Top Turkish cleric calls for unity after attempted coup

By Ertugrul Subasi

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s senior cleric on Wednesday called for national unity regardless of people’s “faith, thoughts, approach, or lifestyle."

Mehmet Gormez, the head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, made the statements regarding last week’s failed coup after a meeting attended by muftis from all of Turkey’s 81 provinces.

“It is time for [Turkey’s] 79 million people to be united, putting aside our differences such as faith, thoughts, and approach right now. Now is the time for the nation to protect its rights, national will, freedom, and democracy, as well as moral and material values,” he stressed.

On the movement of U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen and its FETO terrorist organization, said to be responsible for last week’s attempted coup, he said, “All the dirty ideas of the terror group which carried out the activities in the guise of religion and benefited from religious faith and loyalty, stand exposed. The group, which for years pretended to be pious, has now switched to sowing enmity.”

Last Friday’s attempted coup by rogue elements of the military resulted in the martyring of around 240 people and the injuring of nearly 1,500 others.

The attempted coup has led to a wave of arrests and suspensions in the military, the judiciary, the police, and civil service institutions.

The government has said the plot was organized by Gulen’s followers in the military, police, and judiciary, forming the “parallel state.”

*Ahmet Sait Akcay contributed to this report from Ankara