Hizmet without borders


Date posted: June 26, 2014

Sevgi Akarçeşme*

Even for perpetual pessimists, it was impossible not to hope for a world where peaceful coexistence can exist while watching the finale of the 12th Language and Culture Festival, previously known as the Turkish Olympiads, in Germany.

It naturally sounds odd that the Turkish Olympiads took place in Germany. But some are familiar with the Turkish government’s efforts to obstruct the activities of the Hizmet movement — which means “service” movement and was inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Nothing more than a one-man show, the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blames the Hizmet movement for anything that goes wrong in Turkey without any concrete evidence. It is not surprising that his petty followers have followed suit and taken his instructions to deal with the Hizmet as if they were orders. Consequently, Erdoğan “succeeded” in preventing the Turkish Olympiads from taking place in Turkey mainly by not granting visas to the foreign students who were expected to come to Turkey for the Olympiads.

Seemingly, there was a “defeat” on the part of the Hizmet movement. After all, the children were not given the opportunity to celebrate the Turkish language in its motherland. Instead, countries such as Ethiopia, Romania and even Germany embraced the Olympiad students coming from 145 different countries. The oppressors in Turkey actually did an unintended favor to the Hizmet movement. This grassroots organization, which was born in Turkey, is already known for its global activities and network. However, for the last 11 years, the Turkish Olympiads were confined to the borders of Turkey. The oppression that turned into an opportunity for the Hizmet movement opened up the event to the world, with a new name that is more inclusive than “Turkish Olympiads.”

On the night of June 21, the ISS Dome in Düsseldorf witnessed hundreds of students from different ethnicities and faiths singing songs in Turkish and dancing to Turkish music. This year, in addition to Turkish, songs in Russian, German and English were also included in the program. The packed hall listened to a song with bluesy lyrics saying, “This [trouble] will also be over, as many others in the past,” and the overwhelming feelings inside the venue were of pure joy and of being at peace with the knowledge of having sided with the truth.

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and Erdoğan were clearly the losers of the night, despite their initial victory, since the diversity of the children in the hall was just one of the fruits of the Hizmet movement’s global efforts. It was impossible not to feel the truth in the idea that “the shortest distance on the road is from one heart to another.” The selfless teachers and organizers of the event proved that all barriers are surmountable once hearts beat together for a noble purpose.

One of the clear winners of the festival and the night was Germany for hosting the event. After all, Germany has a negative reputation when it comes to integration and embracing multiculturalism. The German state could not have given a better message to the Turkish minority that it welcomes them. This positive step by the German government was reciprocated by thousands in the hall. Not only Gülen, but also the host of the show thanked German officials, who were applauded by the audience. In addition, get-well-soon messages were made at the event to former German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who is suffering from leukemia, and famous race car driver Michael Schumacher, who has been in coma.

Prime Minister Erdoğan has been blaming almost Turkey’s problems on “Pennsylvania,” which has become synonymous with Gülen in Turkey. But there has been no concrete evidence of any of his accusations of treason! One thing is certain, though: Pennsylvania is behind all the positive action being displayed through the Turkish Olympiads. Without a doubt, “a new world” is not going to emerge just because children from different faiths sing together, but the event is a manifestation of a vision and action that Turkey has not seen before. For a country with limited capabilities, Turkey, or more accurately, a grassroots volunteer movement, has come a long way. The secret of the success is definitely the fact that Hizmet volunteers do not expect financial gain or fame in return for their services. They are the embodiment of an idealism that is difficult to live up to more often than not. It is very likely that the sincerity of Hizmet’s volunteers and its selfless teachers are the underlying reasons why this movement has been welcomed by many throughout the world, despite its limited resources and humble beginnings.

Gülen sent a letter to be read at the finale of the festival in Germany, and his words, which included a veiled message of criticism of the government, received a standing ovation. As always, he made a point of encouraging “positive action” with an emphasis on peace, rule of law and human rights. “Language is the mirror of the heart,” he said, bringing to the minds’ of many the hateful rhetoric of Erdoğan — although the prime minister’s name was not uttered a single time. But after being exposed to the toxic nature of Turkish political discourse, it is hard to avoid comparisons. After all, while peaceful coexistence and love were cherished in a hall in Düsseldorf, just a month ago it was Erdoğan who employed a language of polarization and animosity in another hall in Cologne. There, the leader of the host country, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, was booed. But no negative chants or slogans were heard during the closing of the festival in Düsseldorf. It was almost as if there were two different Turkeys on display at these two different events in Germany.

The Hizmet volunteers once again have shown that changing the world permanently requires a lot of hard work, patience and time and that it is possible to raise a generation of peace which is truly tolerant of the “other.” It was a stark contrast to another generation of so-called jihadists who recently slaughtered their Muslim “brothers” in Syria and Iraq in the name of Islam — the greatest betrayal to the faith.

Kudos to those who make people believe that a new world is possible thanks to “Hizmet without borders.”

*Sevgi Akarçeşme is İstanbul-based journalist for Today’s Zaman and a columnist for Zaman daily.

 

Source: Today's Zaman , June 24, 2014


Related News

Ban Ki-moon (UN Secretary General) sent a message to IFLC

International Festival of Language and Culture Ban Ki-moon (UN Secretary General) sent a message to IFLC IFLC 2016 – New York – USA

3 detained Turkish educators and their families handed over to Turkey by Gabon

Three Turkish educators and their families who were arbitrarily detained in Libreville, the capital city of Gabon, were handed over to Turkish officials and taken to İstanbul on Sunday morning.

Hakan Şükür’s resignation blamed on lack of intra-party democracy

Şükür, a former international football player, left Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling party in protest against the government’s plan to shut down exam preparatory schools, revealing the intra-party divisions below the surface. The resignation came after Şükür objected to the government proposal to close these schools, which help students prepare for university and high school admission exams.

Erdogan to become an all-powerful democratically elected dictator

Turkey’s failed coup last week has emboldened President Tayyip Erdogan to become an all-powerful democratically elected dictator. The attempt by his opponents to take over the state by force provided him the political cover to destroy all remaining opposition to his rule without no fair judicial process.

Gov’t inspects Gülen-inspired schools while ignoring run-down state schools

The poor condition of state schools in Turkey was exposed by Today’s Zaman reporters on Monday, who found that despite the government expending considerable resources investigating and raiding private educational institutions sympathetic to the Gülen movement, many state schools fail to meet even basic health and safety standards.

“Hizmet” movement, the current tensions and self-criticism (Interview with Ihsan Yilmaz)

My fourth criticism is the lack of empathy. We haven’t empathized enough with Kurds, Armenians and Greeks. In 2011, Journalists and Writers Foundation said to the commission of Constitution in the parliament that, besides Turkish, using Kurdish as a language of education should be considered a human right.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Slandering Turkish schools is treason according to well-known politician

Did they make mistake?

Gülen calls on int’l community to pressure Turkey over rights violations

Mozambican minister: I will mention success of Turkish schools on every occasion

Self-criticism by the Hizmet movement

Turkish mob boss to gov’t: Why bother with diplomacy? We’ll kill Gülen, his followers

Shut down schools, not tutoring facilities

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News