Turkey’s Vice President links Gülenist network to Said Nursi at Istanbul symposium

At the International Bediüzzaman Symposium in Istanbul, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz denounced the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) for appropriating the teachings of 20th-century Kurdish scholar Said Nursi, whom he described as a historic opponent of imperialist forces. Yılmaz explained that FETÖ manipulates Nursi’s writings to recruit followers and serve foreign intelligence agencies, holding members in a slave-like hierarchy.

He was accompanied by Syria’s minister of Awqaf, Safi Arpaguş of Turkey’s Presidency of Religious Affairs, and Necmettin Bilal Erdoğan of the Foundation for Dissemination of Knowledge. The speech also highlighted the terror-free Türkiye initiative, aimed at fully dissolving the PKK and fostering unity between Turks and Kurds. Yılmaz urged the elimination of ethnic and sectarian conflict to prevent external powers from exploiting regional resources. He contrasted Nursi’s anti-imperialist stance with the exile of Fethullah Gülen in Pennsylvania, who faces Turkish arrest warrants for the 2016 coup attempt.