| |
 Print
FETO: A Threat to Turkish Democracy and an Insult to Islam
8-23-2016
Republic of Turkey, since its proclamation in 1923, is a well established democracy with its free parliament, pluralistic institutions, lively political environment and most importantly with its 80 million people who stand ready to protect it with their lives. On July the 15th Turkish people proved their strong commitment to their democracy. A closer look to what happened in Turkey on 15 July is necessary to explain the gravity of the threat to our friends worldwide.
On the evening of July 15th, an illegal religious cult members which infiltrated many government departments including the Turkish Armed Forces attempted to stage a coup. The perpetrators fired at their own people, took some of their commanders as hostage, bombed the Parliament and the Presidential compound, attacked the motorcade of the Prime Minister and raided the residence of the Foreign Minister as well as attacking many governmental buildings. From the very beginning, the command chain and vast majority of the Turkish Armed Forces stood up against the coup attempt. It was only 1.5 % of the Turkish military who were involved in that violent conspiracy.
The law enforcement agencies and public prosecutors immediately took necessary measures to foil the attempt. It was the Turkish people who stopped the coup plot. Millions of Turkish citizens heeded the call of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (of whom the perpetrators tried to kill) and protested in the streets to avert this conspiracy. In doing so, Turkish people displayed a historic solidarity and stood defiant against the plotters and the terrorist group behind it – FETO : Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation. They were in possession of 74 tanks, 35 planes (24 fighter jets), 37 helicopters, 3 frigates, 246 armored vehicles and 3992 small arms. These weapons were used against civilians who were trying to stop the plotters from toppling the democratically elected, legitimate parliament and government. 246 citizens were killed and 2185 of were wounded by the coup plotters.
All political parties in Turkey, media have also joined forces with the Turkish nation in support of their democracy. Turkish Parliament was – first time in its 150-year history – bombed, by fighter jets, while lawmakers were drafting the joint press release to resist the coup. Mainstream media organs were raided by coup plotters for simply refusing to air their orders.
This unity continued to be displayed after the night of the July 15th. Tens of thousands of people from all walks of life continued their daily peaceful protests against FETO. In order to conclude those protest of three week, on 7 August, more than 5 million Turkish people gathered in Istanbul in response to the joint call of the President, Prime Minister and political parties. Democracy-loving people did not end their protests of the coup attempt until 10 August.
Turkish Parliament declared State of Emergency for 90 days starting from 21 July 2016. A comprehensive investigation was launched to identify those responsible for this heinous act. It is understood from the immediate confessions of some arrested coup plotters that FETO, led by Fetullah Gulen, is the main culprit. Members of this terrorist organization confessed their illegal wiretapping, abuse of office, mobbing and most importantly theft for questions of government offices’ entry examinations, which helped FETO members infiltrate to high level government offices. This investigation is going on and a thorough examination is being conducted in government departments and state educational institutes. In addition, Turkey asked the extradition of Fetullah Gulen from the US authorities for trial.
FETO is a terrorist organization led by a person who abused his alleged religious credentials. A former Imam by profession, Fetullah Gulen, now living in the US, is the leader of this organization, which is exploiting the themes such as “intercultural dialogue”, “multiculturalism” or “mild Islam”. Through these themes, its members are reaching out to the Western audiences and receiving approval for their so-called enthusiasm for the concept of “different religions and cultures living together in harmony”. Although this is a widely shared objective, FETO is simply using these concepts for gaining more visibility and recognition as a façade.
This terror organization has various links and affiliates in all countries. These links are mostly organized in the form of educational or non-governmental institutions allegedly promoting intercultural dialogue. However, the July 15th attempt proved that their main goal was not any kind of dialogue, but topple a freely elected democratic parliament. We are thankful to all our brothers and sisters in the Muslim world, including Canada, who stood by the Turkish nation in solidarity against the coup attempt. We know this solidarity with our people will continue against FETO which clearly defamed the name of Islam with its actions. Some say how can an elderly man be powerful enough to undermine Turkish society. The answer lies in only one of his statements which appeared in YouTube in Turkish (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blGA11LYSDk ), referring to Turkish people demonstrating against coup plotters and his organization, simply saying that “….those millions of fools protesting they think they would succeed.”
Let us not forget that it was those millions who saved a free country.
Footnotes:
|