New Book – No Return from Democracy: A Survey of Interviews with Fethullah Gulen
Date posted: August 8, 2017
It was rare, if not impossible, to find in ’80s and ’90s a Muslim cleric who spoke in favor of democracy, integration with the Western world, and universal human values. Fethullah Gülen was one of those. Many of his avant-garde ideas did not only earn him one of the largest and most influential faith-inspired social movements of recent history, but also many foes, especially from the Turkish ruling elite, placing him in the center of many social and political developments in Turkey. Despite the enormous defamation from some political groups in Turkey, Gülen is recognized in the world as a devout Muslim cleric, whose thoughts and life style are deeply rooted in the Islamic faith, but who also believes Islam is not in conflict with the progressive values of the modern world. This book collates Gülen’s ahead-of-his-time comments on some of the debated issues as he phrased in interviews in the past few decades.
The Abant Platform is a good example of a religiously inspired social capital formation in a society with ideological, ethnic and religious fault lines. This platform departs from a belief that religion, and particularly Islam, can be a positive factor in social, political and economic life. The Gülen movement has been quite successful in utilizing its cultural and human capital in order to empower the civil society and expand the democratic space available for the formally excluded periphery vis-à-vis the centre.
Erdoğan’s ‘non-precious’ loneliness
The US and Europe now use Erdoğan’s level of aggression against whomever he targets as an indicator to measure the degree of democratic culture of the Turks. For this reason, as Erdoğan and his government intensify their aggression, the Hizmet movement becomes more respectable and prestigious in the world.
NY Times Editorial Board: Mr. Erdogan’s Reckless Revenge
At such a time, one would hope for a leader willing and eager to unify his people under the rule of law, to reaffirm democratic values and to address the grievances that motivated the plotters in the first place. So far, Mr. Erdogan seems determined to fail this test of leadership.
Embracing the World: Fethullah Gülen’s Thought and Its Relationship to Jalaluddin Rumi and Others
This is neither a comprehensive study of Fethullah Gülen nor is it a comprehensive study of Jalaluddin Rumi. What I am seeking to do is to explore the places where the thought of the one is echoed in the thinking of the other, either overtly or indirectly—and to note ways in which the opposite is true: that Gülen diverges from Rumi.
Questions on a Coup – Did Erdogan engineer it himself?
Now that Erdogan has cleared away all of his rivals from within, he has aggressively demanded that the U.S. extradite his only remaining serious rival – Fethullah Gulen. It would be unconscionable and immoral for the U.S. to comply with the wishes of a power hungry and merciless dictator. When the smoke has finally cleared we may discover that Erdogan himself has engineered the coup as an excuse for a final crackdown on the opposition and to solidify his autocratic rule.
Opposition journalists speak at U.N. panel on Turkey’s human rights record
Two exiled Turkish journalists spoke on a United Nations human rights panel on Turkey’s human rights violations and jailed journalists despite attempts by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cancel the session.
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