Fethullah Gulen’s stance on democracy 1994-2016


Date posted: July 17, 2016

For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy.

Mr. Gulen has reiterated his clear stance on democracy, in the wake of the coup attempt in Turkey. Here is what he had said back in June 1994:

“I believe, from now on, both in Turkey and in the rest of the world, there will we no going back from democracy.”


Related News

‘Let my husband go to another country, just not Turkey’

Turkish citizen Turgay Karaman fears being deported back to Turkey, his wife Ayse Gul said today. “If his arrest has anything to do with political matters, and if the Malaysian authorities don’t want him here, they can send him to any other country but just not Turkey, because they will torture him there,” she told a press conference after the meeting.

Turkey’s post-coup brain drain

Bekir Cinar was working as an assistant professor at the political sciences department of Suleyman Sah University when it fell victim to the crackdown. He says that many academics with different views were working at the university. Cinar is currently continuing his scientific work at a British university. He considers this a major loss for Turkey, not least because it takes 20 to 30 years to become an academic.

Turkey tries to trap Obama with extradition demand [of Mr. Gülen]

But while U.S. agency spokesmen are trying to be cautious in what they say, skepticism about Turkey’s claims that Gulen directed the plot are widespread in Washington. Last week, in comments that likely burned a few ears in Ankara, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told The Washington Post that he did not believe Turkey had yet offered enough proof to implicate Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania’s Poconos region for years.

In Greece, Turks tell of lives full of fear in Recep Erdogan’s Turkey

Dominika Spyratou of the Greek NGO SolidarityNow, which provides assistance to refugees, says that more than 1,000 Turkish citizens came to Greece seeking asylum after the July 2016 failed coup, while almost 300 Turkish families are now in Thessaloniki.

Medialog debates new media challenges at İstanbul conference

The Medialog Platform, which operates under the umbrella of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), brought together communication academics and media experts to discuss new challenges that the media is facing in the digital age, at the International Communication Faculties Conference in İstanbul on Friday.

Turkey, The great purge – Four lives upturned by Erdogan’s ‘cleansing.’ Episode 1 – Asli

All Mrs. Asli knows are the values she has embraced and she can’t see any problems with the humanist vision of Islam she endorses. “I recognise Gulen’s values in the morality of Islam, in the lives of Moses, Jesus and the Prophet Mohamed. Our values tell us never to hurt people, but to help them.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Erdoğan, Hizmet, assassins

Professor: Carrying out service, Hizmet seeks peaceful coexistence; accusations are manipulative and absurd

Turkish coup attempt: who is Fethullah Gülen?

Turkey’s Erdogan Is Already Making the Most of His ‘Gift From Heaven’ After Coup Attempt

Gülen extends condolences to coal mine victims

Lynching of the Hizmet movement by the hand of the state

‘Parallel’ inspection launched against prominent Jewish-Turkish businessman İshak Alaton

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News