THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Turkish coup attempt proved Gulen is no Islamic democrat

Turkish coup attempt proved Gulen is no Islamic democrat

Re: “Islam is compatible with democracy” and “Islam’s great modern reformer is too good to be true”, Have Your Say, March 1 and 4.

Two letters recently published in your newspaper portray Fettullah Gulen as “a politician” and as offering “a revolutionary Islamic perspective on democracy”. In fact, Gulen was the person behind the terrorist coup attempt of July 15, 2016 in Turkey. His sinister organisation, Feto, masterminded the coup attempt against the democratic and constitutional order of Turkey, taking the lives of 251 people with their bullets and bombs, and wounding more than 2,000 on that night. 
The perpetrators, the disciples of Fetullah Gulen who calls himself “Imam of the Universe”, did not hesitate to use lethal military hardware against civilians who stood against them to protect their country. 
Investigations and legal processes stemming from the events of July 15 have produced countless pieces of crucial evidence. In their testimonies, Gulenist plotters confessed that they were selected at an early age by the “elder brothers” within Feto and made to believe that Gulen was the Messiah and that they were the “golden generation”. Gulenist plotters also confessed to receiving instructions from him about the coup attempt. 
Thus, the night of July 15, 2016 has shown to all what dangerous levels exploitation of religion can reach when used for terrorist purposes.
Evren Dagdelen Akgun
Turkish ambassador to Thailand

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