In addition to condemning mindless violence, including during the coup attempt, we have emphasized our commitment to preventing terrorists’ recruitme… - Fethullah Gülen

The failure of the July 15 coup attempt is an event of historical importance as an anti-democratic intervention against the government that came to power through elections was repelled with the support of the people. However, preventing the coup is not enough for democracy to win. Neither the rule of a minority, nor the rule of the majority and its resulting oppression of the minority, nor the autocratism of the elected people are true democracy. Democracy cannot be mentioned without fundamental human rights and freedoms, especially the rule of law, separation of powers, and freedom of expression. For Turkey, real victory in the name of democracy is possible with the revival of these fundamental values.

Unfortunately, in a country where opposition media outlets are either closed or put under tutelage, a significant portion of Turkish citizens believed the allegations that I was the perpetrator of July 15, in the face of a massive propaganda bombardment. However, the world public opinion, which can look at the events more objectively, clearly sees that what is happening is an effort by those in power to increase their power under the pretext of a witch hunt.

There may be people within the Brotherhood who are involved in terrorism and violence. There were also those who expressed this opinion in Europe and America. If there is such involvement in terrorism, this can never be approved. Our basic approach, which has not changed since day one, against all kinds of terrorist movements has been: “A true Muslim cannot be a terrorist. "And a terrorist can never be a true Muslim." Therefore, Islamic groups must take a clear stance against terrorism and violence and take a firm stance. Otherwise, the face of Islam will be darkened and the religion will be betrayed.