Fethullah Gulen Calls Crackdown ‘Dark Pages’ in History - Responses to World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

Fethullah Gulen Calls Crackdown ‘Dark Pages’ in History – Responses to World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

Date posted: September 16, 2016

Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen whom Turkey accuses of masterminding July’s abortive coup again condemned the Turkish government crackdown on his supporters, saying Thursday that his “heart is aching.”

In videotaped remarks to the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, Fethullah Gulen said the Turkish government is using the attempted coup to justify persecuting his followers, who he said are being “subjected to oppression and tyranny, molestation and unlawful acquisition of their private properties.”

Related News

The Gülen Movement in the public sphere

The Abant Platform is a good example of a religiously inspired social capital formation in a society with ideological, ethnic and religious fault lines. This platform departs from a belief that religion, and particularly Islam, can be a positive factor in social, political and economic life. The Gülen movement has been quite successful in utilizing its cultural and human capital in order to empower the civil society and expand the democratic space available for the formally excluded periphery vis-à-vis the centre.

Row between Turkish government and Gulen Movement takes new twist

The row between Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Fethullah Gulen’s Hizmet Movement, one of the most influential religious communities in the country, has taken an interesting twist after the revelation of a 2004 document. In 2004, the National Security Council proposed a clampdown on the Gulen movement (aka Hizmet), which suggested that harsh sanctions should be enforced on them.

Is it struggle between AK Party and Hizmet?

A prosecutor, Mr. Sadrettin Sarikaya, recently invited head of Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) for testimony that caused political controversy. Many journalists and politicians claimed that behind this was Fethullah Gulen. Mr Sarikaya’s accusation was that some intelligence agents that infiltrated the Kurdish terrorist group to provide intelligence were actually not performing their job, and moreover […]

Turkey’s Main Opposition Party Reiterates In Report July 15 Was ‘Controlled’ Coup Attempt

A report drafted by Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016 has repeated an earlier claim made by the party’s leader suggesting that the coup attempt was a “controlled” one and that there were some Turkish authorities who knew about the coup plans but did not take any measures to prevent it.

Why couldn’t Bozdağ talk about the parallel structure?

Several parliamentarians attended the meeting with the Turkish minister in order to learn more about Erdoğan’s panacea “parallel state” theory and they insistently questioned Bozdağ about the Hizmet movement. Although he has etched his name in history as the minister who undermined the HSYK and halted the graft investigations at the speed of light, Bozdağ could only say a few sentences about the “treason, Hashashin-like activities, espionage, collaboration with external forces” of this parallel structure. Yet Europeans were eager to hear some explanation from an official.

The Gulen Movement teaches providing service and being tolerant

Shad Engkilterra, Salt Lake City On Feb. 25, 2012, James Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, spoke about the Gulen Movement and how to build civil society at the Pacifica Institute for the Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable’s Interfaith Month celebrations. Fethullah Gulen started the movement in Turkey in the 1980s as an education […]