Turkish Scholar Fethullah Gulen Speaks about PKK [terrorist organization]

Turkish and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen
Turkish and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen


Date posted: January 29, 2014

Mustafa Tabanli

Turkish scholar Fethullah Gulen broke a self-imposed 16-year broadcast silence and spoke to BBC about his home country Turkiye.

One of the key issues facing the country is the Kurdish issue, Hizmet movements support for the peace process.

Fethullah Gulen, Turkish scholar: “We were never completely aligned with any political party. But on the Kurdish issue, we were supporting the peace process before the government.”

The Hizmet or service movement, through civil service initiatives, has been active in the region. It has focused on education, healthcare and religious affairs.

But establishing security in this region has been an uphill climb..

Abdullah Ocalan is a divisive figure in Turkiye. He is either considered as the leader of the Kurdish movement or a terrorist. Right now, he is in prison, and the government is fragmented on whether to engage with him or osctracize his cause. Gulen speaks of his understanding of the issue

Fethullah Gulen, Turkish scholar: “I never said anything openly but they once called him terrorist.”

Ocalan and PKK have resented the educational services and interfaith intercultural dialogue provided by the Hizmet movement. They accused Fethullah Gulen of being part of assimilation project for the Kurds.

Fethullah Gulen: “Ocalan was unhappy with our activities”

Gulen says the upcoming elections can be used to portray the Hizmet movement as opposing the peace process, while the government supports it.

Fethullah Gulen: “The current government– to get Kurdish votes– now blames the Hizmet movement as an obstacle to the peace process.”

Prime Minister Erdogan’s government’s decision to have contact, organize talks and even negotiations with Ocalan or the PKK has been fiercely criticized by opposing parties.

Gulen offers an alternative civil solution to the region without opposing nor criticizing the government.

In an already destabilized region, the peace process has the potential to finally bring about true change. But the road to security and prosperity is a long and winding one.

Source: Ebru News , January 28, 2014

Tags: | | |


Related News

Turkish journalist at daily Bugün is threatened

A journalist at the Ankara branch of the daily Bugün has claimed that he received a threatening phone call which he describes as “insulting and discomforting.” The threat follows recent similar claims by Cüneyt Özdemir, a writer at the newspaper Radikal and anchor of the 5N 1K program broadcast by the CNN Türk TV station.

Fethullah Gülen: Turkey is being dragged into a civil war

Issuing a press statement following the latest terrorist attack in Turkey on Saturday, Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen claimed that Turkey is being dragged into a civil war but underlined that sympathizers of the movement sometimes called after him would always remain peaceful no matter how they are treated.

‘Humiliating people not allowed in Islam’

A man identified as Mustafa Petek asked the Religious Affairs Directorate on March 24 if Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the Hizmet movement, deserves to be a target of hate speech by state officials. The Religious Affairs Directorate, in response to the man’s query on hate speech, said, “In Islam, no one is allowed to humiliate a person or refer to him using adjectives that don’t represent him.”

Fethullah Gulen’s Message on the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks

Terrorism cannot be used to achieve any Islamic goal. No terrorist can be a Muslim, and no true Muslim can be a terrorist. Islam demands peace, and the Qur’an demands that every true Muslim be a symbol of peace and work to support the maintenance of basic human rights; any terrorist activity, no matter by whom it is carried out or for what purpose, is the greatest blow to peace, democracy, and humanity.

Love is A Verb – forthcoming documentary on the Gülen Movement

Love Is A Verb is an examination of a social movement of Sufi-inspired Sunni Muslims that began in Turkey in the l960s and now spans across the globe. The group is called Hizmet, the Turkish word for “service” or The Gülen Movement after its inspiration and teacher, Fethullah Gülen, a man TIME magazine named as one of the most influential leaders in the world in 2013 for “…preaching a message of tolerance.”

UK acknowledges being a Gülen sympathizer in Turkey may be grounds for asylum

In a 60-page policy guidance to Home Office decision-makers, the UK Home Office has recognized that being a Fethullah Gülen sympathizer in Turkey may be grounds for asylum in the UK.

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

Brussels, Paris and Berlin

Politics and communities

Jews should speak up for Hizmet

Who is Fethullah Gulen? (by National Catholic Reporter)

Erdogan: A Classic Case Of How Power Corrupts

Erdoğan’s image in the West

Council of Europe concerned over government’s ‘hasty’ judicial bill

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News