Gülen says planned assassinations of prominent figures in Turkey could be blamed on him


Date posted: August 14, 2017

US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who is accused by the Turkish government and president of masterminding a failed coup in Turkey last year, on Sunday said government circles that have scapegoated him and his movement for all the crimes in Turkey are planning to assassinate prominent people in Turkey and put the blame on him and his followers.

In a video shared Sunday night on the Herkul.org website, where his speeches are aired, Gülen said after a graft probe in 2013 and the July 15 coup attempt, government circles are now planning to pin the blame on him and his movement, also known as Hizmet, for the planned assassination of several famous figures in Turkey.

Underlining that dark power circles around the government were not successful in convincing people and especially the international community of Hizmet followers being behind the failed coup last year, Gülen said they have prepared a serious plan to assassinate important people in Turkey and link it to him in order to turn people against the movement.

“Now others [government circles] are thinking: ‘So what should we do now? We need something more serious, we need to assassinate a few very important people, and finish them [Hizmet followers] off’,” he said.

“Do you understand what I’m talking about here? I’m telling you of things that are being talked about by everyone, things plotted behind closed doors but now being uttered publicly. They’re saying, ‘Let us take care of [assassinate] a few important names, stir up some commotion in such a way that people will surely view it as a ‘coup,’ and thus we will have fooled all those who haven’t already been convinced.

“From now on, in one sense, they must find an excuse to be able to get away with the things they want to get away with. And for the sake of that excuse, there’s no limit to the degree of mischief they are willing to undertake.

“In that respect, those who stand before the door of the Almighty, those who wish to knock on His door of Mercy, must bear in mind that awful things may be awaiting them in the near future, and they must move forward with sharp intellect, foresight and vigilance,” he said.

On Saturday Turkish Minute columnist Abdullah Bozkurt wrote that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is now contemplating orchestrating assassinations at home targeting high-profile figures and murders abroad to intimidate and silence his critics in exile.

“By doing so, Erdoğan will keep undermining the independent opposition groups that he has failed to coopt with incentives such as money and positions in the government or could not scare through intimidation. This is crucial for his rule leading up to the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections that are key for his survival given the worsening economic outlook, growing security challenges in Turkey and its neighborhood and festering antagonism among various social and ethnic groups,” Bozkurt said.

When a major graft scandal erupted in December 2013, Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) claimed that the investigations were carried out by police officers and members of the judiciary who were affiliated with the Gülen movement. Erdoğan called the probes “coup attempts against his government” and torpedoed the investigations by purging and jailing most of the police officers, prosecutors and judges who oversaw the graft probes.

When some putschist soldiers attempted a military coup on July 15, 2016, Erdoğan immediately blamed Gülen for being behind the coup and launched a wide-scale witch-hunt against Hizmet followers.

 

Source: Turkish Minute , August 14, 2017


Related News

Dismissed police officer dies of heart attack in German refugee camp

Ali Ünlü, a 42-year-old former police officer who was earlier dismissed from his job as part of the government’s post-coup crackdown, died of heart attack in a refugee camp in Stuttgart, according to media and people with knowledge of the incident.

How It Feels to Be a Dissident in Turkey After the Failed Military Coup

LOUISE CALLAGHAN To plan a speedy political exile from Turkey today, you need two things: a world map and the Wikipedia page on “visa entry requirements for Turkish citizens.” If you get out a highlighter and start cross-referencing the two, you’ll quickly see the bottom half of the map is more accessible than the top. […]

Ex-AK Party delegate slams persecution of Hizmet movement

There are few individuals in Turkish political history with such a long career as Haluk Özdalga. Having formerly served with the Democratic Left Party (DSP) and the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), Özdalga joined the AK Party (the ruling Justice and Development party) with high hopes for democracy in 2007.

Obama to become a parallel, too?

The chief concern of Erdoğan and AKP leaders is tocomplain to their American counterparts, whom they meet in Turkey or occasionally in Washington, about Fethullah Gülen.

Closing down prep schools another poor education policy decision

We are not convinced that shutting down prep schools will either improve quality of education in Turkey or increase educational equality,” said Batuhan Aydagül, director of the Education Reform Initiative (ERI or Eğitim Reformu Girişimi, ERG).

Turkish PM heads to Brussels for tough talks with EU

Although the prime minister argues that an ongoing corruption and graft probe engulfing his own ministers is simply a plot hatched by an “illegal gang” that he describes as “parallel state” operated by Fethullah Gülen, a cleric in self-exile in the U.S., EU officials have made clear that such rhetoric has not been bought in Brussels.

Latest News

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

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Today is another Human Rights Day, but atrocities persist | Opinion

Fethullah Gulen talking about Turkey’s failed coup: Responses to Philadelphia World Affairs Council

German Politician: Turkey like Nazi Germany after Reichstag

Graduation ceremony held in Turkish schools in Senegal

Fethullah Gülen’s book translated into Belarusian

Islamism is dead!

Kimse Yok Mu extends helping hand to orphans in eastern Turkey

Copyright 2024 Hizmet News