Religious leader: I was told to blame Gülen movement for police banning my group meeting


Date posted: June 20, 2017

Alparslan Kuytul, president of the Furkan Foundation and leader of a religious group critical of the Turkish government, said he was advised to put the blame on the faith-based Gülen movement for a police intervention in a meeting of his followers in April and that the government would ultimately clear the way for his group to operate freely.

Speaking in a video recently published in the foundation’s website, Kuytul said a person, apparently close to the government, approached one of his advisers during a press conference in İstanbul in April after a violent police intervention in a gathering of his followers in Adana and said, “Tell your leader his way will be cleared if he blames FETÖ [a derogatory term used by government circles to refer to the Gülen movement].”

“I told my adviser to tell him that I would be a dishonest person to tell such a lie,” Kuytul said in the video.

On April 22, police in Turkey’s Adana province attacked members of the Furkan Foundation after Kuytul announced opposition to a presidential system of governance proposed by the ruling party Justice and Development Party (AKP).

When a group of around 200 people, including women and children, gathered at Atatürk Park in downtown Adana and representatives of the foundation wanted to read out a press release to mark the Holy Birth Week of the Prophet Muhammad, police attacked them with water cannons and tear gas after warning them that their gathering was not permitted.

When members of the group insisted on continuing with the event, 50 people were detained and four others were taken to a hospital after suffering injuries during the police intervention.

Following a failed coup last summer for which Turkish authorities blame the Gülen movement, a smear campaign was launched by government circles as part of efforts to demonize sympathizers of the movement, despite the fact that Fethullah Gülen, whose views inspired the movement, continuously has denied any involvement in the coup.

Source: Turkish Minute , June 20, 2017

Tags: | | |


Related News

Teacher abducted from Malaysia subjected to beating, torture in Ankara: cellmate

Alaaddin Duman, a teacher in Malaysia who was abducted by Turkish intelligence agency over his links to the Gulen movement in 2016, has been subjected to beating, torture and death threats during pre-trial custody in Ankara, according his cellmate.

Three ministers resign as one urges PM to step down amid corruption probe

Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar, in a harsh statement, claimed that he had been pressured to submit his own resignation to save the prestige of the government, adding that the prime minister should also quit as most of the amendments on construction plans mentioned in the corruption investigation were made on Erdoğan’s orders.

Erdoğan’s personal propaganda tool, the MGK

Erdoğan has asserted that the Gülen movement is to be included in the Red Book as a “prioritized threat.” But never mind the fact that he acts and speaks as though this has all been decided upon already. The fact is, he does not have the proper authority to do this. What’s more, there is absolutely no document or piece of information that would support such a move.

The consequences of tyranny never change

Certain groups devised an imaginary and ambiguous crime against the Hizmet movement based on claims of a so-called “parallel state.” However, this is such a vague crime that if those who blame the Hizmet movement for establishing a “parallel state” are accused of the same thing, these charges will seem well-founded, because of ambiguity of the claims.

One blow after another at anti-Hizmet docu’s premier

The Pennsylvania screening of the documentary “The Gulen,” targeting the Hizmet Movement and the Honorable Fethullah Gulen, was met with failure.

EU, US Have Little Leverage as Turkish Democracy Backslides

“In the big picture, Erdogan knows that the EU needs Turkey and will come back begging for a new agreement on the migrants. That’s why he will play a game of brinksmanship,” said Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Turkish program at The Washington Institute.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

A cami and cemevi together

Austrian President Fischer receives Turkish Language Olympiads team

Bedridden mother dies of hearth attack after daughter arrested over Gulen links

Gülen Movement’s role on London conference agenda

Turkey Assails a Revered Islamic Moderate

Opposition expresses concern for security of free and fair elections

New Constitution should have no barriers to mother tongue education

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News