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| Fethullah Gulen |
The interview comprises many other topics in addition to Gülen’s approach to the matter at hand. The section dealing with Gaza can be assessed from three angles: First, concerning the method followed prior to the horrible attack on the ship carrying humanitarian aid volunteers, he criticizes it, saying diplomatic channels should have been exhausted. Second, he criticizes the manner in which Israeli soldiers interfered, saying that it was ugly. Third, he expresses regret for our citizens who died in the attack, to whose families he offered his condolences.
The bloody intervention Israel conducted against the humanitarian aid vessels that set sail to puncture the over three-year embargo on Gaza, an open-air prison for 1.5 million Palestinians, has angered all of us as a nation. Rallies that are being held one after another and the funeral prayer of the martyrs in the courtyard of İstanbul’s Fatih Mosque are indicative of our nation’s reaction to the incident.
Indeed, protests against this violent attack that took the lives of nine of our people were not restricted to Turkey. The whole world united to condemn Israel, including the UN Security Council, Western media, the Israeli press, the Arab League, NATO and the Jews who, carrying Turkish flags in New York, lambasted Israel’s violent attack. The subject is still a major news story on international networks such as Al Jazeera, the BBC and CNN.
Gülen was among those who shared the sorrow for the loss of life in Israel’s violent attack. In his condolences message, published in our paper, Gülen drew attention to the human tragedy in Gaza: “I ask for God’s mercy for our people who set sail with the intention of putting an end to the human tragedy in Gaza and who were martyred in the unfortunate attack they suffered, and I convey my condolences to their families, our nation and humanity.”
Although the aid initiative came to our agendas after Israel’s bloody operation, Gülen was concerned about it from the very moment it was first announced. He was worried that this step, though taken in good faith, may bring about a negative result. Given Israel’s reaction to similar situations, there was substance to his concerns. Indeed, even before the ships set sail, he told the people close to him that it was difficult to predict Israel’s reaction and that diplomatic means should first be exhausted. If this could not be done, other ways should be sought in order to avert any crisis that could result in bringing Turkey to the brink of war.
He was right in having such concerns, as Israel has turned into an unpredictable country that could set the whole world on fire over the most insignificant of reasons. We speak here of an administration that devastated Lebanon just because two of its soldiers were being held captive there and declared war against the occupied Gaza and slaughtered 1,500 people, including 400 women and children, just because one of its soldiers was taken prisoner by Hamas and attempted to teach Turkey, one of its closes allies in the region, a lesson by arranging for the Turkish ambassador to sit on a lower sofa. Given this, one could reasonably expect trouble for an aid initiative launched as if to challenge this country. The fact that some deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) decided not to attend the convoy despite a previously made announcement to this effect implies that these concerns and the possible outcome were shared by others.
Indeed, in the interview he gave to The Wall Street Journal, Gülen voiced his views associated with these great concerns. His remarks were the voice of common sense. Noting that he found ugly the attack against civilians in international waters and the incidents that followed, Gülen stressed that the state and the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH), which initiated this move, should have pressed for diplomatic means, considering the problems that children, women and the elderly may face and even lose their lives and the risk of war. What should be done after these tragic incidents in the first instance, for Gülen, is to make sure that a transparent and independent investigation is conducted by the United Nations to reveal the truth.
One point should be noted so that his views can be correctly understood. As far as I am told and as can be concluded from the interview, this interview was not planned with the Gazan crisis in mind. A request for the interview had been made several weeks before the incident and the written responses had already been sent. When the reporter and Gülen met for a short time for the photography session, the Gaza issue was discussed briefly as it was the top agenda item at the time. It is wrong to see this interview as having been given with specifically this event in mind.
Published on Today's Zaman, 05 June 2010, Saturday
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