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

Obama is the real turkey in this scenario

Erdogan also made a statement, calling the president of the United States “Barack,” before launching into one of his usual self-serving rants. Typical of a violent Islamist appropriating the moral high ground, the Turkish president agreed that fighting terrorism is of utmost importance. But the “terrorists” to whom he mainly referred were Gulen and the Kurds.

Gülen’s lawyer dismisses wiretapping claims

In his statement, Gülen’s lawyer Albayrak said the allegations which appeared in some newspapers is totally baseless and targets Gülen in an unfair way and demands punishment for the individuals who were involved such accusations

Are ambassadors propaganda officials for the ruling party?

Those who order ambassadors to put their citizens abroad in a difficult position in violation of human rights and national interests do not understand this: The international community is more concerned about whether the government sticks to democratic principles and the rule of law and less about who triggered the recent political crisis.

Lynching of the Hizmet movement by the hand of the state

The community [the Hizmet movement] is being lynched, and the state is using its power to do it. The same tactic has been used in the claims of mass wiretapping. The prosecutors involved in the investigation have denied the claims, but the black propaganda campaign has been going on for two days.

Who staged a coup against whom on Dec. 17?

When its involvement in corruption and bribery became public, and that this seemed like the tip of an iceberg, the government thought that it must cover up the subsequent investigation, fearing that yet more investigations would be started — and so crushed the police force and the judiciary like a steamroller.

Gülen appeals for steadfastness against gov’t ban on prep schools [in Turkey]

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has asked his followers to be resolute and not yield to despair in the face of a government attempt to shut down private educational institutions [in Turkey] that assist students to prepare for high school and university admission examinations, which was interpreted as a major blow to the right to an education and to free enterprise in the EU-candidate country.

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

Bank Asya lawyers call upon B Group shareholders to join against seizure

Once They were Brothers – Bir Zamanlar Kardeştiler

Russian envoy’s murderer attended sermons of controversial pro-Erdoğan cleric

Turkish language and culture festivals held in three countries

Police raid house of 96-year-old philanthropist in İzmir

3rd Annual International Women’s Conference

Turkish govt has declared war on us, Nigerian student cries out from hiding

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News