In the new climate that emerged after the September 12 military coup in Turkey, which we can call the neo-right conservative and neoliberal trend, congregations and religious orders found the opportunity to penetrate large segments of society by expanding their fields of growth and activity. The chronic problems of middle-class urban life, such as urbanization and urbanity, and social infrastructure deficiencies such as education, culture, and health also had an impact on this expansion. Politicians and political parties have also been spectators to the growth of “political Islam”, which is represented by communities as short-term electoral investments.
People who had been a members of the Gulen Movement for years were kept away from politics with the saying “I seek refuge in Allah from the devil and politics” and they were prevented from having their own preferences. Acting with a single will was conducted with a single mind from the same center and this structure that does not question, does not reflect on itself, and is completely blind to its own mistakes was built. Some of the people did not realize this, some of them did not speak up even if they did realize, and some of them did not care because they were the ones who actualized it.
Gulen’s phrase “We are at an equal distance from all political parties” became a motto. What had changed? You know, we were running away from politics like we were running from the devil. People who wanted to be candidates of a political party were forced to choose either the Hizmet or politics. But “every way is permissible” for service, isn’t it? Indeed, all the work was done “for the sake of Allah.”
What a reward it was to get votes for the current government (as long as their interests coincided). Elder sisters, elder brothers, brothers and sisters traveled every nook and crany in the 2010 elections, even the party members complimented them by saying “even we don’t work as much as you do.” The situation was explained over and over again in all meetings to get people excited and the reward of a good deed warmed the heart.
Then, suddenly, they were at a crossroads. Maybe it was a forced parting of ways. The expression of “being equally close to every party” itself was overtly political, but the members of the movement could not attribute it to themselves. This time, the candidates of all other parties were supported in order to defeat the current government. For this, meetings were held and followed up from province to province, district to district, even deciding on which candidate of the party to vote for. Alliances were made with parties that any Islamic community would not even held talks with, especially with parties that would not even cross the minds of the members of the movement.
For this purpose, consultations were held with the regional imams from Turkey at The Camp in the USA. It was talked to the extent that how much financial aid would be given to some candidates. What was all this for? “For the sake of Allah,” of course, as always. Whenever the congregation was in trouble, they were asked to defend the congregation by providing confidential information to the deputies who were well-spoken. I don’t know if these people, who were seemingly defending the congregation and its members along with basic human rights, had any other motive than to promote themselves and their political parties. But I know personally that all of these were realized due to the instructions of Gülen and senior “brothers” of the Hizmet, as I was a part of the “secret” structure at the time.
Now I am asking people who have given their all to the congregation and whose innocence I believe in. Have we helped the PKK, which attacked our country, our nation, and our soldiers because of the material and moral power that was acquired through the votes given to the HDP? Didn’t a part of the blood of our martyrs also get on our hands? Can we just say that the cause we believed in necessitated it? Let’s not forget that the most prominent authority in fatwa is our very conscience!