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 Gulen movement is one of the very few that has managed to live what it preaches.’
Hizmet Movement is, in my view, an Islamically-inspired, Islamically-grounded movement, or Islamically-rooted movement, founded on the universal and fundamental principle of peace and—the essential values of Islam—peace, mercy and compassion, as normative, moral objectives and which seeks to translate these principles into—through the dynamic of ta’aruf, the dynamic of coming to know one another, especially coming to know the other—into a reality, into a living sociological and anthropological reality.
Reactions snowball after PM likens Hizmet members to Hashishin
According to Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Özcan Yeniçeri “The Hashishin was a separatist organization that inflicted great damage on the Turkish nation. Their purpose was to divide the nation and disrupt peace. The Hizmet movement, on the other hand, is a civilian initiative that strives for Turkey not to be divided and for youths not to fall into the hands of the terrorist PKK. For us, the real Hashishin are the separatists. If the prime minister is looking for a Hashishin, he should look into the mirror,”
Threat to destroy the Hizmet Movement a hate crime
Erdoğan’s harsh attacks on the Hizmet movement, consisting of followers and sympathizers of Fethullah Gülen, reached a summit when he stated on Tuesday, “from A to Z everyone in this organization needs to pay the price. Either they will accept the presence of this state or they will disappear.”
Turks mobilize to join solidarity campaign for Bank Asya
The government-led assault to sink Turkey’s largest Islamic lender, Bank Asya, due to its affiliations with the Hizmet movement, has stirred a public movement, with thousands of people rushing to deposit money with the bank to aid its struggle for survival.
US calls Turkey to uphold fundamental freedoms after Zeynalov’s deportation
When asked about Zeynalov being deported by the Turkish government, US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said, “We are looking into these unsettling reports. As we have said, we have been and continue to be strong advocates for freedom of expression around the world, and we believe that democracies are strengthened by the diverse voices of their people. We look to Turkey as a democracy and ally to uphold the fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly, and association.”
Turkish Gov’t Systematically Violated 12 Fundamental Rights During Emergency Rule
Sezgin Tanrıkulu, a deputy from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has announced that Turkish government has systematically violated 12 fundamental human rights during the ongoing state of emergency in the country.
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