Fethullah Gülen denies role in operation against Şık's book

Today's Zaman


Fethullah Gulen

In the wake of the emergence of claims that he ordered the blocking of the publication of a book by a jailed journalist, Ahmet Şık, Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, known for his widely lauded messages of tolerance, intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding, issued a statement through his lawyer, Orhan Erdemli, in which he denied the accuracy of the claims. Statement as follows:

“Over the past few days, there have been unjust publications with regard to certain proceedings being conducted by the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office against my client Fethullah Gülen that have amounted to execution without trial. For this reason, the Distinguished Fethullah Gülen has felt it necessary to release the following statement:

“To date, a large number of unflattering news stories and tens of books have been published against me. However, I have never made the slightest effort to prevent the publication of an unpublished book. I only sought legal action within the boundaries of the law as a citizen in the face of defamation of my character, baseless accusations and slander.

In particular during the Feb. 28 [1997] process, many books that were the products of a psychological operation and most of which seemed like reproductions of one another were published against me. The claims mentioned in these books were no different from the allegations put forward in a court case against me that ended in my acquittal, which was also upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeals. Furthermore, these books were also added to the case file, and their content was also included in the indictment [against me]. Additionally, the [lack of] credibility of the allegations that are mentioned in these books is also well known by the public. It is quite evident that it is not possible to prevent a publication from reaching its audience thanks to the use of such media as the Internet and other media. It is also clear that efforts to prevent the publication of a book will boost people's interest in the book.

I have not filed a criminal complaint or a lawsuit against the book in question or its author. The issue falls within the scope of responsibility of the Turkish judiciary, and I also do not know for what reason or evidence an investigation was launched into the book. It is out of the question for me to make a positive or negative statement about an issue that is being evaluated by the independent judiciary. Freedom of thought, expression and the press is a sine qua non for democracy. But it is also a fundamental principle of democracy not to use that freedom with the motive to disrupt public order or attack people's personalities or direct groundless accusations against innocent people.”

Published on Today's Zaman, 29 March 2011, Tuesday