ali Tekalan, rector of Fatih University, which was closed down during the anti-Gulen crackdown.
In this 2011 photo, President Abdullah Gul greets Seref Ali Tekalan, rector of Fatih University, which was closed down during the anti-Gulen crackdown.


Date posted: January 4, 2017

HizmetNews.Com

Former Turkish President Abdullah Gül answered 27 questions sent to him by the parliamentary Coup Investigation Commission, while current President Erdogan, Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar and National Intelligence Agency head Hakan Fidan were not questioned although they were directly affected by the attempted coup.

In his answers, Gül denied having relations with neither the Gülen movement nor Fethullah Gülen. But, history tells the opposite: Gül attended many activities of the Gülen movement; he even hosted, in his official residence, students of Turkish schools from many countries during a Turkish Language and Culture Olympiad in 2011.

In a video available in the internet, Gül is seen attending to the opening of Bank Asya, an Islamic lender established by sympathizers of Gülen, in 1996 along with Gülen current President, then-mayor of İstanbul Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and then-Prime Minister Tansu Çiller.

When hosting the students from Gülen-inspired Turkish schools President Gül in his speech praised these initiatives and said: “This is (the schools) a great service to Turkey, Turkish language and culture.” He was also bestowed with “Karamanoglu Mehmet Bey Turkish Language Award” by the organizing committee of the Olympiad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcscBk2KOD4

It was not clear why President Gül gave a statement as if he had been unaware of the Gülen movement. Once, it was even perceived and circulated in the media that that he was a follower of Fethullah Gülen.

President Gül attended many activities of the Gülen movement in Turkey and abroad. Below are some of them:

President Gül opens Turkish-Kazakh school in Astana

President Gül inaugurates Turkish school in Kenya

Turkish President Gül: Turkish schools abroad largest non-state project

President Gül hosts Turkish Olympiad students in Ankara

 


Related News

Reactions pour in over Turks’ controversial arrest in Malaysia as UN joins calls against extradition

The UN Human Rights Office for South-East Asia has expressed serious concern about the recent arrests of three Turkish nationals in Malaysia, joining calls on the government to refrain from extradition.

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

The Turkey Tribunal, a civil society-led, symbolic international tribunal established to adjudicate recent human rights violations in Turkey, started proceedings in Geneva on Monday where rapporteurs pointed to the use of systematic torture by the government against alleged members of the faith-based Gülen movement and Kurds.

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.

France Urges Turkey to Respect Rights in Aftermath of Coup

France’s foreign minister urged Turkey on Monday to respect fundamental rights and freedoms in the aftermath of the country’s failed military coup, saying democracy is the best defense against those trying to defy it.

PM Erdoğan increases intensity of hate speech against Hizmet movement

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has increased the intensity of his hate speech against the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, calling on people not to attend the movement’s schools or exam preparatory courses and not to buy newspapers close to the movement.

New constitution must bear spirit of Abant

ABANT — Turkey has long been trying to rid itself of the remnants of the Constitution of 1982, which was the product of the military coup of September 12, 1980, as it goes through a process of confronting and settling accounts with military tutelage and coups. Bülent Keneş, Sunday March 11, 2012 Almost all political […]

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

AK Party deputy Hakan Şükür against closure of prep schools

Turkish NGO in Cambodia Denies Links to Terror

Hizmet school ready to pioneer education in Kurdish

Mueller Probes Flynn’s Role in Alleged Plan to Deliver Gulen to Turkey

UN praises Kimse Yok Mu for aid efforts in Somalia

Bad news for Erdoğan’s lawyers in the US

Gülen’s lawyers refute justice minister’s statement likening Gülen to Iran’s Khomeini

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News