US assures private schools are under legal protection against closure


Date posted: January 31, 2015

SAİT KILIÇER / ISTANBUL

Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) Executive Director Mark Gibb has said no one, not even President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has the authority to close down Turkish schools in the US in response to the Turkish government’s bid to close down schools opened by entrepreneurs affiliated with the faith-based Gülen movement, which is also known as the Hizmet movement.

“This [closure of Turkish schools] is not possible. … Let alone the Turkish president, no one can shut down a private school in the United States,” Gibb has said.

During a visit to several African countries last week, Erdoğan urged African officials to end the operations of Turkish schools there. “In the countries we visited, we spoke about about the status of these schools, and said they should be closed,” Erdoğan has stated.

Erdoğan launched a battle against the Gülen movement after a corruption probe went public on Dec. 17, 2013, implicating senior members of the then-prime minister’s government. He accuses the movement of plotting to topple his government.

Scott York, the mayor of Loudoun County, Virginia, called Erdoğan’s attempt to shut down Turkish schools abroad “shameful.” He underlined that the president of the United States does not even have the power to close down private schools. “The attempt to close schools affiliated with the Gülen [movement] is a shameful move. Even President [Barack] Obama cannot shut down a private school in the United States,” he has said.

York praised the Turkish schools for the importance they attach to moral values, and added that the numbers of students attending those schools are rising. “Besides Pinnacle Academy in the United States, I had a chance to visit [Hizmet] schools in Turkey. I was impressed by the politeness and learnedness of the students. … Though they were high school students, everyone was already clear about their future [career] plans. The youths were motivated about university and the courses they plan to take,” York said.

Stating that the Turkish schools have become a part of American society, Gibb commended the schools for their success in achieving a level of education comparable to public schools. He noted that the appeal of the Turkish schools lies in the fact that the classrooms are less crowded and that more counseling is offered to students in those schools.

Source: Today's Zaman , January 30, 2015


Related News

Renewing Islam by Service: A Christian View of Fethullah Gulen with Pim Valkenberg

Renewing Islam by Service offers a theological account of the contemporary Turkish faith-based service movement started by Fethullah Gülen, and placed against the backdrop of changes in modern Turkish society. The life and works of Gülen are analyzed against the background of developments in Turkish society, and of spiritual Islamic tendencies in the transition from the Ottoman empire to the secular republic.

Indonesia rejects intervention over schools’ alleged links with Gulen

Indonesia rejects any intervention with the country’s internal affairs including over alleged links of a number of Indonesian Islamic boarding schools with Fethullah Gulen, a popular imam, accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a recent failed coup attempt. Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said here on Friday Indonesia is a democratic country that consistently adopts active and independent policy.

Turkey’s Gulen crackdown hits Canada

Efforts in Canada by Turkish authorities and supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have made life miserable for Gulen followers here, many say. They have been made unwelcome in mosques and restaurants frequented by Turkish-Canadians, and they have been cursed and protested against by fellow citizens.

Online Interfaith Dialogue Workshop

Respect Graduate School, Bethlemem, PA has launched an online “Interfaith Dialogue Workshop.” The workshops aims to provide basic principles of inter-faith work and empower students with foundational skills to serve in a religiously diverse social context.

The Peace Islands Institute’s 5th Annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Award

The outstanding contribution of law enforcement officers was recognized at an award ceremony in Morristown, New Jersey. The Peace Islands Institute’s 5th Annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Award united community members with law enforcement personnel.

‘Hizmet is the attempt to celebrate all of humanity’

Hizmet Movement is unique because it doesn’t try to carry out what we call cultural and religious particularism. That would be the idea that your group is the best, that you have the only form of truth, that all other groups are impure, incorrect and that they are not worthy of time, or that they’re not worthy of learning something from them. Hizmet, in fact, says the opposite. Members reach out to learn from other peoples, they actively invite people from different cultural backgrounds, people from different religious backgrounds to come and teach them, to teach them things.

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

Does Erdogan want to be Putin or sultan?

Turkey to bid farewell to rule of law if president approves HSYK law

Gov’t cancels Kimse Yok Mu’s previously obtained permissions

Turkish scholar Fethullah Gulen receives Manhae Peace Prize

Debating the constitution

Those who infiltrate the state

Turkish Islamic scholar Gülen rejects any link to graft probe

Copyright 2024 Hizmet News