Fethullah Gülen Quotes

As the coup attempt unfolded, I fiercely denounced it and denied any involvement. Furthermore, I said that anyone who participated in the putsch betrayed my ideals. Nevertheless, and without evidence, Erdogan immediately accused me of orchestrating it from 5,000 miles away.

However, it is not right to associate members of various Islamic movements in different countries around the world, who sincerely serve the religion without engaging in any form of violence, with terrorism in a wholesale approach. Otherwise, injustice would be done to those who are against terrorism, and therefore some people would be pushed into the arms of radical movements through such an unfair and unlawful practice.

Ramadan still began on Thursday evening, though, and in the early hours on Friday morning, households gathered, as they have for centuries, to share a sleepy suhur — the pre-dawn meal.

I condemn the military coup attempt in Turkey in the strongest terms. Governments should be changed through fair and free elections, not by force. I pray for Turkey, the Turkish people and everyone in Turkey right now. I pray to God that this problem will be resolved in the fastest and most peaceful way.

After the treacherous coup attempt of July 15, this attack became even more unbearable. The Turkish Government systematically describes me and Hizmet sympathizers as "a virus and a cancer cell that needs to be cleaned." Hundreds of thousands of people who have supported the institutions and associations encouraged by this movement are portrayed as non-human beings. These people's assets are confiscated, their bank accounts are frozen, their passports are canceled and they are prevented from going abroad. Hundreds of thousands of families are experiencing a severe human tragedy as a result of a terrible witch hunt. It was reported in the press that nearly 90,000 people were dismissed from their jobs and the licenses of 21,000 teachers were cancelled. Will the government leave the families of these people who cannot practice their profession and are banned from going abroad to starve? How does this differ from pre-genocidal practices in European history?

It is not possible to explain actions such as the arson of the cultural center in Paris, the detention of sick journalists without regard to their health conditions, the closure of 35 hospitals and the humanitarian aid association Kimse Yok Mu, the taking of family members hostage when the wanted people could not be found, and the forced resignation of 1500 academics by associating them with the coup. It seems that the government is trying to intimidate non-governmental organizations as it is trying to purge all those who do not obey it from state institutions by appearing to target Hizmet participants. The human rights violations, including torture, reflected in Amnesty International reports are chilling. This is a human tragedy.

I have learned with deep sadness that four people lost their lives, many people were displaced from their homes and workplaces, and a large forest area was damaged due to fires that occurred in different cities of Turkey.

As a matter of fact, the institutions that the Turkish Government closed down by declaring the Hizmet movement a terrorist organization as a political decision are schools, hospitals and humanitarian aid associations. The Hizmet volunteers, tens of thousands of whom have been detained and arrested, are teachers, entrepreneurs, doctors, academics or journalists. No evidence has been found to accuse these hundreds of thousands of witch hunt victims of either supporting the coup or any act of violence.

For the past 50 years, I have been fortunate to take part in a civil society movement, sometimes referred to as Hizmet, whose participants and supporters include millions of Turkish citizens. These citizens have committed themselves to interfaith dialogue, community service, relief efforts and making life-changing education accessible. They have established more than 1,000 modern secular schools, tutoring centers, colleges, hospitals and relief organizations in over 150 countries. They are teachers, journalists, businessmen and ordinary citizens.

States act only within the framework of protecting their strategic interests in their international relations. To some extent, this can be considered reasonable. However, unprecedented human rights violations have occurred and continue to occur in Turkey's history. Service volunteers are subjected to treatments mentioned in the United Nations definition of genocide. Those who donate for the sake of Allah, donate to charity organizations and ask for the meat to be delivered to the poor, give scholarships to needy students, etc. People like these were detained like a joke and were subjected to torture. They confiscated the goods, businesses and workplaces of innocent people, which they had acquired through years of manual labor. They dismissed 150 thousand civil servants from their duties in a cruel and unjust manner, revoking all their acquired legal rights. They condemned them and their families to mass starvation. In the face of all these atrocities, we would have expected louder voices from the countries that have been Turkey's friends and allies throughout history. We can't say it never came out. There were leaders at the level of state administrators and council members who expressed their concerns and invited them to return to the legal line, but these did not turn into effective sanctions.

Turkey experienced the biggest disaster in its recent history with the coup attempt that took place on the night of July 15, and came back from the brink of a cliff. What happened that night can be described as a terrorist coup in the harshest terms. All segments of Turkish society, who thought that military interventions were a thing of the past, showed that they were on the side of democracy by taking a common stance against the coup attempt. I condemned the coup in clear and unambiguous language while the attempt was still going on.

Second, a school curriculum that emphasizes democratic and pluralistic values and encourages critical thinking must be developed. Every student must learn the importance of balancing state powers with individual rights, the separation of powers, judicial independence and press freedom, and the dangers of extreme nationalism, politicization of religion and veneration of the state or any leader.

Each of us should take the extra time and space afforded by the pandemic's social distancing measures as an opportunity for further examination of our connection with God, our families and our core values. This time offers a mandatory retreat from the busy nature of our daily lives and a chance to turn toward God, deepening our faith, knowledge and practice. I hope that imams will offer reminders about these opportunities to their congregations.

I have more than 70 books published based on the articles I have written and the sermons I have given over the past 40 years. In these, there is not the slightest statement that allows the idea of ​​a coup, on the contrary, universal human values ​​that form the basis of democracy are addressed.

Perhaps the most difficult obligation for many, though, will be forgoing the long-planned gatherings of the season, in order to comply with precautions issued by authorities. But following these measures is a duty of our citizenship and a necessity of our social responsibility to respect God’s laws in the universe. For instance, the Prophet Muhammad — whose belief and trust in God was beyond description — even advised quarantining a town in the event of an infectious disease.