Russian scholar: Gülen promotes peaceful education for a world mired in conflict

Professor Rostislav Ribakov (Photo: Cihan)
Professor Rostislav Ribakov (Photo: Cihan)


Date posted: April 21, 2015

YAŞAR NİYAZBAYEV / MOSCOW

Prominent Russian scholar Professor Rostislav Ribakov has praised US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen for the schools opened around the world by his supporters, saying that these schools are bringing up a new generation of students who uphold world peace.

In an interview with Today’s Zaman on Tuesday, Ribakov, the former president of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, likened Gülen to Mahatma Gandhi in his efforts to bring peace to the world and said that it was “meaningful” that Gülen had been awarded the prestigious Gandhi King Ikeda Peace Award, past recipients of which include Nobel laureates Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Michael Gorbachev.

The Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta honored Gülen with the award on April 9 for promoting ideas shared by the world’s leading peace and civil rights activists.

“Gandhi led a lot of people who did not resort to violence and bloodshed. Gülen’s followers, who are bringing up a new generation in Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Bulgaria and in other countries, follow a different method [for the same end]. They [teachers in Gülen’s schools] do not insist on manufacturing sympathy for Turkey on the part of the students. [Instead] there is a culture of being able to live together with other cultures and nationalities,” said Ribakov.

He also lashed out at the defamation campaign conducted against Gülen and his followers by some pro-government circles in Turkey, who defame the scholar by calling him a terrorist, leveling accusations that have no legal basis. “Gülen was among the first Muslims who criticized the terrorist attack staged in Beslan… He always stands against terrorism. The expression ‘A Muslim cannot be a terrorist and a terrorist cannot be Muslim’ was coined by him,” Ribakov added.

“It is not easy to disprove this kind of accusations… There is famous saying in Russia… When you ask about someone ‘Did someone steal his coat or was it him who stole someone’s coat?’ you associate that person with theft… Then, people begin to consider him a thief,” he said.

It was revealed on March 24 that Gülen has been named as the main suspect in an investigation into alleged cheating in a Turkish civil service examination, despite the fact that he has been living in self-imposed exile since 1999 and that there isn’t a shred of evidence to prove he has anything to do with the State Personnel Examination (KPSS). This move strengthens claims that such investigations are targeting the Gülen movement — also known as the Hizmet movement — as a part of a revenge campaign for corruptions probes that went public in December 2013, implicating four ex-ministers and close associates of Erdoğan.

To discredit the probes, Erdoğan has claimed that the Gülen movement staged the graft investigations in order to topple the government.

Ribakov also described as “meaningless” the accusation that Gülen is cooperating with foreign intelligence agencies, a claim put forward by Erdoğan. The Turkish president said in February that the Gülen movement had cooperated with Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency.

‘I’m concerned about the future of the world’

Ribakov voiced concern over the deterioration of global stability at present and shared his disappointment over the fact that the 21st century — which was expected by many to be more peaceful than the preceding century — instead began with the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. “It is a frustrating to see that anything is still possible in the 21st century. Incidents that we thought to be things of the past are still taking place. It seems that there is no end to the issues in the Middle East. Ukraine has become a wound in the middle of Europe,” Ribakov said.

However, he expressed pleasure over the close relationship between Russia and Turkey. “Turkey acts cautiously in its policies towards Russia. Southern Turkey now receives a flow of 4 million Russian tourists [per year] and has become like [another province of] Russia. There will be also a gas pipeline built in Turkey [by Russia]… These are positive developments,” Ribakov said.

Source: Today's Zaman , April 21, 2015


Related News

Nigeria demands Turkey’s apology over ‘unjustifiable’ students deportation in coup crackdown

Nigerian lawmakers have urged the Turkish government to apologise for arresting and deporting dozens of Nigerian students. The majority of the youths attended the Fatih University, which is among thousands of educational buildings Turkey has shut down in a crackdown following the failed coup.

Toward the ‘Mubarak model’

As Turkey’s all-inclusive civil society organization, the Hizmet movement, which has always advocated human rights and freedom, adopted democracy, worked to make the state more transparent and accountable, supported Turkey’s accession to the EU and its integration into the world, has become a target.

Pakistan – Turkish teachers, students not to be deported, court told

The federal government Wednesday told the Lahore High Court that Turkish national teachers and students of PakTurk International Schools would not be deported.

Land of Private high school declared green space

The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) recently declared a piece of land on which a private high school had been being built to be a green space. The high school is a branch of Fatih Koleji, a private institution affiliated with the Hizmet movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Turkey detainees tortured, raped after failed coup, rights group says

JASON HANNA and TIM HUME Captured military officers raped by police, hundreds of soldiers beaten, some detainees denied food and water and access to lawyers for days. These are the grim conditions that many of the thousands who were arrested in Turkey face in the aftermath of a recent failed coup, witnesses tell Amnesty International. […]

Kimse Yok Mu distributes meat with foreign volunteers in Indonesia

Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There), one of the largest charity organizations in Turkey, distributed the meat of sacrificed animals to needy families in Aceh with the participation of Korean and Malay volunteers

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

WikiLeaks reveals emails from the son-in-law of President Erdogan, ‘proving his connection to ISIS operation smuggling oil into Turkey’

The Gulen Movement Is Not a Cult — It’s One of the Most Encouraging Faces of Islam Today

A little fairness, please!

Malaysia also to blame for Turk’s torture, say rights groups

Somalia agrees Turkey’s anti-Gülen crackdown, Kenya, Germany and Indonesia resist

Laughter-guaranteed terrorist organization indictment

Gülen extends condolences to Egypt victims

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News