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 |

The Melbourne based Deakin University launched its inaugural Chair, named after Fethullah Gulen, in Islamic Studies and Intercultural Dialogue with a ceremony held on Tuesday 22 November at its Melbourne Corporate Centre. Professor Jane Den Hollander, President and Vice-Chancellor of Deakin University officially launched the Chair.

Responding to the allegation that the Hizmet community is behind the investigation, and to a broader one suggesting that the Hizmet movement is fighting the AKP government, both Mr. Gülen himself and the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), based in İstanbul, denied any such motivation or involvement. Furthermore, they invited the state authorities to prove those allegations, and take legal action if any evidence is found substantiating them. Mr. Gülen’s lawyer condemned and rejected the allegations as an attempt to divert public attention away from the massive bribery scandal and defame his client.

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.

Zeki Saritoprak is the Nursi Chair in Islamic Studies at John Carroll University and delivered an Interfaith Lecture on Gülen and his Hizmet movement. Saritoprak also gave a brief outline of Turkish history, from the start of the Ottoman Empire to the founding of the Republic of Turkey. “Muslims have to establish … not religious […]

Such movements, especially if they’re Muslim, attract suspicion in the West. In 2008, the Dutch government began investigating Hizmet. Its conclusions were that the movement isn’t involved in terrorism or a breeding ground for radicalism, nor does it oppose integration of Muslims into secular states. In 2015, MLK’s alma mater, Morehouse College, awarded its Gandhi King Ikeda Peace Award to Gülen for his lifelong commitment to peace among nations. But Erdogan insists that Gülen is a terrorist.

The event, organized by the Peace Islands Institute (PII), the New York Interfaith Center and Columbia University’s religious studies department, hosted former US Vice President Al Gore’s daughter Karenna Gore and prominent Indonesian religious figure Imam Shamsi Ali.
