The U.S. may face a choice between geopolitical calculation and human decency

M. Fethullah Gulen
M. Fethullah Gulen


Date posted: August 27, 2016

Herb Rothschild

Although he’s been living in the U.S. since 1997, Muhammed Fethullah Gülen isn’t a household name here. He may soon become one. In the wake of the failed coup attempt in Turkey last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has pressured the U.S. to extradite Gülen to face charges of instigating the coup. Depending on what’s in the 85 boxes of evidence that Turkey has sent to support its request, our government may face a choice between geopolitical calculation and human decency.

Word is that only three of the boxes contain evidence gathered after the coup attempt. Erdogan has been after Gülen since 2013, when Turkish law enforcement officials and prosecutors launched investigations into widespread corruption at the highest levels of Erdogan’s administration. Erdogan’s response was to discharge all the investigators he could and accuse Gülen of being behind a plot to discredit him. That charge was self-serving, and Turkey’s notoriety for torturing those arrested on political grounds taints any post-coup evidence Turkey has sent to us.

So who is Gülen? He’s the leader of a global movement that, relative to most versions of Islam, seems moderate if not liberal. The movement has no official name but is usually referred to as Hizmet (Turkish for “service”). Its followers operate private schools and universities in over 180 countries as well as charter schools in our country. It also has an employers’ association, charities, real estate trusts, student organizations and broadcast and print media.

Such movements, especially if they’re Muslim, attract suspicion in the West. In 2008, the Dutch government began investigating Hizmet. Its conclusions were that the movement isn’t involved in terrorism or a breeding ground for radicalism, nor does it oppose integration of Muslims into secular states. In 2015, MLK’s alma mater, Morehouse College, awarded its Gandhi King Ikeda Peace Award to Gülen for his lifelong commitment to peace among nations and to interfaith dialogue. But Erdogan insists that Gülen is a terrorist and has named his movement the Gülenist Terror Organisation.

Our extradition treaty with Turkey affords Gülen judicial process, so our government can’t just hand him over. But on Aug. 10, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported Erdogan as saying, “Sooner or later the U.S. will make a choice. Either Turkey or FETÖ.”

The U.S. has long regarded Turkey, a member of NATO since 1952, as a key military partner. Just last month Erdogan gave us permission to launch airstrikes against ISIS from its two air bases near the Syrian border. That reduces time to target from four hours to 10 minutes.

But all isn’t well with the relationship. The Turkish government views the independence-minded Kurds in their country as a threat, whereas the Kurds have been our allies, first against Saddam Hussein, then against the Sunni insurgency after Saddam’s fall, and lately against ISIS. Erdogan has become increasingly dictatorial and abusive of human rights. Then he stuck his finger in our eye by visiting Moscow this month, the latest in a series of fence-mending actions with his neighbor. The U.S. won’t break with Turkey over any of the above; VP Joe Biden just hustled over to Ankara to calm the waters. But with his demand for Gülen’s extradition, Erdogan has positioned himself to break it off with us whenever he wants.

Among the many burdens of running a global empire is that it’s one damn thing after another.

Herb Rothschild’s column appears in the Tidings every Saturday.

Source: Ashland Daily Tidings , Aug. 27, 2016


Related News

Mysterious visitors to holdings

Reports of certain visitors paying “unexpected” visits to various Turkish holdings and company headquarters are currently being spread in economy circles. As these guests are connected or close in some way or other to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), their visits can hardly be perceived as routine. These influential people are not making their visits for a cup of coffee. They send a short and clear message to the chairman of the executive board or to the general director, asking them to make a statement criticizing the Hizmet movement.

My Nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize is Fethullah Gulen

Fehmi Koru, Houston, Texas 15 October 2005 I do not have a voting right for Nobel nominations, but if I did, my nomination for the peace prize is ready: Fethullah Gulen. Of course, I know he’s controversial even in Turkey, he doesn’t appear in public anymore, he seldom grants interviews, yet nevertheless many in Turkey […]

Deputy PM threatens Taraf daily, Baransu for covering controversial MGK docs

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç on Monday called on prosecutors to take legal action against the Taraf daily and journalist Mehmet Baransu, who last week revealed a controversial National Security Council (MGK) document indicating that Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) signed on to a planned crackdown on the Hizmet (Gülen) movement in 2004.

Gülen’s ideas address the entire world

The ideas of Fethullah Gülen, the most discussed figure of Turkey for decades now, have become important topics in the intellectual circles of the world in recent years.

Claims about TİB plot to libel Hizmet spark massive reaction

Jurists and politicians reacted harshly to a claim in an email by an anonymous whistleblower from the Telecommunications Directorate (TİB), the agency responsible for carrying out legal wiretaps, that there is a conspiracy to bring the Hizmet movement under suspicion of infiltrating TİB.

German minister says state not investigating Gulenists

The German authorities are not investigating Gulenists, the country’s justice minister said Tuesday, much to the frustration of Turkey which has asked that action be taken against the shadowy group.

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

Gülen’s defense against Erdoğan’s onslaught

Corruption investigation: Questions that will hound PM Erdoğan

Nearly 500 police officials reassigned in Ankara, İzmir

Pathology of ‘Islamicist’ Erdogan Regime

Former US Ambassador Ricciardone: Hizmet members not terrorists

Ambassadors uneasy over Erdoğan’s orders concerning graft probe

Full-Fledged Hate Speech By Erdoğan: Gülen Movement Became ‘Unthinking Slaves’

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News