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

‘Gulen Movement is a civil society movement, rather than a religious one’

University of Utah professor of political science Hakan Yavuz, Ph.D, gave a lecture followed by a conversation on his latest book “Toward an Islamic Enlightenment: The Gulen Movement“. At the lecture hosted by Rumi Forum Washington D.C., Yavuz argued that the Gulen Movement should not be considered a religious movement, rather, a civil society movement. He […]

FM Davutoğlu orders ambassadors to avoid Turkish Olympiads

With only a few months remaining before the 12th Turkish Language Olympiads, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has sent a message to Turkish ambassadors and diplomats serving abroad ordering them not to attend the overseas selections phase of the Olympiads, according to diplomatic sources.

CSOs across Turkey slam campaign under way to discredit Hizmet movement

Representatives of civil society organizations across Turkey issued press releases on Wednesday to condemn a defamation campaign targeting the Hizmet movement, a volunteer-based grassroots movement particularly working in the field of education around the world while aiming to spread interfaith dialogue inspired by Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Legislators joined Peace Islands Institute to distribute meat during Eid al-Adha

During the Islamic holiday of “Eid al-Adha” from October 15th-18th, 2013, the Peace Islands Institute (PII) paid visits to local Food Pantries with legislators to donate fresh meat to celebrate the eid so as to serve our NJ community, by remembering the poor during this holy season. Asm. Thomas P. Giblin (District 34) underlined the extreme generosity of the PII during the observance of Eid al Adha and noted that this demonstrated great community spirit and willingness to help families in need”

Alleging Gülen supported coups is huge distortion of truth

24 April 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL The Journalists and Writers Foundation released a statement on Tuesday in response to various allegations circulating in the media that Fethullah Gülen, a well-respected Turkish Islamic scholar, supported the Feb. 28, 1997 unarmed intervention, dismissing such claims as a major distortion of the truth. The statement, posted on […]

Fethullah Gülen on Islam, democracy and freedom of speech

Publishing a book in 2009 about Francis of Assisi’s peaceful encounter with Egypt’s Sultan Malik al-Kamil during the Fifth Crusade led me to meet a lot of people with an interest in improving interreligious relations. Among them were a number of Turkish immigrants who are followers of the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. I observed that through a network of private schools, foundations and media organizations, they have worked very hard to improve Muslim-Christian relations.