The Dutch Turkish community must speak out about the anti-Gülen violence


Date posted: July 27, 2016

Labour MP Ahmed Marcouch calls on Turkish-Dutch organisations to speak out about violence and intimidation and to build bridges instead.

There’s a silence and it’s hurting my ears. It’s the silence that surrounds the violence against the Gülen supporters. What happened to the organisations normally so quick to ask for protection against intolerance? Where are the political parties who recently demanded protection for all mosques when one was attacked in Deventer? Now that Gülen supporter buildings are being targeted in Deventer and other cities, the silence is deafening. It is these representatives of the Turkish community who should speak out against this hatred. They hold the key to reconciliation.

Gülen supporters in the Netherlands, who are in fact supporters of the Hizmet movement, are being branded traitors and terrorists by a foreign government. The campaign began by boycotting Turkish entrepreneurs thought to support Gülen. It soon became clear why many of them started to contact me. Their mobile phones were full of threats, to parents, to children. ‘Your blood is halal, your blood will flow,’ said one message. These people are telling me that they are now being refused entry to mosques and restaurants.

Taxidrivers tell them: ‘Erdogan sends his love.’ Little boys hardly tall enough to look over the garden fence tell their former playmates: ‘I can’t talk to you anymore.’ A father showed me a message from his son who is holidaying in Turkey. His good friend tells him: ‘When you’re back we will call you names until you come out in support for Erdogan.’

When a mosque in Enschede was attacked with Molotov cocktails last year political party Denk demanded protection for all mosques. But when the same thing happened to a building used by the Gülen movement the silence was deafening. Denk and local Islamic party Nida remained bafflingly quiet, activists against racism and bigotry never uttered a word and the Centraal Orgaan Moslims and Overheid CMO had gone into hiding as well. This time none of these groups demanded protection against alleged discrimination.

Holidays

It’s gone very quiet but at the same time my ears are buzzing with the noise of demonstrators shouting their support for Erdogan. People are carrying flags and some are shaking their fists. So why are solid organisations like Mili Görus, Dinayet and Süleymanci not using their – religious or non-religious – moral authority? Why are they not telling angry Dutch Turks to calm down and protecting Gülen supporters? Why are they not trying to bring together the Turkish-Dutch groups and formulating a response to Erdogan’s propaganda?

I wonder what will happen in three weeks’ time when the Turkish Dutch holidaymakers return from a country where for a month they have been bombarded with accusations against Gülen supporters on state television. Every day images of shouting demonstrators rejoicing in the torture of soldiers, the firing of judges and the incarceration of journalists suspected of supporting Gülen fill the screen. How are the children of AKP supporters going to interact with children of Gülen supporters when school starts again?

The danger is not that our eyes are failing us. It is our hearts that are blind. To combat discrimination and bigotry means we must open our hearts. Firmly rooted identities have become our strength in the Netherlands when we left behind the rigid system of political and religious denominations. Once a tool for emancipation we see what the adherence to such a system is doing in the here and now: it causes isolation, engenders mistrust and instills feelings of superiority. We see how Turkish-Dutch organisations are caught up in this system, led by the parent organisations in Turkey.

Of course I’m asking justice minister Ard Van der Steur and integration minister Lodwijk Asscher to do what they should do: to encourage people to go to the police and file a complaint, to speed up the apprehension of the culprits, to provide adequate protection and to admonish the Turkish ambassador. But the battle against intolerance needs the support of society as a whole. The Turkish-Dutch community has a responsibility to leave isolation behind and build bridges.

Men of Milli Görüs, Diyanet en Süleymanci and others who combat discrimination, where are you? How are you going to open hearts?

 

Source: Dutch News , July 27, 2016


Related News

Jihad Turk on Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet Movement

Jihad Turk, a founding Board Member of Claremont Lincoln University, has been instrumental in the establishment of Bayan Claremont, a graduate school designed to train Muslim scholars and religious leaders. He previously served as the Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center of Southern California.

Fethullah Gülen is a Chance for Humanity: His Inclusive Perspective for Sustainable Global Triangulation

The basic values that mark the twenty-first century are modernism, pluralism, individualism, and religion. Some claim that modernity embraces individual and social life as a whole, and that it has created new forms of religious, cultural, and political pluralism. There is no doubt that the world today is in need of dialogue between cultures and civilizations more than at any other time; this is of the utmost urgency.

Gulen suspect testifies before US Congress on recent coup attempt

An alleged member of the Fetullah Gulen organization was invited on Wednesday to speak to a congressional panel on Turkey, a stunning move that could exacerbate tensions between Ankara and Washington. Ahmet Sait Yayla was added to the original list of speakers to address the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats.

‘Mr. Gülen is to me simultaneously both incredibly modest and a visionary’

I’m inspired by the Hizmet Movement. I didn’t realize that until I came in contact with the Movement, but all of my life, education and service and dialog have been transformative to me. … This is the work that all of our hearts should be doing. So it remains a source of inspiration for me in my work.

Who speaks for Islam in Turkey?

Huseyin Gulerce voiced deep concern about Erdogan’s criticism of Fethullah Gulen “as a fake prophet” at a meeting of the Religious Affairs Directorate. Gulerce asked, “Would not the stability of the country be harmed if the mosques are polarized as such?” He concluded that politics have dominated religion.

Inability to generate values

Many are quick to note that Turkey does not have a worldwide brand. It is true that this country, with a population of about 70 million, has virtually no world-class brand. Some people are trying to destroy the few brands it does have (such as Turkish schools — which are run by Turkish entrepreneurs inspired by the ideas of well-respected Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen).

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

Zaman Editor-in-Chief: Turkish government no longer democratic

Wiretapped recordings erased on orders of new police chief

Dehumanize me Turkish-style — no comment

Nigeria Turkish College to Host Language, Culture Festival

Another woman faces detention just after giving birth as police await at hospital

Turkish army profiled Tahşiyeciler as serving al-Qaeda

Yes, Love Is a Verb!

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News