Infiltrating or contributing?

Muhammed Çetin
Muhammed Çetin


Date posted: November 2, 2010

MUHAMMED ÇETİN

Over the past few days Muslim scholar and social activist Fethullah Gülen has given a measured and straightforward response to accusations that the Gülen movement, or as it is often called, the “volunteers’ service” or hizmet, is engaged in a conspiracy to infiltrate state institutions. Gülen replied that all citizens have a right — in accordance with the law — to be employed in their own country within the ranks of state institutions, including the police and military.

Indeed, it seems to me that since the participants and supporters of the movement number in the millions within Turkey, their presence within such institutions is a statistical certainty given that the movement is not a clandestine organization or cult.

This latest public discussion first started to develop around Police Chief Hanefi Avcı’s accusations against the movement. Apart from accusing the supporters of the Gülen movement of having infiltrated top state posts, Avcı, who is currently in custody, claimed that ongoing criminal investigations of illegal activities within the state — such as the clandestine criminal network Ergenekon that plotted to overthrow the government — lack evidence and are based on illegal wiretapping. However, recent legal probes show Avcı himself not only wiretapped illegally but also tortured dozens of individuals. Avcı was arrested last month on charges of aiding and abetting a terrorist organization.

However, as these events were progressing, researchers taking part in the Mapping the Gülen Movement Conference in Amsterdam, were presenting their research findings to the academic world.

A number of Turkish and non-Turkish academics inside and outside the movement contributed. Most of the speakers were completely independent of the movement. Yet not one of them produced a shred of evidence that could be used in support of Avcı’s accusations.

Thomas Michel, an academic who has years of experience observing the movement, spoke of the centrality to Fethullah Gülen’s thought and teachings on ikhlas (purity of intention). He pointed out this concept includes honesty or freedom from dissimulation and that Gülen stresses “pursuing nothing worldly.”

Ihsan Yilmaz and Sammas Salur presented a joint paper on the compatibility of Islam, democracy and secularism in Gülen’s thought. Today’s Zaman’s own Dogu Ergil, in his capacity as an academic at Ankara University, pointed out that while participants in the movement may have their own political views and even party political affiliations, these are not allowed to affect the activities of the movement.

Pim Valkenberg of Loyola University Maryland made a study of Gülen’s publications over the years and concluded that there has been no change in Gülen’s message. From the beginning of his career as a preacher he has expressed concern for humanity as a whole, not just selected parts of it such as a community or a nation. Only Gülen’s sensitivity to the widening of his audience has developed, as the movement has grown and become transnational, so that later works can be understood by a wider range of people with different educational and cultural backgrounds.

Helen Rose Ebaugh of the University of Houston reported her research on the finances and fundraising of the movement. She investigated 11 major institutions and found the accounting practices were straightforward and transparent and that institutions were very willing to let her inspect their accounts.

My own paper about the structural dimension of the movement described how the movement functions without centralized control. Papers by Johan Leman, on the efforts for social integration by Gülen movement volunteers in Belgium, and by Maria Curtis, who wrote about women’s goals in the movement and how they strive to contribute to society in the United States, also confirmed the characteristics of service to others and decentralization.

None of the academics in attendance reported finding any sign of attempts by movement members to overthrow democracy or even to “grab a bigger share of the pie” for a new elite, shady or otherwise.

Turkish people nowadays are almost used to wild and inaccurate conspiracy theories and weary of the existence of the very real plots of the deep state that have marred the life of the nation for years. We can now spot the use of smoke and mirrors on the stage, while the villain attempts to exit unseen stage left.

The fact-based, peer-reviewed world of academia, though dry to some people’s tastes, has a contribution to make to Turkey’s future. In contrast to the drama and fiction of politics, the requirement for balance and credibility in academic work contributes facts and reveals ulterior motives in the public arena. These can be cooling antidotes to the poison of delusion administered to the public by the politically ambitious.

Source: This article was published on 14 October 2010, Thursday on Today’s Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/columnists-224345-infiltrating-or-contributing.html


Related News

Please do not insult the intelligence of the people

The government’s defensive position could have been understandable had it not removed the police chiefs who did the investigation from their positions, almost as a punishment.

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen gives first TV interview in 16 years

Responding to widespread assumptions that he ordered his followers in senior positions in the police and judiciary to launch the investigations into alleged high-level government corruption, Gülen issued strong denials of such claims. He said the reactions of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which have included the sacking a number of police commissioners and the arrest of some of Erdoğan’s allies, were “anti-democratic.”

Corruption investigation: Questions that will hound PM Erdoğan

Everyone is wondering now what is behind the corruption investigation, and the first “suspect” to come to many minds is the Islamist Gülen movement. Tensions between this group and the AKP have been rising over the years, and boiled over recently due to the prep-school issue – a matter that has received wide media coverage.

The Gülen movement denies this but the vitriol flying between daily Zaman, which is close to Gülen, and Yeni Şafak, which is staunchly pro-AKP, is enough to give one a sense of the bitter struggle involved.

Gülen says paying price for not supporting Erdoğan’s desire for presidential system

“Mr Erdoğan put pressure on me and Hizmet sympathizers to publicly support his idea of a presidential system. He increased the pressure by supporting government-funded alternatives to Hizmet institutions and then began threatening to close them down,” Gülen stated in a written interview with Nahal Toosi, which was published on Friday. According to Gülen, Hizmet sympathizers are paying a heavy price for their independence.

Hizmet movement discussed in heart of African Union

30 May 2012 / KAMİL ERGİN , ADDIS ABABA An international symposium on the Hizmet movement (aka Gulen movement), which includes followers of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s principles, and the concept of dialogue, held in Ethiopia last week, brought together a large number of academics and top state officials from close to 40 countries to […]

Erdoğan’s war against Hizmet: Step by step

Turkish prosecutors carried out a number of arrests and raids on the morning of 17th December 2013 as part of a series of on-going corruption investigations. PM Erdogan’s response has been to call this a coup attempt against his government orchestrated by a coalition of foreign and domestic enemies. Erdogan claims that the ‘domestic pawn’ of this plot is the Hizmet movement. His number one election campaign promise: to crush and annihilate the treacherous Hizmet movement.

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: Despite differences in method peace process in Kurdish issue should be supported

Fethullah Gülen issued the following statement on Turkey’s extradition request

PM Basindawa opens new campus of Turkish-Yemeni School

Turkish schools helped start trade with Turkiye

Former Filipino deputy: Great that we have Kimse Yok Mu

Ramadan Tent brings faiths together in Virginia

Pregnant behind bars with a two-year-old kid

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News