I Will Return to Turkey as Myself
Gulen rejects the claims that, “Fethullah Gulen’s return to Turkey will be a glorious kind of return.” He expresses that his return will be quiet and simple, in his own manner:
“If I return, I will return as myself, as the son of Ramiz Efendi who served as the imam in the mosque with three minaret balconies. It might seem funny to you, but I find myself thinking whether they will appoint me the imam of that same mosque when I return, if they would let me stay in that same window; or, even if they don’t appoint me in administration at the Chestnut Bazaar, if they would let me stay in a shed like my little wooden shed. Another thought that I have is, and let me express it with complete sincerity, there is a little guest house in my village, built on my grandfathers’ land, I think about going and staying there. I wish to die as an ordinary villager living in the village where I was born and raised.” [Milliyet, 01.29.2005]
“I am not Iranian and therefore cannot be expected to be Khomeini. I never claimed to be like Khomeini and therefore cannot be expected to return to Turkey like Khomeini. I am a person who has frequently been to places out of the country. Who knows how many times I’ve previously come to even America. The first time I came was in 92, I stayed for two and a half months in these parts. I came again in 94, again in 96, again in 97, and I think the last time I came was in 99. Also, I went to Europe many times, to organizations that were a part of the Hizmet Movement, to visit friends, to many different places... Even before any of these issues had come about, I called my friends from inside the airplane, on my way back from America, and said, “Can somebody come with a car and pick me up from the airport?” Only once did the media come; Mr. Alaaddin had informed them, it was on my return from the Vatican. Never in my life did I come and go with such noise and clamor. I never looked to the future and never built high hopes for a bright future. In this respect, I never had any relation with Khomeini, neither country-wise, nor doctrine-wise, nor character-wise. When they don’t know an individual’s character and personality, they may speak from the top of their heads. About whether or not I will go back, that’s a whole different issue. Of course, it is my native country. I have pieces of soil that have come from fifty different parts of it, I breathe in their smell and take solace in that. I am a child of my own country. I am not one of those parasites that have been imported from the outside and have imposed itself on the people. I am a child of that country. I would not trade a handful of its soil for the whole world. If they were to give me America, I would not trade it in for my poor village of Korucuk. This is the spiritual state I am in. But there is one other thing: I have a cause that I believe in, there is a service to humanity, a service to the True religion of Islam and the issue no restlessness in my country, no taking a stand against religion... this is my grand purpose in life, my thought and my ideal. Now, if your return is going to cause certain problems there, if it’s going to make things more difficult for those who are striving to do things with good intentions, if it’s going to bring about problems they will not be able to overcome...then I believe that you should act with stability, you should be the one to determine the right time, you should be the one to determine the nature of your departure, you should be the one to calibrate the circumstances...or the one to determine how you should react in such circumstances. Again, these are things that you carry out according to your spiritual well-being and your relationship with God Almighty. Like I said, when that return does become reality one day, if it is according to God’s will, they will only hear about it; maybe they will say, “Did he or did he not come? If he did, then where is he? How did we not hear about it if he came?!” I passed through in the same way when I was passing from Syria into Turkey. They were holding on to every corner and had put me on restriction; but, with God’s will, I passed in such a way that I walked through the thorny fields, with only socks on my feet, and the thorns penetrating my soles. I rested for twenty days, and then got up and went to the court on my own. I had my own manner of coming. Like I mentioned before, if I do return to Turkey, I will do so as myself, like I have always been. My character is my honor. If I were to sacrifice my character, Iwould consider it as an invasion of my honor; my character is very important to me.” [Weekly online sermon, 06.25.2008]
We have prepared this document so that one may understand in a better and more clear sense the longing for one’s home and people that he has been enduring throughout these years of sorrowful longing. As of today, it has been a total of fifteen years that he has spent in misery and self-sacrifice for the sole sake of his people. Through the quotes and the many expressions we have presented you, it can be understood that:
Ever since the day he set out on this journey away from home, Fethullah Gulen has been living with the longing and hope of the day that this tribulation of yearning would end and he would reunite with his native land. However, he is waiting for the day that those individuals who have caused a great many waste of energy and time by breaking out storms and occupying the current agenda through the throwing about of baseless claims and accusations about the Hizmet Movement and himself, will, at least, be able to look with reason and justfully consider the human-centered service of the Movement of Volunteers who are in love with Turkey.
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