In his message on Friday, Gülen noted that the activists were attacked as they were sailing to end the human tragedy in Gaza.
“I wish God's mercy upon our people who set sail with the intention of putting an end to the human tragedy in Gaza and who were martyred in the unfortunate attack they suffered, and I convey my condolences to their families, our nation and to humanity,” the message read.
Israel dispatched naval commandos to stop an aid flotilla in international waters at dawn on Monday. While taking over the ship, the soldiers killed at least nine peace activists and wounded dozens more.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Gülen described the Israeli attack on defenseless aid group members as “ugly.” He said he watched news coverage of Monday's deadly confrontation between Israeli commandos and Turkish aid group members as its flotilla approached Israel's sea blockade of Gaza. “What I saw was not pretty,” he said. “It was ugly.” The interview was published on Friday.
Gülen also said he had only recently heard of the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH), which took the initiative in the organization of the aid flotilla, and went on to criticize the group for failing to obtain Israel's consent before setting out on their aid mission. Gülen said that when a charity organization linked with his own movement wanted to help Gazans, he insisted they get Israel's permission. He added that assigning blame over the matter was best left to the United Nations.
The reporter, Joe Lauria, also wrote in the article that Gülen preaches nonviolence, dialogue between the Western and Muslim worlds and an educational tradition that combines study of science and Islam. “His newspaper columns, weekly Internet sermons and other messages have been collected into more than 60 books,” Lauria remarked.
