The Turkish government, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has pointed the finger at Fethullah Gülen – also known as leader of the Hizmet movement – as the mastermind behind Friday’s attempted coup by the country’s military. But who is Gülen? We take a look at the Islamic cleric and how he has affected Erdoğan’s presidency
WALTER RATLIFF* In Gaziantep, Turkey, the children at a local orphanage were recently asked to write about what they wished for most in life. The exercise was designed to help them think about their goals for the future. However, one child took the answer in a different direction: “I wish my parents could come back […]
Analysis: Power of Turkey’s Fethullah Gulen
PM Erdogan accuses Hizmet supporters within the state of plotting a “coup” against the government. But the scale of the upheaval in the police, judiciary, Turkish state TV and other parts of the bureaucracy is already similar to what happens in a coup. The current Erdogan-Gulen stand-off is reminiscent of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s hostile relations with Said-i Nursi, a politically active Kurdish preacher in the formative years of the Turkish Republic.
An American’s journey into a Hizmet school in Turkey
One thing I haven’t mentioned is the fact that the school engages with the families of all its students, and that fact was evident in the way the students engaged with their teachers and each other. I have never seen a bunch of adolescent girls with such nice manners, warm self-confidence and eagerness to learn and succeed.
US law professor: Erdoğan’s talk of Gülen extradition ‘foolishness’
Jim Harrington, a US human rights attorney and University of Texas professor, has said that any talk of asking the United States to extradite Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen to Turkey is “foolish, absurd and self-serving.”
Yet another woman detained due to Gülen links shortly after delivery
Teacher Esra Demir was detained on Monday, a day after giving birth in Batman, as part of a witch-hunt targeting the Gülen movement, news website tr724 reported.
Erdogan pushes to close down Gulen-inspired Turkish schools in Africa
Turkish President Erdogan is pressing ahead for the closure of Turkish schools affiliated with the Gülen movement (aka Hizmet movement) in African countries. There are more than 100 Gülen-inspired schools in Africa, as well as other parts of the world. The government praised these schools in the past as key institutions promoting Turkish culture abroad.
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