… If the [Fethullah] Gülen movement were a small, ineffective community, the AKP would never have disturbed it. Or if the Gülen movement had acted in full cooperation with the government, such a conflict wouldn’t have occurred. But the Gülen movement has a specific mission. What is that mission?
They seek to obtain the pleasure of God by leading good religious lives and engaging in educational and social services. The AKP, on the other hand, wants to improve its political power and political services to earn prestige and thus become good religious people and earn the pleasure of God.
Naturally, the diverging paths have led to conflict. Such things have occurred in the past, and a typical example is the Battle of Siffin. An AKP supporter should answer this question: Which side was the “parallel structure” on in the Battle of Siffin?
Excerpted from the interview made with Mr. Akyol, published on Today’s Zaman, 09 June 2014, Monday
Russia selects finalists for 12th Turkish Olympiad
The elimination round of the Turkish Olympiad in Russia has been held in a prestigious concert hall where around 300 students showed their skills in the categories of poem recitation, singing, reading and writing.
GYV hosts guests from Istanbul’s Armenian Patriarchate at Abraham’s table
Armenian Co-Patriarch Aram Ateshian: “Orthodox Armenian Patriarchate hasn’t been recognized as a legal entity yet.” The gathering’s host, Journalists and Writers Foundation President Mustafa Yesil said, “Peace was established even on the ashes of a war in Europe that left 50 million dead. The 1915 incidents and sorrows shouldn’t hinder the establishment of peace.”
Erdogan’s religious counsel issues fatwa for civil war, ordinary crimes
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Tape politics
Someone placed a bugging device to wiretap the prime minister in a room that was being placed under constant surveillance. What is easier than catching the perpetrators behind this? Who entered and left the room should have been recorded. This incident took place in 2011 but as of now, this still remains unresolved and the Hizmet movement is being blamed for it.
Gulen’s Outreach for Alevis
Zaman newspaper’s journalist Huseyin Gulerce’s words ‘ The government has been putting the Alevis off for seven years. This is a shame’ received support from the Alevis. Huseyin Gulerce, one of the leading figures of the Fethullah Gulen community (Gulen or Hizmet movement) and a journalist for the Zaman newspaper said that the AK Party […]
Scholars at Abant Meeting call for EU negotiations, domestic reform
Menekse Tokyay for Southeast European Times As Turkey’s EU bid has stalled, a group of prominent scholars agree that negotiations can only proceed if Turkey advances democracy, drafts a new civilian constitution and resolves of the Kurdish issue. The Abant Platform has long been a progressive force in Turkey, bringing together intellectuals to debate and […]
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