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

Halki, pope, patriarch and Gülen

The way Turkey’s chief political Islamist and new president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has approached the reopening of the Halki seminary, a school that had trained Eastern Orthodox clergy for the Patriarchate for more than a century until it was forcibly shut down in 1971, represents a fundamental flaw in the thinking of so-called Islamists, who place more emphasis on symbolism than substance and like very much to employ divisive and hateful discourse as opposed to reaching out and embracing different faiths and cultures.

Exiled Turkish professor ‘leading US university’

Medical scholar branded a ‘terrorist’ by Turkey over his alleged links to a US-based cleric is named head of an institution in Texas. Professor Tekalan is a former rector of Istanbul’s Fatih University.

Watch your mouth

One Turkish folk song says: “Chests are piled up on each other / Woe to us, o gallant people / We have made a promise without thinking / We held you in high esteem although you did not deserve it.”

Celebrating Ramadan with Turkish asylum seekers

Haldun and his wife, Funda, fled Turkey about two years ago with their three daughters and are now seeking political asylum in the United States because if they go back to Turkey they face arrest and likely torture. Once a successful manufacturer of washing machine products, Haldun, Funda and their children are now a family without a country; their factory turned over to a government trustee, their passports taken away, and their property and belongings nationalized.

Domestic Violence and Smoking According to Gulen

Gülen’s says, “Women beaten by their husbands should seek a divorce if they have no children. Beating is an unjustifiable physical attack and is a crime. Defending yourself against this attack is legitimate” and “Nonsmokers who share the same atmosphere with smokers should open lawsuits against smokers, seeking compensation for the damages they suffer. If the smoker is a father, his nonsmoking wife or children should be able to launch such a lawsuit”

A dirty war in the run-up to the elections

With the Gülen movement officially marked in police reports as being a “terrorist organization,” we can say that the ruling party’s war against the civilian populace has truly reached its dirtiest stage. A brief summary: The Gülen movement is undoubtedly one of the Muslim world’s most peaceful and tolerant civil movements ever.