Date posted: August 11, 2016

Fethullah Gülen

French daily Le Monde published Turkish Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gulen’s op-ed on August 11, 2016. Below is short excerpt from his op-ed. Translation is by Google and slightly edited by HizmetNews.Com

“For seventeen years I have lived secluded in a small village in the USA. Claiming that I could, at 10,000 kilometers away, convince the army to carry out a coup against his government is simply defamation. Moreover, the charge was not taken seriously by world opinion. 

But if some in the military, who say they are supporters of the Hizmet were involved in the coup attempt, I say without any doubt, they are felons who have shaken the unity and the integrity of the country, have betrayed my ideals and have made hundreds of thousands suffer.

If some were under the influence of interventionist culture of the army and preferred to trample the values of Hizmet with this reflex – which I do not think – their sins can not be attributed to all supporters of the movement. May God punish them.

Nobody, including me, is above the law. I wish that all perpetrators, regardless of their affiliation, are sentenced to what they deserve through fair trial.

But since October 2014, the judiciary system is under the tutelage of the political power, the probability of getting a fair trial is almost zero. That is why I called for the creation of an international commission and announced that I would accept its findings.”

Read the op-ed in French.

Tags: Europe | Fethullah Gulen | France | Military coups in Turkey |