Turks, who make up the majority of Germany’s immigrant community, claim their schools and mosques are being spied on by Erdogan’s undercover agents to root out supporters of Fethullah Gülen – the man the Turkish president claims is behind July’s bloody military coup.
“I was approached and asked by a Turkish government official, whether we would be prepared to critically confront the Gulen movement in Berlin,” Michael Müller, mayor premier of the state of Berlin, told the German newspaper Bild. “I rejected the idea and made it very clear that Turkish conflicts could not be waged in our city,” he added.
In Kenya, where Gulen’s Omeriye Foundation has grown from its first school in 1998 in the vast Nairobi slum of Kibera to a nationwide network of academies, the government has resisted pressure to close them down. Turkish officials have requested Kenya to shut down the Gulenist schools on a number of occasions before the attempted coup.
Amid ongoing efforts by the Turkish government to close down schools opened by Turkish entrepreneurs linked to the faith-based Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet movement, intellectuals and academics across Europe at a symposium in Germany agreed that thanks to its worldwide educational activities, the movement can serve as a bridge in promoting interreligious and interethnic dialogue between Islamic countries and secular ones.
Wiretapped phone conversations among three Turkish suspects that were included in an indictment prepared by the federal attorney-general of Germany against them over charges of espionage have revealed that the suspects plotted a plan to defame the renowned Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
The 13th International Festival of Language and Culture (IFLC) held in Germany offered a moving closing ceremony over the weekend that included calls on Turkey to broaden its horizon — given the continuing inner turmoil in the country — so that it can see “lights of love and tolerance” spread across the globe.
The talents of 360 students from 46 schools were on display for the crowd of 10,000 gathered at Westfallenahlle complex. The opening ceremony featured figurines symbolizing prominent capitals across the globe including Brussels, Paris and Berlin.
Students receiving an education in Turkish schools across Europe captivated thousands of Turkish immigrants in Germany with their recitations of naats — poems in praise of the Prophet Muhammad — during a ceremony held in Düsseldorf on Saturday evening to celebrate Holy Birth Week.
Gymnasium und Realschule Dialog, located in Koln, Germany, got the first place with its podcast project among hundreds of schools in the “Schools design the future” contest by Sparda Bank. The school was awarded €10 thousand as the top winner. The top 19 schools received their awards in a ceremony at Sparda Bank’s Köln Breslauer Platz location.