Gülen: Plot Targets No One but the Nation
Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has said a notorious plot aiming to defame the movement named after him as well as the democratically elected government targets no one but the very fabric of this nation because this movement is solely based on Turkey's benevolence, determination and free will.
Gülen communicated his feelings about the plot, which has been blasted by civil society, intellectuals and academicians throughout the country, on Saturday. The plot first made headlines when the Taraf daily published a document outlining an action plan to discredit the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Gülen movement through illegal and scandalous means, such as media manipulation and setups depicting both groups as enemies of the regime and the security of the nation that cooperate and collude with marginal groups, among many others.
The document was found in the office of Serdar Öztürk, the lawyer of a retired colonel arrested earlier this year on charges of membership in Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal organization charged with plotting to overthrow the government. The documents, prepared in April of this year, include a detailed plan drawn up by Col. Dursun Çiçek and submitted to a department of the General Staff.
Gülen has inspired hundreds of thousands of people both in Turkey and abroad to work for education of young generations, extend a hand to the needy wherever they are and foster intercultural and interfaith dialogue among the peoples of the world. A faith-based social movement aiming to realize global peace and understanding, the Gülen movement is a term used by academia to refer to the combination of all the initiatives undertaken by these dedicated men and women, who have opened education institutions, widely known as "peace islands," in more than 100 countries so far and have almost embraced the entire world.
Recalling that such defamatory action plan have been drawn up in the past, too, Gülen noted that this recent plot is neither the first nor will it be last in a series of such ill-intended and ill-founded endeavors. "Similar incidents used to make headlines many times in Turkey and were also put on the agenda by the deep state before this time as well. The cassette storm in 1999 is an example of that. Back then, they took one of my sermons in which I said, 'You cannot say that the CHP [Republican People's Party] is an infidel' and broadcasted it without the first part of my original sentence, which then meant completely the opposite of what I said," he stated.
In June 1999, several media outlets initiated a campaign against the movement by releasing voice recordings of the internationally respected scholar that were later understood to be fabricated by third parties in well-equipped studios. Gülen was tried in the Ankara 11st High Criminal Court for similar allegations spread by the media and was acquitted of all charges, a decision later upheld by a unanimous vote in the Supreme Court of Appeals in March 2008.
"However, it is not true to associate all those grievances with only one institution [the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK)]. Everything damaging its image in the eyes of public upsets me, too. It is the military that saved our country from foreign occupation and let this land be a home for us, and it promises a lot for our future as well. I very much hope that this dirty plot does not belong to it. Who knows, maybe some dirty-minded people are trying to smear the military by carrying out such monstrosities from within it. This is how I look at the issue and hope that it will in essence be so," Gülen said, separating military officers who take part in such actions from the Turkish military at large.
'They are obsessed with animosity and abhorrence'
Having underlined that he personally does not have much of involvement in this "movement of dedicated men and women" and was not even the primary source of inspiration for them, Gülen argued that it is in fact an example of solidarity and cooperation among the people of this country similar to that realized during the War of Independence in the 1920s. "As they had mobilized all their efforts to save the country back then, today they are striving in a fight against poverty, ignorance and separation. The most important thing that brings them together, on the other hand, is the reasonability of the projects that have been carried out [rather than leaders or an inspiration]," he explained.
Gülen further argued that even criminals plotting against the "heroes of love" know very well that they do not even step on ants while walking. The seized document revealed that disposing arms and ammunition in houses and offices of the Gülen movement's followers later to be found in raids is a primary tool of that action plan. "They, too, very well know that these men and women dedicated to love walk with the utmost prudence so as not to smash any ant. They do not even carry needles on themselves," said Gülen, adding, however, that those ill-minded people are very determined to do anything they can to prevent goodness from prevailing because "they are obsessed with animosity and abhorrence to slander people of faith by calling them religionist."
'Movement belongs to nation as this state does, too'
Some groups have continuously spread claims that the movement is being managed by certain foreign powers in cooperation with their intelligence units -- allegations that have never found substance on the ground nor respect among society, academia or judicial organs.
However, the recently published document written by those groups contains plans to use the media as a tool to influence perceptions at a societal level. Gülen said this movement is powered solely by the very nation and the benevolence of its self-sacrificing people. "Those slandering the heroes of love by linking them to this or that secret service or to some foreign countries also know that this movement of dedicated men and women belongs to this very nation," he highlighted.
Denying the allegations of certain groups that the followers of this movement are infiltrating public institutions, Gülen reiterated once again that the sons and daughters of this country do not infiltrate into the institutions of their state. "It is their fundamental right to work there if they are qualified enough and capable of doing so. It is not an infiltration for an honorable citizen of this country to start working at a public institution, be it the judiciary, military or any other civil service," he concluded, rebuking such claims.
- Created on .