Muslims From Turkey

"Second, a school curriculum that emphasizes democratic and pluralistic values and encourages critical thinking must be developed. Every student must learn the importance of balancing state powers with individual rights, the separation of powers, judicial independence and press freedom, and the dangers of extreme nationalism, politicization of religion and veneration of the state or any leader."

"Before either of those things can happen, however, the Turkish government must stop the repression of its people and redress the rights of individuals who have been wronged by Erdogan without due process."

"I probably will not live to see Turkey become an exemplary democracy, but I pray that the downward authoritarian drift can be stopped before it is too late."

"Next Saturday will be remembered as a sad day in Turkey's history, as it marks the anniversary of the heinous coup attempt in which hundreds of our citizens lost their lives and thousands were injured. On this day, I once again condemn this heinous attempt and its perpetrators, and send my condolences to those who lost their relatives and friends in this tragic incident."

"Unfortunately, after this disgusting incident, the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people in the country were ruined. By the instructions of the government, they were unlawfully fired from their jobs, detained, arrested and even tortured. The government continues to deprive its own citizens of their means of earning a living, their reputation in society, and their basic human rights in the witch hunt it has undertaken to eliminate anyone it deems disloyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his regime."

"Over the past year, I have been devastated that the government has linked tens of thousands of citizens to me or the Hizmet movement in some way, and then punished this attributed contact as if it were a crime. The accusations made against me regarding the coup attempt are unfounded and a politically motivated slander. The government's treatment of its innocent citizens for a year drags Turkey into the category of the world's most backward countries in terms of democracy, rule of law and fundamental freedoms. I reiterate my call, made immediately following July 15, for the establishment of an independent international commission of inquiry to fully examine the incident and bring the perpetrators of the coup to justice, and if such a commission finds me guilty, I stand behind my promise to return to the country of my own accord."

"Instead of explaining why they could not convince world leaders about the accusations they made against me, the government deceives citizens with conspiracy theories through the media they have turned into propaganda tools. Unfortunately, the Turkish people, who cannot hear the different arguments about this terrible event, are mobilized en masse around hate messages. Until now, few people have realized how similar the scapegoating of Hizmet volunteers was to the scapegoating of certain groups by fascist and communist totalitarian regimes in the 20th century."

"Democracy cannot be achieved or preserved by resorting to violence. Even if political leaders oppress their citizens by violating their basic human rights, their overthrow by anti-democratic means cannot be tolerated. Although they were subjected to oppression unprecedented in the history of Turkey in terms of the methods they used and the number of people they victimized, none of the Hizmet volunteers even raised a fist against the oppressors. Despite everything, they continue to strive through legal and peaceful means to get their rights. If, in the face of this situation, someone still doubts their commitment to the rule of law, tranquility and peace, this can only be explained by a fear arising from prejudice."

"My hope is that Turkish intellectuals will raise their voices and stand in solidarity with all the victims of oppression, and that people of law will not compromise on the principles of universal law by ignoring political pressures. May God Almighty take us out of this dark period as soon as possible and lead this blessed homeland to days of peace and safety."

"This community cherishes every person, their differences are not a reason for fighting; It consists of people who have come together around high human values, such as considering everyone as an element of wealth, accepting everyone in their own position, and holding the hands of young people, especially through education. It consists of people who find it reasonable to serve these values ​​through educational institutions, hospitals, humanitarian aid organizations and dialogue projects, within a framework that we can call "Quranic reasonableness". It is an Islamic movement in a sense, as most of them are Muslims and takes their inspiration from religious sources, but it is also a humanitarian movement in the sense that it embraces all humanity and aims to serve. So far, people from different beliefs and nationalities in 160 countries of the world have embraced them and become patrons of these projects."

"Those in political power continue the witch hunt they started in Turkey in the world. As their first duty, diplomats are trying to have the educational institutions of the Service transferred to the Maarif Foundation or closed down. They are trying to put our friends who work here on planes and send them to Turkey, disregarding international law."

"However, all these oppressions led to something they had never considered. The world got to know the service much better. He saw that we were not in the same line with those who used Islam for politics, and a curiosity and sometimes favor arose. Although this has a heavy price, it is a blessing from God Almighty."

"Among the people who knew the service well and devoted themselves to it, no one stepped back, with very few exceptions. However, among people with poor communication, there were those who remained silent or preferred to stay away for a while due to the influence of pressure and fear. In an environment where the state attacks an entire group and makes them a scapegoat, this should be considered normal in terms of social psychology. The Turkish Government was perhaps effective in some countries. By using bribes, threats and state relations as blackmail, they managed to close schools in some places or transfer them to the Maarif Foundation. However, they were not successful in western countries, America, Europe, Australia, Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, where they could buy people with money and not get the law delivered. On the contrary, Turkey's pressure and oppression created a positive curiosity and interest in service in many parts of the world. Some western countries also supported the service participants who fled the persecution in Turkey."

"Cruelty only lasts up to a certain point. Politicians have limited time. One day they will leave by democratic means. However, this movement, which is based on love and volunteerism, will continue, with God's permission, in hearts where resources are not sufficient, and in institutions where resources allow."

"Serving humanity for the sake of justice is a duty from both religious and human perspectives. The basic principles are clear and unchanging. It is necessary to make efforts in various sectors, especially education, for a world where people live in peace and harmony with each other, hold every human being dear, approach everyone with tolerance and respect, and embrace each other. However, depending on time and ground conditions, the form and format of these services may change."

"Unfortunately, today in Turkey these values ​​have been sacrificed to politics. Service represented moderation in Turkey. Radicalism has come to the fore with the polarizing policy followed by Erdogan recently. Religious schools became politicized, religion and religious education were used as a tool for politics. Members of the society were turned into enemies against each other. It will take years to repair the damage caused to society by this. As for the members of the service, under all this pressure and persecution, they have not compromised on their fundamental values ​​such as the rule of law and non-use of violence, and they want nothing but justice for those who oppress them."

"In Western countries where Muslims are a minority, the Hizmet movement's openness to dialogue and coexistence attracted attention and was appreciated. While the service participants were striving to properly represent Islam in the West, they also set a good example by integrating aspects of modernity that did not conflict with Islam. They played a role in breaking negative opinions about Muslims in the West. However, it cannot be said that this can be fully explained in Muslim-majority countries. Dialogue activities in Turkey in the 90s were evaluated as diluting and compromising Islam, and smear campaigns were carried out. Recently, the Erdogan government has tried to discredit the Service in the eyes of the public by presenting it as a pawn of foreign powers, the Vatican, the CIA and MOSSAD. Some groups affiliated with them have also made this propaganda in Muslim-populated countries outside Turkey and continue to do so. That's why we cannot say that we can express ourselves properly in countries with Muslim populations."

"Media and international observers have stated that recently, many expert police officers and terrorism experts have been dismissed due to political considerations and some have been imprisoned. World media also wrote that Erdogan supported some armed radical organizations in the region in various ways and that he wanted to become a regional power through these. For these reasons, it can be said that terrorist organizations such as ISIS and their sympathizers have found a much more comfortable environment in Turkey in the recent period."

"In this regard, both Muslims, powerful states and international organizations have duties. First of all, Muslims need to stop blaming the foreign policies of Western countries on the issue of terrorism and do some self-reflection. We need to question why there are so many young people among us who fall into the trap of terrorists. As Muslims, it is our duty to provide young people with a good education based on both religious and positive and humanitarian sciences, to include universal human values ​​in the education curriculum, and to ensure that human rights and freedoms are fully experienced in our societies. The duty of powerful states is to not see the problem of terrorism as a security problem that can be solved only by military and intelligence measures, but also to take steps regarding its political, economic and sociological aspects. They should take steps to ensure faster integration of Muslims living in their own countries and determine their foreign policies by valuing the lives of people living in other countries as much as they value the lives of their own citizens. The responsibility of international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union is to take measures to protect fundamental human rights and freedoms all over the world and to impose sanctions to stop the terrible human rights violations of the country administrations that oppress their own people."

"Those who know me and the movement closely know that Erdogan has never been my student. We have fundamental differences of opinion in many areas, especially the use of religion in politics."

"Aside from being students, we have never been close to Erdogan. We've only met a few times. Our friends' support to his party as citizens was based on their promises of democracy, human rights and freedoms. As a matter of fact, members of this community supported parties that called for democracy, defended European Union membership, and emphasized fundamental rights and freedoms in previous periods. But when Erdogan himself and his party turned 180 degrees from these values ​​and promises, our support could no longer be an issue, and that's what happened."

"One of the important reasons for the conflict is that the Hizmet Movement, which carries out successful educational activities around the world, did not embrace the "leadership of the world's Muslims" discourse claimed by Erdogan and did not support it in the international arena. For this reason, they are now trying to use state resources and mobilize all diplomats and intelligence agencies to close down Hizmet training institutions around the world or have them transferred to the Maarif Foundation, and to extradite the Hizmet participants there to Turkey and imprison them."

"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 values ​​that were represented in the life of our Prophet (pbuh) and which we also believe are universal values. Holding every human being dear, equality before the law, giving women the opportunity to take part in social life, the rule of law in government and an administration with the participation of citizens... these are Islamic and universal values. Some may make some analogies to this stance, but our source is clear."

"We can say that Erdogan sees himself as the leader of the world's Muslims, and that he has become an embarrassment both with his words and actions, and with the use of the resources of the Turkish state to collect credit for himself in the world. In fact, those around him were not satisfied with this and called him a world leader."

"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."

"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."

"Yes, it reduced the country from a country with zero enemies to a country with zero friends. Because by interfering in the internal affairs of surrounding countries, he tried to design those countries through armed radical groups that he supported in various ways. He saw this right in himself, establishing himself as the leader of the Middle East and the caliph of the Islamic world. We did not approve of any of these. That's why he declared us enemies. From now on, he tried to achieve his political goals by blaming every negative event on the Service. For example, using the December 2013 corruption investigation as an excuse, he politicized the entire judiciary and thus rendered the judiciary ineffective. By disbanding the experienced police personnel that the country had trained for years, it rendered the police force inoperable. He ensured the transfer of major media groups to his supporters and prevented others from voicing the truth by silencing them, sometimes with advertising support and tenders, and sometimes with threats. Under the pretext of the July 15 incident, he inflicted the greatest historical damage on the Armed Forces and took them under his tutelage. In short, Erdogan turned state institutions into instruments of his political ambitions and polarized the public in an unprecedented way."

"He needed an enemy to justify all of this: When the service movement did not become a tool for his own political ambitions, he declared Hizmet as an enemy and started to motivate his base with this. In order to maintain this motivation, they are now trying to blame every problem on the Hizmet movement. It can also be said that he made the right choice for himself. Because he knew very well that no matter how much he slandered and oppressed, there would be no retaliation against him and that the people he served would not even raise their hands to shake a fist."

"I cursed the incident while it was happening and denied the accusations made against me. I invited Erdogan to establish an international commission of inquiry and promised to buy my own ticket and return if they agreed to their verdict and found me guilty. They didn't even respond to my offer. This shows that they have a lot to hide. As a matter of fact, they could not convince the world of their slander. I think July 15 is a scenario in which Erdogan is also involved. The truth will emerge over time, with God's permission."

"Why do Western countries and America not speak out against Erdogan's human rights violations and the imprisonment of thousands of people?"

"We will always side with the wrongdoers."

"There is a 360-degree difference between our understanding of Islam and that of IS."

"The people think of wealth and power as the greatest fate, But in this world, a spell of health is the best state. What men call sovereignty is worldly strife and constant war; Worship of God is the highest throne, the happiest of all estates."

"The green of my garden, my sweet sugar, my treasure, my love who cares for nothing in this world. My master of Egypt, my Joseph, my everything, the queen of my heart's realm. My Stanbul, my Karaman, my land of the Roman Caesars, My Badakhshan, my Kipcak, my Baghdad, and Khorasan. O my love of black hair with bow-like eyebrows, with languorous perfidious eyes. If I die you are my killer, O merciless, infidel woman."

"By 1516, Ottoman forces had seized Damascus, and in the following year they entered Egypt, shattering the Mamluk forces by the use of Turkish cannon. Having thus closed the spice route from the Indies, they moved up the Nile and pushed through the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, countering the Portuguese incursions there. If this perturbed Iberian sailors, it was nothing to the fright which the Turkish armies were giving the princes and peoples of eastern and southern Europe. Already the Turks held Bulgaria and Serbia, and were the predominant influence in Wallachia and all around the Black Sea; but, following the southern drive against Egypt and Arabia, the pressure against Europe was resumed under Suleiman (1520–1566). Hungary, the great eastern bastion of Christendom in these years, could no longer hold off the superior Turkish armies and was overrun following the battle of Mohacs in 1526—the same year, coincidentally, as Babur gained the victory at Panipat by which the Mughal Empire was established. Would all of Europe soon go the way of northern India? By 1529, with the Turks besieging Vienna, this must have appeared a distinct possibility to some. In actual fact, the line then stabilized in northern Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire was preserved; but thereafter the Turks presented a constant danger and exerted a military pressure which could never be fully ignored. Even as late as 1683, they were again besieging Vienna."

"The Ottoman Empire was, of course, much more than a military machine. A conquering elite (like the Manchus in China), the Ottomans had established a unity of official faith, culture, and language over an area greater than the Roman Empire, and over vast numbers of subject peoples. For centuries before 1500 the world of Islam had been culturally and technologically ahead of Europe. Its cities were large, well-lit, and drained, and some of them possessed universities and libraries and stunningly beautiful mosques. In mathematics, cartography, medicine, and many other aspects of science and industry—in mills, gun-casting, lighthouses, horsebreeding—the Muslims had enjoyed a lead. The Ottoman system of recruiting future janissaries from Christian youth in the Balkans had produced a dedicated, uniform corps of troops. Tolerance of other races had brought many a talented Greek, Jew, and Gentile into the sultan’s service—a Hungarian was Mehmet’s chief gun-caster in the Siege of Constantinople. Under a successful leader like Suleiman I, a strong bureaucracy supervised fourteen million subjects—this at a time when Spain had five million and England a mere two and a half million inhabitants. Constantinople in its heyday was bigger than any European city, possessing over 500,000 inhabitants in 1600."

"The Ottoman padishahs (emperors), also known as sultans, were initially a dynasty of and golden extraordinarily dynamic conquerors. The succession demanded a large number of heirs, cages who were produced by a numerous harem of potential mothers of future sultans. However, once a padishah had succeeded, this multitude of princes was a constant threat to his throne, a problem new sultans increasingly solved by murdering all their brothers. Troublesome harem girls or princesses who interfered too much in politics were killed also. In the East, it was forbidden to shed royal blood and thus from Mongolia to the Bosphorus, princes were killed by being suffocated, crushed in carpets by horses or elephants, or strangled with a bowstring. The girls were sown up in sacks and dropped into the Bosphorus. When Suleiman the Magnificent was informed by his favourite wife, the blonde Slavic Roxelana, that his own son Mustafa had been plotting against him, he summoned the prince and watched as he was asphyxiated before him. A similar fate befell one of Roxelana’s sons, Bayezid, after he betrayed the sultan and briefly took up with the Persian shah; Bayezid’s four sons were despatched in the same way."

"I am calling on my citizens, my brothers and sisters in Europe. Don’t have just three children; have five. The place in which you are living and working is now your homeland and new motherland. Stake a claim in it. Open more businesses, enroll your children in better schools, have your families live in better neighborhoods, drive the best cars, live in the most beautiful houses. That's because you are the future of Europe. It will be the best answer to the vulgarism, antagonism and injustices made against you."

"If Europe continues this way, no European in any part of the world can walk safely on the streets. We, as Turkey, call on Europe to respect human rights and democracy."

"We believe that we do not have any problem with any country or institution that cannot be solved through politics, diplomacy, and dialogue,"

"We have no grudge against the people of Armenia. The problem is with the Armenian administration. Over 100,000 Armenians live in my country,"

"If the EU really wants to contribute to a solution, it must fulfill the commitments it made back in 2004 and recognize the existence and will of the Turkish Cypriots, as well as making use of the solution proposal put forward in Geneva,"

"We do not view Finland and Sweden's NATO membership positively."

"Sweden and Finland do not extradite terrorists, they hold PKK demonstrations in Sweden and Finland. Sorry, we, as Turkey, do not look favorably on the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland. NATO is a security organization."

"Those shedding crocodile tears for civilians killed in the Ukraine-Russia war are silently watching the deaths of thousands of innocent children in Gaza."

"The war in Ukraine challenged conventional wisdom about the rules-based international order, great power competition and Euro-Atlantic security. The most recent developments also breathed new life into NATO, arguably the greatest military alliance in history."

"Turkey has been a proud and indispensable NATO ally for 70 years. Our country joined the alliance in 1952, having sent troops to Korea in defence of democracy and freedom. During the cold war and in its aftermath, Turkey has been a stabilising power and a force for good in the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Black Sea regions. Turkish troops, too, have deployed to many parts of the world, from Kosovo to Afghanistan, as part of NATO missions."

"At the same time, our country invested billions of dollars in its defence industry, bolstering its defensive capacity. That additional capacity resulted in the development of military products that have made their impact in various theatres of war, including Ukraine."

"Indeed, Turkey’s increased capacity has also contributed to NATO’s resilience and strength. Whereas our partners have always appreciated Turkish contributions to NATO’s collective security mission, they quickly forgot about them when there were no threats to their national security. Our partners who only remember Turkey’s importance in turbulent times, such as the crisis in the Balkans, mistakenly thought that long-term stability could be achieved without Turkey. Thus, after the elimination of the immediate threat, they disregarded geopolitical realities and the potential threats that might emerge in the region. Needless to say, such pipe dreams turned out to be short-lived as a result of international crises."

"The threats against international peace and security changed in recent years and that led many to believe that NATO was an “obsolete” organisation that ceased to serve its purpose. Emmanuel Macron even said in 2019 that the alliance was experiencing “brain death”. The same folks questioned Turkey’s role within NATO. That blend of extraordinary wishful thinking and extreme strategic myopia cost the alliance many years."