Fethullah Gülen Quotes

Not only does Mr. Erdogan’s suggestion run afoul of everything I believe in, it is also irresponsible and wrong.

Those in political power continue the witch hunt they started in Turkey in the world. As their first duty, diplomats are trying to have the educational institutions of the Service transferred to the Maarif Foundation or closed down. They are trying to put our friends who work here on planes and send them to Turkey, disregarding international law.

The latest victims of the clampdown are the staff, executives and editors of independent media organizations who were detained and are now facing charges made possible by recent changes to the laws and the court system. The director of one of the most popular TV channels, arrested in December, is still behind bars. Public officials investigating corruption charges have also been purged and jailed for simply doing their jobs. An independent judiciary, a functioning civil society and media are checks and balances against government transgressions. Such harassment sends the message that whoever stands in the way of the ruling party’s agenda will be targeted by slander, sanctions and even trumped-up charges.

As someone who has suffered through every military coup in the last 50 years, it is humiliating to be associated with such an initiative. I unconditionally reject such slander.

Of course, what is important is not what the majority thinks, but the facts that will emerge as a result of a fair trial. Of course, I and tens of thousands of people who have been subjected to such a serious accusation want to clear our name and be acquitted through a fair judicial process. We do not want to live with such suspicion cast upon us. Unfortunately, especially since 2014, due to the political control of the justice system, my right to exonerate myself and the accused Hizmet sympathizers have been taken away. Therefore, I make an open call to the Turkish Government and promise full cooperation. I demand that an international and independent commission investigate the coup attempt. If they prove even one tenth of the allegations against me true, I am ready to return to Turkey and suffer the heaviest punishment.

I have been living a reclusive life in a small village in the United States of my own free will for 17 years. The claim that I persuaded the world's 8th largest army to stage a coup against its own government from 10,000 km away is an unconvincing slander and has not been accepted by the world public opinion. If there are soldiers who define themselves as sympathizers of the Hizmet movement among those who joined the coup plotter junta, in my opinion, those people betrayed the unity and integrity of their country by taking part in an attempt in which their own citizens lost their lives, violated the values ​​I have defended throughout my life, and caused the victimization of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

The participants of this movement have not been involved in a single act of violence throughout its 50-year history, and although they have been subjected to a "witch hunt", to put it openly by Erdoğan, in the last 3 years, they have not taken to the streets or defied the security forces. The Hizmet movement, which has been suffering under a systematic hate campaign and state oppression for 3 years, made its legitimate defense by complying with the limits set by the law and sought its rights only through legal means.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to all our people, especially the relatives of those who lost their lives. In addition to the loss of life and property caused by these fires, the loss of forests, which are the lungs of our country, is a separate source of suffering for me. I hope this sad picture will prompt us all to be more sensitive about protecting the natural riches, which are a blessing from God Almighty.

For the sake of worldwide efforts to restore peace in turbulent times, as well as to safeguard the future of democracy in the Middle East, the United States must not accommodate an autocrat who is turning a failed putsch into a slow-motion coup of his own against constitutional government.

In Western countries where Muslims are a minority, the Hizmet movement's openness to dialogue and coexistence attracted attention and was appreciated. While the service participants were striving to properly represent Islam in the West, they also set a good example by integrating aspects of modernity that did not conflict with Islam. They played a role in breaking negative opinions about Muslims in the West. However, it cannot be said that this can be fully explained in Muslim-majority countries. Dialogue activities in Turkey in the 90s were evaluated as diluting and compromising Islam, and smear campaigns were carried out. Recently, the Erdogan government has tried to discredit the Service in the eyes of the public by presenting it as a pawn of foreign powers, the Vatican, the CIA and MOSSAD. Some groups affiliated with them have also made this propaganda in Muslim-populated countries outside Turkey and continue to do so. That's why we cannot say that we can express ourselves properly in countries with Muslim populations.

In this regard, both Muslims, powerful states and international organizations have duties. First of all, Muslims need to stop blaming the foreign policies of Western countries on the issue of terrorism and do some self-reflection. We need to question why there are so many young people among us who fall into the trap of terrorists. As Muslims, it is our duty to provide young people with a good education based on both religious and positive and humanitarian sciences, to include universal human values ​​in the education curriculum, and to ensure that human rights and freedoms are fully experienced in our societies. The duty of powerful states is to not see the problem of terrorism as a security problem that can be solved only by military and intelligence measures, but also to take steps regarding its political, economic and sociological aspects. They should take steps to ensure faster integration of Muslims living in their own countries and determine their foreign policies by valuing the lives of people living in other countries as much as they value the lives of their own citizens. The responsibility of international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union is to take measures to protect fundamental human rights and freedoms all over the world and to impose sanctions to stop the terrible human rights violations of the country administrations that oppress their own people.

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.

Since July 15, following a deplorable coup attempt, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has systematically persecuted innocent people — arresting, detaining, firing and otherwise ruining the lives of more than 300,000 Turkish citizens, be they Armenians, Kurds, Alevis, secularists, leftists, journalists, academics or participants of Hizmet, the peaceful humanitarian movement with which I am associated.

Erdogan’s persecution of his people is not simply a domestic matter. The ongoing pursuit of civil society, journalists, academics and Kurds in Turkey is threatening the long-term stability of the country. The Turkish population already is strongly polarized on the AKP regime. A Turkey under a dictatorial regime, providing haven to violent radicals and pushing its Kurdish citizens into desperation, would be a nightmare for Middle East security.

Even as the world grapples with COVID-19, the yearly rituals of Ramadan will continue. Throughout the holy month, most of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims will fast between dawn and sunset, spend time in Quranic recitation, self-reflection and prayer in an effort to become closer to God, and give thanks for our blessings. But this year, the prescribed exceptions from fasting for young children, travelers, pregnant mothers and anyone who is sick will now be extended to those feeling symptoms of COVID-19.