Fethullah Gulen’s opinion on Turkey today


Date posted: May 17, 2017

Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic scholar, preacher and social advocate, who is blamed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of orchestrating the attempted military coup, penne an opinion-editorial published in The Washington Post on May 15.

He wrote: “As the presidents of the United States and Turkey meet at the White House on [May 16], the leader of the country I have called home for almost two decades comes face to face with the leader of my homeland. The two countries have a lot at stake, including the fight against the Islamic State, the future of Syria and the refugee crisis.”

He noted that the Turkey he once knew as a hope-inspiring country on its way to consolidating its democracy and a moderate form of secularism has become the dominion of a president who is doing everything he can to amass power and subjugate dissent.

Gulen called on the West to help Turkey return to a democratic path. He said the May 16 meeting, and next week’s Nato summit should be used as an opportunity to advance this effort.

Since the July 15 attempted coup, Erdogan has ordered the arrest, detention and firing of hundreds of thousands of Turkish citizens. According to Gulen, officials have also targeted participants of Hizmet, the peaceful humanitarian movement with which he is associated.

“As the coup attempt unfolded, I fiercely denounced it and denied any involvement,” wrote Gulen, who has been living in self-exile in the US since 1999. “Furthermore, I said that anyone who participated in the putsch betrayed my ideals. Nevertheless, and without evidence, Erdogan immediately accused me of orchestrating it from 5,000 miles away.

“The next day, the government produced lists of thousands of individuals whom they tied to Hizmet — for opening a bank account, teaching at a school or reporting for a newspaper — and treated such an affiliation as a crime and began destroying their lives,” Gulen wrote. “The lists included people who had been dead for months and people who had been serving at Nato’s European headquarters at the time. International watchdogs have reported numerous abductions, in addition to torture and deaths in detention. The government pursued innocent people outside Turkey, pressuring Malaysia, for instance, to deport three Hizmet sympathisers last week, including a school principal who has lived there for more than a decade, to face certain imprisonment and likely torture.”

To revers what Gulen describes as “democratic regression” in Turkey, he wrote that a new civilian constitution should be drafted through a democratic process involving the input of all segments of society and that is on par with international legal and humanitarian norms, and drawing lessons from the success of long-term democracies in the West.

Second, Gulen wrote that school curriculum that emphasises democratic and pluralistic values and encourages critical thinking must be developed.

“Every student must learn the importance of balancing state powers with individual rights, the separation of powers, judicial independence and press freedom, and the dangers of extreme nationalism, politicization of religion and veneration of the state or any leader.”

“I probably will not live to see Turkey become an exemplary democracy, but I pray that the downward authoritarian drift can be stopped before it is too late,” concluded Gulen.

Source: New Europe , May 17, 2017


Related News

Lawyers for Gulen Call Flynn’s Comments ‘Troubling’

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.

An interesting debate in the European Parliament

It is known that European parliamentarians already talk to people close to Hizmet, so this refusal was interesting. It can even give the impression that the Turkish government is putting pressure on the EP. Of course, Turkey hasn’t that kind of power; if we did, we would have become an EU member years ago. The other impression is that the Hizmet movement is trying to influence the EP’s work.

Turks Should Question The Official Narrative That Gulen Was Behind The Coup

I am not trying to absolve one side or the other. The coup attempt was a heinous assault on Turkey’s civilian politics and the plotters must be punished in a fashion that deters similar actions in the future. What I am trying to understand is why everyone agrees that Gulenists did it when there is little evidence and that is even questionable.

Bosnian court denies Turkish extradition request for alleged Gülen follower

A Bosnian court has dismissed a request for extradition to Turkey of a Turkish national, one among several wanted for alleged links to the Gülen movement, which Ankara blames for a failed coup in Turkey in 2016, Reuters reported.

An NBA Center Faces Imprisonment And Possible Execution In Turkey

Normally, the Oklahoma City Thunder would be trying to find a replacement for Kevin Durant, or figure out how to get past the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs or Houston Rockets. They probably didn’t expect they’d have to struggle to keep their center Enes Kanter from being jailed and possibly executed in Turkey by an increasingly authoritarian leader.

Hopefully the Gulen movement will help change the American values

Peace Islands Institute hosted Dr. James Harrington on a “Book Conversations” program on March 1st 2012. Journalist/Writer Aydogan Vatandas interviewed Dr. James Harrington on his book titled “Wrestling with Free Speech, Religious Freedom, and Democracy in Turkey: The Political Trials and Times of Fethullah Gulen“. Following his presentation there was Q&A part. Below is the interview […]

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

Tortured detainee would choose 50 years in prison over return to custody in Turkey

Hizmet Movement’s Responsibility

Mr. Gulen is trying to interpret the broad humanistic principles of the Qur’an for the modern world

Paranoia: Turkish ‘hero’ T-shirts land dozens in jail

Turkey’s Armenian Community: We are ready to be cultural bridge between people of Turkey, US

TUSKON event to yield $350 mln in trade with Africa in one day

Second Turkish food and culture festival held in South Africa

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News