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

In Blow to Erdogan, Turkish Court Halts Closing of Schools Tied to His Rival

In a blow to the government, Turkey’s highest court has overturned a law that would have closed thousands of preparatory schools linked to an influential Muslim cleric and rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Parallel vs. Persian structure within the Turkish state

Despite all these accusations, the Erdoğan government has not produced any evidence to substantiate his allegations of a parallel structure within the judiciary, police or any other state institution, nor of officials receiving orders from anywhere other than their own legal superiors, nor has he or his government brought any of these charges to court.

One Year On, New Research Uncovers Turkey’s Coup Bid Staged By Erdoğan Himself

The report uncovered a critical information that the plot was actually kicked off on July 11 with secret orders given by generals who corroborated with Turkey’s autocratic President Erdogan’s defense and intelligence chiefs in disguising the plan as unconventional action plan. Only a handful men were let into the secret plot while many were led to believe a drill or an urgent response to a terror threat is underway.

Dumanlı: Accusations directed at Hizmet Movement is a great disappointment

Dumanlı reminded that the government deems Hizmet Movement as an illegal group but until recently the government has had close relationships with the Hizmet. “Did not you want to meet with Gülen in May? And did not you send Bülent Arınç when the meeting did not take place?

Ahmet Şık’s book and Ergenekon’s media campaign (3)

Emre Uslu, Sunday January 1, 2012 In a previous article I examined the media campaign against the Ergenekon trials and discussed Ahmet Şık. As I mentioned, the impact of Şık’s arrest was exaggerated because he was allegedly writing a book criticizing the Gülen movement’s influence in the police force, and his arrest was to prevent […]

Will Turkey’s assassinations reach America?

There is no longer any doubt that Turkey conducts operations in the United States against Turks and Kurds with whom Erdogan disagrees. That problem will likely get worse as Erdogan digs in his heels and demands the extradition of exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen. While Turkish officials have turned over reams of papers detailing why Turkey believes Gülen is a malign influence, none of the evidence Turkey has provided actually implicates Gülen in the events of July 15.