Date posted: May 2, 2016
International Festival of Language and Culture – IFLC 2016
Remarks by Congressman Mike Honda (Representing California)
IFLC Washington DC
April 28, 2016
DAR Constitution Hall
Source: IFLC International Festival of Language and Culture , April 29, 2016
Since the widespread corruption and bribery investigation became public, thousands of police officers have been reassigned or removed from their posts because of alleged links to the Hizmet movement, inspired by the teachings of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. In addition to the thousands of police officers, the government has replaced the prosecutors who initiated the investigation as well as dozens of officials at various state institutions, including public prosecutors’ offices.
The abduction, forcible disappearance and extrajudicial transfer of educator Orhan İnandı to Turkey by Turkish and Kyrgyz authorities amount to egregious violations of international and domestic law, Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Wednesday.
Gülen is highly respected both in Turkey and in many countries around the world for educational activities he has pioneered, along with his efforts to promote intercultural and interfaith activities around the globe. He is in self-imposed exile in the US, though there is no legal hurdle that prevents him from returning to Turkey.
CBS 60 minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl (LS) is interviewing Alp Aslandogan (AA), President of Institute of Interfaith Dialogue in Houston, Texas regarding the ideas of Fethullah Gulen on education: LS: Let’s talk about the schools, because there are so many “Gulen-inspired schools” in the United States now. Would you call Mr. Gulen an educator? AA: […]
It seems that US President Barack Obama and the rest of the world have not taken the Turkish president seriously on this matter. The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), the Swiss Dialogue Institute and the University of Geneva jointly organized a peace summit titled “Mobilizing Civil Society for Building Peace” at the UN Center in Geneva. The event attracted a great deal of attention, as evidenced by the participation of renowned individuals, including Hassan al-Benna’s grandson Tariq Ramadan; Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, whose statue stands in the garden of the UN Center; and Gunnar Johan Stalsett, from the Norwegian Nobel Committee. A total of 800 renowned figures from 50 countries participated in this gathering.
Erdoğan is picky about journalists escorting him on board his official plane; he doesn’t like to see journalists asking annoying question around him anyway, but this time the criteria became really narrow. Umut Oran, Deputy Chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) asked the prime minister about his criteria, since Erdoğan excluded most popular papers like Hürriyet, Zaman, Posta, or critical ones like Sözcü, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, and whether the travel expenses of journalists from pro-government papers would be covered on the government budget.