Tension has risen not only in Parliament but also in public squares. Deputies will apparently have to work for at least another full week.
Parliamentary commissions have recently worked weekends too. Yesterday [on Saturday], deputies discussed two bills, one on shutting down the prep schools [dershanes] and the other on [expanding the powers of ] the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). Both bills are controversial. The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) plans to shut down the prep schools instead of finding a solution for the problem [the need to improve public schools]. Prep schools do not appear to be the real issue here. The education bill is just a message to a specific audience. It turned out to be the first step in the destruction of the Hizmet movement [inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen]. The new bill [on dershanes] is not limited to prep schools. It aims to almost “reestablish” the Ministry of Education [by reassigning thousands of officials].
Many are quick to note that Turkey does not have a worldwide brand. It is true that this country, with a population of about 70 million, has virtually no world-class brand. Some people are trying to destroy the few brands it does have (such as Turkish schools — which are run by Turkish entrepreneurs inspired by the ideas of well-respected Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen).
Civil Rights, the Hizmet Movement, and the Liberative Power of Education
Hizmet stands in contrast to other contemporary so-called “Islamist” movements which are primarily political in nature, seeking to pursue a reformist agenda by overtly “Islamizing” the governmental and legal structures of existing Muslim majority nation-states.
The anomaly of war
The anomaly of war, French essayist Emile Auguste Chartier wrote, is that the best men get themselves killed while crafty men find their chances to govern in a manner contrary to justice. How much of that applies to modern Turkey remains unknown – though predictable.
Turkey’s Gulen Demand – The U.S. shouldn’t extradite the exiled Turk without better evidence
Turkey is demanding that the U.S. extradite Fethullah Gulen whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating this month’s failed military coup. “The evidence is crystal clear,” PM Yildirim told the Journal Tuesday, adding that Washington’s request for evidence of Mr. Gulen’s guilt is superfluous “when 265 people have been killed.” If that’s Mr. Yildirim’s standard of proof, Washington should deny the request.
Woman detained along with 40-day-old baby while visiting jailed husband
Zehra Elbir, a former court clerk who was earlier dismissed from her job in the government’s post-coup purge of state institutions, was detained only 40 days after she gave birth to her second child during a visit to her husband in prison.
Students from around the globe spread the idea of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’
More than 400 students from 17 nations assembled in New Delhi on May 7 for the 14th International Festival of Language & Culture (IFLC 2016) which had the premise ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The world is one family)’ to spread the message of global peace and cultural harmony.
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Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney
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Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade
Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet
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Post-coup purge in Turkey leaves children parentless after mother and father are put behind bars
