Gülen, a man of peace, not behind attempted coup in Turkey

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen


Date posted: July 23, 2017

Mustafa Yucekaya

July 15 was the anniversary of the failed coup attempt in Turkey that resulted in the deaths of 249 people. From the first minute of the coup attempt, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen as the main plotter.

Despite Gülen’s repeated denials of any involvement and his open call for an investigation by an international commission, no concrete effort has been made to find out the true perpetrators of the heinous attempt. Instead, a state of emergency, which still continues today, was declared and is used to silence the opposition and all other critical voices.

One year later, it has been revealed by intelligence agencies in the United Kingdom and Germany that the coup plotters were a coalition of officers that includes diverse groups in the military. There is no credible evidence provided by Turkish authorities that links Gülen to this coup attempt. The majority of reputable Turkish analysts point out that it was, in fact, Erdogan who had benefited the most from this attempt by starting a counter-coup, and most believe that he had known about the coup attempt in advance, indicating that this might be Erdogan’s “Reichstag fire.”

Gülen is a prominent Muslim scholar who promotes dialogue between people of diverse cultures and faiths. He denounces all kinds of violence and promotes modern education as a remedy for social problems. His teachings inspire millions of people around the world who are volunteering to serve their communities, which is often named the “Hizmet” movement. “Hizmet” literally means “service” in Turkish.

I believe that when these dark days in Turkey are over, volunteers of the Hizmet movement will put their hearts and souls into repairing the severely damaged social fabric with love, compassion, and forgiveness.


Mustafa Yucekaya is the executive director of the Atlantic Institute of South Florida, Miami. 

Source: Miami Herald , July 22, 2017


Related News

‘Gulenists’ talk about finding a safe haven in Kosovo

Thousands of Turkish nationals, including Gulenists, opposition members, and minorities, fled Turkey and scattered throughout the globe, particularly in Europe and the US; some educators and civil servants with actual or alleged ties to the transnational religious Gulenist movement fled to Kosovo.

Obama is the real turkey in this scenario

Erdogan also made a statement, calling the president of the United States “Barack,” before launching into one of his usual self-serving rants. Typical of a violent Islamist appropriating the moral high ground, the Turkish president agreed that fighting terrorism is of utmost importance. But the “terrorists” to whom he mainly referred were Gulen and the Kurds.

Is the Hizmet movement resisting normalization?

Accusing the Hizmet movement, which insistently demands the fulfillment of the steps towards democratization which I referred to above and contributes to the process of change as evidenced by its stance in the referendum, of serving as a parallel structure indirectly means: “I will not change myself and introduce universal reforms. You have to live with this painful fact for the normalization of the country and take your steps accordingly.”

Conceptual contradictions when it comes to rhetoric about ‘parallel state’

.In the wake of the Dec. 17 corruption operations that took place in Turkey, the government removed and changed such an extraordinarily high number of people from their positions in the police force, the justice system and the national education structure that these changes certainly would not have been possible in a state of law. An attempt was made to see these changes happen within the framework of heavy propaganda about the concept of the existence of a “parallel state.”

[Alleged] “Coup leader” Gülen’s friendships with the Catholic Church

Erdogan’s propaganda channels and instruments have been referring to Hizmet as the “Gülenist Terror Organisation” for years and over the past months, this full-fledged criminalisation campaign has often seen relations between the Hizmet network and the Catholic Church – including the Vatican – being dragged into it. This has primarily been witnessed in the most staunchly nationalist press channels.

Erdoğan gov’t threatened to ‘wipe TUSKON off market map,’ says chairman

One of Turkey’s most influential business confederations, the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), was threatened with being “wiped off the market” by the government after TUSKON made critical statements about government policies, chairman Rızanur Meral told the media on Friday.

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

Nigerian youths can excel in Olympiads

Syracuse Turkish community celebrates their heritage with a Children’s Festival

Pro-gov’t journalist says jailed Gulenists should be forced to commit suicide

Government as a black propaganda machine

Closing prep schools as a new form of official tyranny

Private schools leave mark on Science Olympiad

‘Living Together’ under capital punishment

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News