Who is the cleric some are blaming for Turkey's coup attempt'

"After the coup in Turkey ended swiftly, many have already begun questioning its legitimacy. One man, a cleric named Fethullah Gulen, seems to believe the coup was staged, while Turkish President Erdogan blames Gulen for initiating it.

Erdogan and Gulen have a long and not-so-friendly history. Erdogan aligns himself with the Muslim Brotherhood, a strict, traditionalist, and often radical group, while Gulen leads the so-called Hizmet movement, a modern interpretation of Islam which teaches interfaith communication and democracy.

Gulen was banished from Turkey, and now lives in Pennsylvania in exile, where Turkish officials claim he incited this most recent coup. Gulen, however, has voiced his opposition of military interventions, saying "After military coups in Turkey, I have been pressured and I have been imprisoned. I have been tried and faced various forms of harassment.". He added that "Now that Turkey is on the path to democracy, it cannot turn back."

There is more to the theory that this coup was staged than just the words of an old man living in exile. Some unconfirmed reports have shown that many in the Turkish military were told the event was a military training. Other confirmed reports show that 2,745 judges have been removed from office. Many have questioned how it was possible for the Turkish government was able to get names and take action so quickly.

Many in Turkey and around the world are comparing this failed coup to the Reichstag fire of 1933, where Hitler seized the opportunity to gain more control over Germany, turning it into his own personal dictatorship. Erdogan even called the coup "a gift from God," and that it would help cleanse the military of "members of the gang” who would “pay a heavy price for their treason”.

In the meantime, Turkey has grounded air strikes against ISIS, which could allow the Islamic State to make advances that endanger the lives of many innocent people.

The timing, combined with Erdogan's history of turning the country into more of a dictatorship could spell disaster for democracy and for the people of Turkey. Was the coup actually staged? Who knows. But what we do know is that this story is far from over."

http://www.redstate.com/kylefoley/2016/ ... ey-staged/

It's starting to look like that "Coup" was an Erdogan orchestrated false flag operation. Basically some are suspecting Erdogan organized a failed coup against himself to justify a purge of enemies to his totalitarian intentions. That's the conclusion more and more and starting to come to.

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/07/er ... 1468794014

Gulen is just a convenient patsy.

Now sit back and watch as Obama expedites the man's extradition to face execution in Turkey.

The real problem with Gulen, you see, is not just his support of democracy, but his liberal interpretation of Islam. Erdogan was speaking about people like Gulen when he said,



Gulen is therefore a heretic and an apostate and if he's extradited to Turkey there will be a show trial and the man will be executed for 'treason' while the real reason will be heresy and apostasy to Erdogan's literal interpretation of Islam.

If he's extradited, wonder if all the Charter schools he founded will close?

Perhaps they will.

It wasn't a false flag at all. Gulen supporters were planning the coup, but because Erdogan was going to initiate a purge, they had to move faster than they had originally planned. Also, 2 F16's from the plotters had Erdogan's plane in their sights but did not fire. If they had, this likely would have gone completely differently. Not that either outcome seems optimal. With Turkey now blaming the US for the plot, will they cozy up to Russia?

If Russia allied with Turkey then Putin would be deposed/shot within the week. There's too much bad blood between the two peoples for them to become friends. Frankly, if the planet were on fire and only their joint cooperation could save it then both would joyfully sit back to watch the other die.

I should add that when Russian naval units transit the Bosporous they routinely do so at general quarters with all of their weapons unsafed, guns unlimbered, and ready to go to war.

I don't get it. How is that evidence there was no false flag? If the coup was real, why wouldn't they shoot, or at least force the fleeing Erdogan to ground?

Let's pretend that's true. How would Erdogan have authorized the purge without excuse? Are you saying there was evidence of Gulen's intention to coup before all this theatre? Let's see it.