People from all walks of life affected by Gülen movement

He has drowsed certain naïve believers by saying, “We will entrust this country to a golden generation; we will bring faith to this country.” He was able to attract certain liberals by saying, “We will finish the army; we will end military tutelage.” 

He turned to certain generals by saying, “We will topple Tayyip Erdoğan together.” He intimidated certain businesspeople by telling them, “If you’re not careful we will also send you to Silivri Prison.” He made other businesspeople kneel down by saying, “We will send the financial inspectors to you.” He lured others by saying, “Your business matters in Ankara will be solved.” 

He made certain politicians tremble with fear by saying, “A video record of yours may be released.” He took out certain athletes by telling them, “We will embroil you in the match rigging scandal.” He gave certain artists sleepless nights by threatening them and saying, “We will publish your private conversations; we will create a scandal linking you to drugs.” 

By targeting and intimidating a certain aspect of everybody, he made himself immune. 

But eventually, when he attempted to “touch” democracy and fire a golden shot at the state, everybody woke up. 


Creating two friends and two enemies  

Is it a good idea to sever relations with the U.S. and the EU at the same time as repairing relations with Russia and Israel? 

I have some humble advice to the government. Every one of our officials keeps accusing the U.S. over the attempted coup, dragging it through the mud. Instead, I think it would be better to express opinions about the U.S. and the EU only through the Foreign Affairs Ministry, within the boundaries of the ministry’s diplomatic language and style. 


Sincere thoughts on some detained journalists

Nazlı Ilıcak is the daughter of a politician who was the victim of the May 27, 1960 military coup. She is a person who has stood against all military coups. I totally disagree with the tweets she has posted since the July 15 coup attempt, but if you claim that she is a coup plotter, I could not believe it. 

Perihan Mağden: I have been the target of her rage many times. I absolutely do not like her style or her mentality. She hates me and I dislike her. You can call her anything, but if you say she is a coup plotter I would not believe you. 

Bülent Mumay is a young journalist who I hired for daily Hürriyet and worked with for many years. He fiercely resisted the injustices in the Balyoz case. I have no doubt that he is a true democrat. You can criticize him for participating in the Gezi Park protests, or for his stance on any other issues, but if you say he is a coup plotter I would not believe you. 

Arda Akın has always worked on news stories. These days, just like several other reporters working for pro-government dailies Sabah, Star and Yeni Şafak, he is an ambitious journalist looking for news sources within the police. You may criticize his stories but if you call him a coup plotter I would not believe it. 

In the aftermath of the failed coup attempt, I hope there will not be arrests like there used to be. I hope the law functions at its normal course. I hope the spirit of fraternity and democracy that has formed in Turkey, that has given hope to all of us, is not ruined.  


If we agree on Lausanne 

One side describes the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, which led to the founding of the Republic of Turkey, as a “triumph of patriotism.” The other side describes it as a “fiasco and a betrayal.” 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan put an end to this historic polarization with his recent Lausanne message, bridging the two. 

If we can all agree on the topic of the Lausanne Treaty, then we can agree on our history. We will have a joint history where the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Turkish Republic, the multi-party era, and the military coups are all situated appropriately. 

If we can agree on the past, then we can agree on today and tomorrow…