On the fifth anniversary of Turkey’s most fatal coup attempt, Advocates for Dignity (AFD) screened a documentary, ‘A Gift From God’, a documentary by Jørgen Lorentzen on Thursday 15 July 2021, that uncovers never-before-seen film footage and documents, and sheds light on what really happened that fatal night, through the voices of people who were there to witness it.
The title was inspired by President Erdogan who said that the coup attempt was a “gift from God”, giving him the chance to re-shape the country, and purge the its enemies.
The screening was followed by a Q&A session with director Jørgen Lorentzen, live from Norway, former ABC Radio host John Cleary, and Criminologist and researcher at Charles Sturt University, Leighann Spencer.
Jørgen Lorentzen is a scholar in the field of gender studies, film producer and author. He has published various books and articles and developed a number of widely discussed TV documentaries. At present, he is Director of the Hedda foundation which focuses on human rights, gender equality, democracy and development through artistic projects.
Lorentzen was in Turkey when the coup attempt took place in 2016 and followed the event the whole evening. In the middle of the night his neighbour said: “This is not a real coup, I have experienced many coups and know what a coup is”. From that moment Lorentzen started the investigation of the event and its aftermath.
Throughout the documentary, Lorentzen interviewed many people from within and outside of Turkey, including former members of the Turkish Naval Force, well-known politicians such as Dogu Perincek, journalists, Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen and many more.
The most powerful of these interviews was that of the mother and father of one of the young soldiers that were lynched on the night of the coup. Lorentzen referred to these parents as the real heroes of the documentary, for opening up about such a difficult topic and demanding justice for their son.
The tremendous control that Erdogan and his party gained in the aftermath of the coup formed the crux of the Q & A discussions following the screening, highlighted by the colossal number of dismissals, mass investigations and arrests which took place before the dust of the coup had even settled.
“During this time [post-coup], Erdogan had taken measures to cement his control and make it official law, allowing a presidential system and oversight mechanisms for the judiciary to be under Erdogan’s control,” said Leighann Spencer. “You can see why so many people are being persecuted when you don’t have an independent judicial system”
“New anti-terrorism laws, allowing dismissal of civil servants, banning gatherings deemed terror-related were introduced… having a big effect on minority rights such as protests for women’s rights, Kurdish rights, etc.” she continued. “People can be detained for up to 12 days for no reason, no charges laid, they don’t have to be taken in front of the court.”
“Everybody is called a Gulenist or terrorist in Turkey if they are opposed to [Erdogan’s] regime.
Even I’m called a Gulenist because I made this film and am critical of what Erdogan is doing.’ said Lorentzen.
Lorentzen, who pursued the production of the documentary to investigate who was really behind the coup, says he still does not have an answer. In the closing scenes of the documentary, he stated that Turkey is now in the ranks of authoritarian regimes and questions why Western leaders remain silent.
He closed the film by stating the greatest tragedy as a result of the coup was the human one. “However,” he says “history has shown us that no tyrannies last forever, because as Erdogan himself has said ‘there is no greater power than the people.”
A profoundly disappointing analysis from the Gulenist perspective.
A profoundly disappointing comment from the Erdoganist perspective.
Use real names.
First an article on “To Veil or Not to Veil” (which was later withdrawn) and now this… a pro-Gulenist and anti-Erdogan article at its best.
What is happening with AMUST?
Dear Bilal,
I have 2 things to say about your comment:
Firstly, the journalist who wrote this article is just quoting Jørgen Lorentzen, who is the documentary film producer. Mind you, Jørgen Lorentzen, is not Turkish nor Muslim nor a Gulenist. He is an academic and a humanitarian, who has produced an objective documentary talking to all walks of people in Turkey re: the coup and the aftermath. He interviews Kemalists, journalists, academics, army personnel and even Erdogan ally, Dogu Perincek. He tries to interview Erdogan, who rejects to be interviewed. Now if you were squeaky clean, wouldn’t you want to be interviewed?
Secondly, we must ask ourselves, who the coup in Turkey benefitted the most? The answer of that question will give you an answer as to who possibly conducted the coup. If you look at history, you will see that whoever conducted a coup against the existing leader of a country, had become the ruler of that country. Eg. Libya, Iraq, Iran, Hitler’s Germany and the list goes on. Certainly the coup has not benefitted the Gulenists, who have had a thousand plus schools closed down, dozens of universities closed down, thousands of tutorial centres closed down, dozens of private hospitals closed down and even had their humanitarian organisation called “Kimse Yokmu” closed down. On top of that they had many of the Gulen followers were thrown in to jail and tortured without even a judicial process. And other Gulenists who have been earmarked to not ever be employed by any Turkish organisation going forward.
I respect you as a scholar Br Bilal, but I think you really need to look at the whole episode in Turkey more objectively rather than from the eyes of pro Erdogan media outlets.
I do not swallow media propaganda and I have done some research on the Gulen cult in central Asia and its relations with the USA’s geopolitical ambitions.
It will eventually be exposed even to its most devoted disciples, given that they have Islam in their hears and not devotion to a chimera of a cult.
The failure of the coup is no proof of non-involvement, just of incompetence.
You are mistaken Bilal. The Hizmet movement is not a cult but a civil society movement. Fethullah Gulen is a spiritual leader, and not a cult leader. I don’t know how you reached that conclusion but it is slanderous.
A cult is a religious or quasi-religious group whose ideas and practices are considered deviant, or differ significantly from mainstream religious groups.
Fethullah Gulen follows the teachings of the Prophet (pbuh) and he talks about the Sahaba and their lives. Gulen calls himself poor and lowers himself to the level of the “dog of the Ashab Al-Kahf” when addressing himself in the court of our Prophet (saw). He says that he wishes he was the sand that our prophet (saw) walked on. A cult leader would talk about himself in a superior manner as having superior qualities than anyone else. A cult leader would see himself at the level of other prophets or even higher. A cult leader would never call himself a dog in the court of anyone. Gulen never ever talks about himself in positive light. He is a very humble man, who worships Allah day and night.
May Allah forgive you and may the people in the Hizmet movement make their rights halal to you in this world for making such slanderous comments about them.
Let’s discuss this offline and not here. I will not write any further replies here.