Gülen movement

The Gülen movement is a transnational religious and social movement led by Turkish Islamic scholar and preacher Fethullah Gülen. The movement has no official name but it is usually referred to as Hizmet ("the Service") by its followers and as Cemaat ("the Community/Assembly") by the broader public in Turkey.

The movement has attracted supporters and critics in Turkey, Central Asia, and in other parts of the world. The movement is active in education with private schools and universities in over 180 countries as well as many American charter schools operated by followers. It has initiated forums for interfaith dialogue. It has substantial investments in media, finance, and for–profit health clinics.[1][2] Some have praised the movement as a pacifist, modern-oriented version of Islam, and as an alternative to more extreme schools of Islam such as Salafism.[3]

After the 2013 corruption investigations in Turkey into alleged corrupt practices by several bureaucrats, ministers, mayors, and family members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey was uncovered,[4][5] President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blamed the Movement for initiating [6] the investigations as a result of a break in previously friendly relations.[7] The group was considered to have influence on the Turkish police force and the judiciary. The movement, currently accused of attempting to overthrow the democratically elected Turkish government through a judicial coup through corruption investigations. The government determined the movement as a national security threat for Turkey and seized the group owned newspaper (Zaman-the most circulated newspaper in Turkey before the seizure.[8]) and several companies that has ties with the group. Investigations into the group are continuing with several accusations.[9]

Description and membership

The movement has been characterized as a "moderate blend of Islam."[10][11] Gülen and the Gülen movement are technology-friendly, work within current market and commerce structures, and are savvy users of modern communications public relations."[12] Within Turkey the Gülen movement keeps its distance from established Islamic political parties.[13]

Sources state that the Gülen movement is vying to be recognized as the world's leading Muslim network, one that is more reasonable than many of its rivals.[14] The movement builds on the activities of Fethullah Gülen, who has won praise from non-Muslim quarters for his advocacy of science, interfaith dialogue, and multi-party democracy. It has earned praise as "the world's most global movement."[15]

The exact number of supporters of the Gülen movement is not known as the movement has no official membership rolls; estimates vary from 1 million to 8 million.[16][17][18] The membership of the movement consists primarily of students, teachers, businessmen, academicians, journalists and other professionals.[2] Its members have founded schools, universities, an employers' association, charities, real estate trusts, student organizations, radio and television stations, and newspapers.[17]

The movement's structure has been described as a flexible organizational network.[19] Movement schools and businesses organize locally and link themselves into informal networks.[20] The Gülen movement works within the given structures of modern secular states; it encourages affiliated members to maximize the opportunities those countries afford rather than engaging in subversive activities.[21]

Critics have complained that members of the Gulen movement are overly compliant to the directions from its leaders.[22] The movement has been accused of being "missionary" in intent, organizing in clandestine ways, or aiming for political power.[23]

Activities

Schools established by the Movement

The Movement is active in education (Kindergarten-university) as well as civic opportunities in other areas such as for interfaith dialogue, humanitarian aid, media, finance, and health.[1]

Most Gülen Movement schools are private; its educational footprint extends to over 160 countries. In 2009 it was estimated that members of the Gülen Movement run schools in which more than two million students receive education.[24] Estimates of the number of schools and educational institutions vary widely; it appears there are about 300 Gülen Movement schools in Turkey and over 1,000 schools worldwide.[25][26]

Beyond the borders of Turkey, many Gülen schools can be found in countries with large populations of people of Turkish descent. Gülen schools in predominantly non-Turkish Muslim countries provide families with an alternative to madrasa education. In 2011 it was estimated that in the United States, stretched over 25 states, mostly concentrated in urban centers, there are about 120 educational institutions including charter schools operated by participants of the Gülen Movement.[27] The Movement denies that the charter schools have a direct affiliation.[28]

Gülen schools have received both criticism and praise.[29]

Dialogue

Gülen and Pope John Paul II.

The movement's avowal of interfaith dialogue grew out of Gülen's personal engagement in interfaith dialogue, largely inspired by the example of one his influences, Said Nursi. Gülen has met with leaders of other religions, including Pope John Paul II, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, and Israeli Sephardic Head Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron.[30] Gülen advocates cooperation between followers of different religions as well as those practicing different forms of Islam (such as Sunnism or Alevism).

Gülen's call for interfaith dialogue has influenced three generations of movement followers.[29]

Gülen movement participants have founded a number of institutions across the World that claim to promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue activities. Among them the major ones are istanbul based Journalists and Writers Foundation, Washington based Rumi Forum and New Delhi based Indialogue Foundation.

Media

Movement participants have set up a number of media organs to promote its core values such as love, tolerance, hope, dialogue, activism, mutual acceptance and respect. These media organs include TV stations (Samanyolu TV, Mehtap TV), (Ebru TV) (English), the newspapers Zaman, Today's Zaman (English), magazines and journals in Turkish like Aksiyon, Sızıntı, Yeni Ümit, The Fountain Magazine (English), Hira (Arabic), The International Cihan News Agency and the radio station Burç FM.

Humanitarian Aid

The movement runs charity and humanitarian aid organizations which are transnationally active. Among them the leading one is the Istanbul based Kimse Yok Mu Association (KYM). KYM organizes charity campaigns to help those in need in different parts of the world. Like any other activities of the Gülen-movement, KYM runs local projects responding to specific needs. KYM holds UN Ecosoc Special status.

Another charity organization Embrace Relief was established in NJ, US and active in Americas,Asia and Africa.

Professional Associations

Being both praised and criticized for being market friendly, the Gülen movement established various professional associations and business networks. Among them Istanbul based TUSKON is the major non-profit business confederation which claims to promote economic solutions as well as social and political ones. Another one called TUCSIAD that is based in China as well as DTIK's Asia-Pacific Group supports the Gülen movement outside of Turkey in China hoping to influence Turkish politics from outside.

Criticism

Fethullah Gülen's and the Gülen movement's views and practices have been discussed in international conferences. In October 2007 in London a conference was sponsored by the University of Birmingham, the Dialogue Society, the Irish School of Ecumenics, Leeds Metropolitan University, the London Middle East Institute, the Middle East Institute and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.[31] Niagara Foundation of Chicago, together with several academic institutions, organized "The Gülen Movement: Paradigms, Projects and Aspirations" conference, which was held at University of Chicago on Nov 11-13 2010.[32]

In Turkey

Within the recent political debate in Turkey, current president Erdogan and AKP (the ruling party of Turkey) has been targeting the movement since December 2013. Right after the corruption allegations involving the President's son and sons of four ministers, government subjugated the judiciary, media and civil society which were critical of the government's authoritarian trend in recent years.[33][34][35] After the corruption allegations surfaced, Erdogan labelled it as a civilian coup by against his government. Since then, Erdogan has shuffled, dismissed or jailed hundreds of police officers, judges, prosecutors and journalists in effort of - namely- fighting against the "Parallel State" within the Turkish state. Turkish government took over Zaman Daily, Turkey's largest newspaper, on March 4, 2016. Turkish police entered the Zaman's headquarters by force, fired tear gas at the protesting journalists and civilians. Hundreds of protestors were injured.[36][37] In his efforts to eradicate the movement within Turkey, Erdogan and AKP government has since identified the movement as the Gulenist Terror Organisation (FETO) by Turkish officials, although there is no court ruling.[38] Erdogan regime have been also targeting individuals and businessmen who have supported movement's organizations and activities.

Allegations of cult-like behavior

Some commentators have been wary of alleged cult-like aspects of the organization.[39]

Starting from 2008, the Dutch government investigated the movement's activities in the Netherlands in response to questions from parliament. The first 2 investigations, performed by the AIVD, concluded that the movement did not form a breeding ground for radicalism and that the AIVD found no indications that the movement worked against integration or was involved in terrorism or religious radicalization. A further academic study sketched a portrait of a socially conservative, inwardly directed movement with an opaque organizational structure, but noted that its members tend to be highly successful in society and thus form no threat to integration. [40]

In the US

Taking into account the fact that these charter schools managed by Gulen followers attract considerable public funding, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story on March 20, 2011, entitled “U.S. charter-school network with Turkish link draws federal attention”, in which it was suggested that certain schools had not been acting in the best interest of the public. Of more serious concern is whether these charter schools provide adequate and equal education for pupils in view of the fact that they are funded by the American taxpayer.[41]

Political involvement

Questions have arisen about the Gülen movement's possible involvement in the ongoing Ergenekon investigation,[42] which critics have characterized as "a pretext" by the government "to neutralize dissidents" in Turkey.[43] In March 2011, seven Turkish journalists were arrested, including Ahmet Şık, who had been writing a book, "Imamin Ordusu" (The Imam's Army),[44] which alleges that the Gülen movement has infiltrated the country's security forces. As Şık was taken into police custody, he shouted, "Whoever touches it [the movement] gets burned!".[45] Upon his arrest, drafts of the book were confiscated and its possession was banned. Şık has also been charged with being part of the alleged Ergenekon plot, despite being an investigator of the plot before his arrest.[46]

In a reply, Abdullah Bozkurt, from the Gülen movement newspaper Today's Zaman, accused Ahmet Şık of not being "an investigative journalist" conducting "independent research," but of hatching "a plot designed and put into action by the terrorist network itself."[47]

According to Gareth H. Jenkins, a Senior Fellow of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Joint Center at Johns Hopkins University:

From the outset, the pro-AKP media, particularly the newspapers and television channels run by the Gülen Movement such as Zaman, Today's Zaman and Samanyolu TV, have vigorously supported the Ergenekon investigation. This has included the illegal publication of "evidence" collected by the investigators before it has been presented in court, misrepresentations and distortions of the content of the indictments and smear campaigns against both the accused and anyone who questions the conduct of the investigations.
There have long been allegations that not only the media coverage but also the Ergenekon investigation itself is being run by Gülen's supporters. In August 2010, Hanefi Avcı, a right-wing police chief who had once been sympathetic to the Gülen Movement, published a book in which he alleged that a network of Gülen's supporters in the police were manipulating judicial processes and fixing internal appointments and promotions. On September 28, 2010, two days before he was due to give a press conference to present documentary evidence to support his allegations, Avcı was arrested and charged with membership of an extremist leftist organization. On March 14, 2011, Avcı was also formally charged with being a member of the alleged Ergenekon gang.[42]

The Gülen movement has also been implicated in what both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as well as the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) have said were illegal court decisions against members of the Turkish military, including many during the Ergenekon investigation.[48]

2013 corruption scandal

On 17 December 2013, an investigation into alleged corrupt practices by several bureaucrats, ministers, mayors, and family members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey was uncovered, resulting in widespread protests and calls for the resignation of the government led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[4][5] Due to the high level of political influence by the Gülen movement in Turkey, it is rumored to be facilitated by the movement's influence on the Turkish police force and the judiciary,[6] the investigation was considered to be a result of a break in previously friendly relations between the Islamist-rooted government and the movement.[7]

2014–15 crackdown

On 14 December 2014 Turkish police arrested more than two dozen senior journalists and media executives connected with the Gülen movement on various charges.

A statement by the US State Department cautioned Turkey not to violate its "own democratic foundations" while drawing attention to raids against media outlets "openly critical of the current Turkish government."[49][50]

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that the arrests went "against European values" and "are incompatible with the freedom of media, which is a core principle of democracy".[51]

On 20 January 2015, Turkish police launched raids in Ankara and three other cities, detaining some 20 people suspected of illegally eavesdropping on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior officials. The suspects are linked to Turkey's telecommunications authority and to its scientific and technological research center TUBITAK. Local media said the move was aimed at the "parallel structure" — the term Erdogan uses to refer to Gülen's supporters in the judiciary, police and other institutions.[52]

History

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The Turkish exception: Gallipoli, Gülen, and capitalism". Australia's ABC. Radio National. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 Jenny Barbara White, Islamist Mobilization in Turkey: a study in vernacular politics, University of Washington Press (2002), p. 112
  3. ↑ Turkey's political imams: The Gulenists fight back
  4. 1 2 3 "Turkey: Erdogan faces new protests over corruption scandal". Digital Journal. 28 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  5. 1 2 İstanbul'da yolsuzluk ve rüşvet operasyonu
  6. 1 2 "Profile: Fethullah Gulen's Hizmet movement". BBC News. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  7. 1 2 "The Gulen movement: a self-exiled imam challenges Turkey's Erdoğan". The Christian Science Monitor. 29 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "BPA Audit Figures Reveal Turkish Newspaper As Having One of the Largest Subscriber Bases in Europe". ClickPress. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
  9. ↑ "Turkey challenged by terror in 2015". TRT World (in Turkish). Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  10. ↑ Tavernise, Sabrina (2008-05-04). "Turkish Schools Offer Pakistan a Gentler Vision of Islam". New York Times.
  11. ↑ Interview with Sabrina Tavernise, World View Podcasts, New York Times, May 4, 2008
  12. ↑ A modern Ottoman, Prospect, Issue 148, July 2008
  13. ↑ Clement M. Henry, Rodney Wilson, The politics of Islamic Finance, Edinburgh University Press (2004), p 236
  14. ↑ Economist: Global Muslim networks, How far they have traveled
  15. ↑ Turkish schools World's most global movement, says sociologist
  16. ↑ Bulent Aras and Omer Caha, Fethullah Gulen and his Liberal "Turkish Islam" Movement
  17. 1 2 Morris, Chris (2000-09-01). "Turkey accuses popular Islamist of plot against state". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  18. ↑ Abdulhamid Turker, Fethullah Gulen's Influence
  19. ↑ Portrait of Fethullah Gülen, A Modern Turkish-Islamic Reformist
  20. ↑ Islam in Kazakhstan
  21. ↑ "Gulen Inspires Muslims Worldwide". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
  22. ↑ Infra note, Berlinski 2012
  23. ↑ name="HurriyetPlotting"
  24. ↑ Behind Turkey's Witch Hunt
  25. ↑ Turkish Islamic preacher - threat or benefactor?
  26. ↑ Turkish Schools
  27. ↑ Stephanie Saul (6 June 2011). "Charter Schools Tied to Turkey's Gulen Movement Grow in Texas". The New York Times.
  28. ↑ "Gulen Movement Charter School Myths".
  29. 1 2 Interfaith Voices: Fethullah Gülen
  30. ↑ Advocate of Dialogue: Fethullah Gülen
  31. ↑ "Fethullah Gülen's Official Web Site - Contributions of the Gülen Movement". En.fgulen.com. 2007-10-27. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
  32. ↑ Core Design Production, Web designers; Fatih YAZAR, Yunus USLU, Ismail ABAY. "Gulen Movement & Fethullah Gulen". Niagara Foundation. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
  33. ↑ "Erdogan’s new sultanate". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  34. ↑ "Under Erdogan, Turkey is moving away from democracy". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  35. ↑ "Where did it all go wrong for Turkey?". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  36. ↑ "Turkey: Zaman newspaper taken over as government steamrolls press freedom". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  37. ↑ Timur, Safak; Arango, Tim (2016-03-04). "Turkey Seizes Newspaper, Zaman, as Press Crackdown Continues". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  38. ↑ "Turkey challenged by terror in 2015". TRT World (in Turkish). Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  39. ↑ "Turkey: up from the depths". The Guardian. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  40. ↑ Hassan Bahara (21 March 2014). "Vormt de Gülen-beweging een bedreiging voor de integratie?". De Groene Amsterdammer. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  41. ↑ http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com/why-its-wrong.html
  42. 1 2 "Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program". Silkroadstudies.org. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
  43. ↑ Behind Turkey's Witch Hunt, by Soner Cagaptay, Newsweek, May 16, 2009
  44. ↑ Turkish authorities launch raids to censor book before publication in the Guardian of 5 April 2011; accessed on 11 April 2011
  45. ↑ Arsu, Şebnem (2011-03-03). "7 More Journalists Detained in Turkey". The New York Times.
  46. ↑ Details can be found in English on the site of the Democratic Turkey Forum; accessed on 5 April 2001. In the footnotes to translated passages of the book you can find other works on the subject.
  47. ↑ The alleged terrorist network is the Ergenekon organization, see Article of 29 March 2011; accessed on 5 April 2011
  48. ↑ Arango, Tim (26 February 2014). "Turkish Leader Disowns Trials That Helped Him Tame Military". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 February 2014. In 2005, years before the trials, a man affiliated with the Gulen movement approached Eric S. Edelman, then the American ambassador, at a party in Istanbul and handed him an envelope containing a handwritten document that supposedly laid out a plan for an imminent coup. But as Mr. Edelman recounted, he gave the documents to his colleagues and they were determined to be forgeries.
  49. ↑ "In Turkey, police arrest journalists and executives". CNN. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  50. ↑ "Court rules for release of Zaman chief editor, Samanyolu manager arrested". Today's Zaman. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  51. ↑ "Turkey media arrests: Mogherini leads EU criticism". BBC. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  52. ↑ "Turkey arrests dozens suspected of eavesdropping on president". Retrieved 20 january 2015newspaper=Aljazeera. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  53. ↑ Unal & Williams, Ali & Alphonse, ed. (2000). Advocate of Dialogue: Fethullah Gulen. Fairfax, VA: The Fountain. p. 15.
  54. ↑ Ian Markham, Engaging with Bediuzzaman Said Nursi: A Model of Interfaith Dialogue, p 4. ISBN 0754669319
  55. ↑ Son Karakol
  56. ↑ ""100 soruda Fethullah Gülen ve Hareketi" (Gulen and its movement in100 questions)". HaberTurk. 2010-04-16. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  57. ↑ "Tiraj". Medyatava. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
  58. ↑ Fuchs Ebaugh, Helen Rose (2009). "The Gulen Movement: A Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam". Springer. p. 89.
  59. ↑ Salih, Yucel (Dec 2013). "Muslim-Christian Dialogue: Nostra Aetated and Fethullah Gulen's Philosophy of Dialogue". Australian eJournal of Theology: 200.
  60. ↑ Michel S.J., Thomas (Oct–Dec 2007). ""Fethullah Gulen and Pope John Paul II: "Two Frontrunners for Peace"". Dialogue Asia-Pacific (14): 6–8.
  61. ↑ Niagara Foundation. "History Niagara Foundation". Niagara Foundation. The Niagara Foundation was created in 2004 by a group of Turkish-American businessmen and educators in order to realize the vision of their spiritual leader, Fethullah Gulen, himself a Turkish Muslim scholar and poet, as well as an educational and humanitarian activist. Today the Niagara Foundation is active in nine Midwestern states with 22 branches.
  62. ↑ Michel, S.J., Thomas. "Fighting Poverty with Kimse Yok Mu". Fethullah Gülen's Official Web Site.
  63. ↑ "NGO Branch, Organization name, Kimse Yok Mu, Accreditation(s)/Affiliation(s) 2010". horizontal tab character in |title= at position 77 (help)
  64. ↑ "Hakkında". TUSKON. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
  65. ↑ United Nations Economic and Social Council (October 3, 2013). "List of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council as of 1 September 2013" (PDF). United Nations Economic and Social Council. p. 3.

External links

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