Neither I nor those who devoted themselves to service set out on the basis of Western-origin ideologies. Our reference has always been the Islamic va… - Fethullah Gülen

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.

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.