Date posted: August 30, 2014
Fethullah Gulen is a Turkish scholar, thinker, social entrepreneur and opinion leader known as founder of Gulen Movement. He stances for democracy, interfaith dialogue, peaceful coexistence, and secular education where universal values are embodied by altruistic teachers.
Tags: Fethullah Gulen | Peacebuilding |

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s message on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) appeared on Wednesday in the UK-based Guardian newspaper. In the message, Gülen says the actions of ISIL are a “disgrace to the faith they proclaim and crimes against humanity.”

The Alliance for Shared Values condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo. Such horrific actions represent an assault on democratic values and can never be justified no matter the underlying reason. Even against insults, the befitting response must be legal and civil.

Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has sent a message of condolence to the families of the victims of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist organization in Iraq and he has condemned ISIL’s violence. Gülen’s statement, which addressed Kurdish, Turkmen, Arab, Yazidi, Shiite and Sunni families in Iraq, was published in the leading newspapers of Iraq’s Kurdish region such as Rudaw, Hawlati, Basnews, Kürdistany Nwe, Xebat and Çawder.

Kimse Yok Mu Foundation, which has been running humanitarian aid project globally, particularly in the African Continent, continues to support the orphanage in the capital city N’Djamena in Chad. At a joint event with Chad Itimad Turkish Foundation, The Fahrettin Bulut Orphanage, home to a large number of orphans, received one year of food supply.

Until recently Turkey was seen as an example of a country that prospered while maintaining a democratic government run by observant Muslim leaders. No longer. A small group within the government’s executive branch is holding to ransom the entire country’s progress. The support of a broad segment of the Turkish public is now being squandered, along with the opportunity to join the EU.

Dr. Zaman Stanizai is a Professor of Mythological Studies at the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California and he teaches Political Science at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He has written on political theory with emphasis on the viability of third world states encountering globalization, and on political identity focusing on the politicization of ethnic, national, and religious identities as a contributing factor in regional and world conflicts.
