Are politics and Hizmet from different walks of life?


Date posted: February 18, 2012

The possibility of rivalry or conflict between ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Hizmet (the Gülen movement, which consists of followers of Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen’s ideas), came to the agenda once again when individuals known to be Gülen followers took the side of the judiciary in a debate between the government and the judiciary after it summoned National Intelligence Organization (MİT) officials to testify in connection with acts of terrorism.

MERVE BÜŞRA ÖZTÜRK, Friday February 17, 2012

Circles close to the government have argued that the recent move by the prosecutor who summoned the MİT undersecretary and several other MİT officials to hear their testimony is clearly an attack on the government’s terrorism policies as the MİT officials who were summoned were all tasked by the prime minister to negotiate with terrorists. On the other hand, many Gülen supporters argue that the prosecutor’s only intention is to find out whether there are some agents in MİT that exceeded the limits of the negotiation.

Bugün’s Ahmet Taşgetiren says claims over a covert fight between the Gülen movement and the government indicate nothing but an attempt to divide Muslims by turning them against each other. “This will remain a vain attempt as long as we continue to live in the same land and send our children to Gülen schools and stay in Gülen houses, and more importantly, as long as we are Muslim, because Muslims do not see each other as opponents just because of personal interests or political views,” says Taşgetiren, quoting parts of an article by Milliyet’s Hasan Cemal.

“I am not an expert on Gülen ideology, but I know the Gülen movement from football. Do you know how? Because whenever I go abroad to watch an important football match and I have to find a place to stay, I call one of my friends who support Gülen to arrange a place for me, and they always manage to organize a home for me every time I call. And these Gülen supporter friends of mine are decent people who I can actually have a good talk with. I met with Gülen in the 1990s and had the chance to listen to some of his speeches. He mostly talks about tolerance towards other people and emphasizes reconciliation within society. I know the newspaper that is known to be affiliated with the Gülen movement. Those people working for the newspaper are right-minded, serious journalists who follow the public agenda meticulously. Gülen followers are in the business world and in education. And I am sure there are some followers who work in the judiciary and in the police. We all know they have played a considerable role in exposing the Sledgehammer plan and the coup plan of Ergenekon. In the same vein, they have played a significant role in the latest crisis concerning MİT. Considering the things I have said about this movement, does it seem like a group or organization that has a political aim or — specifically in the MİT case — can it really be attempting to make a judicial coup or something like this? I think this scenario is only an exaggeration or a fear that many leftists have in this country. It smells too much like a conspiracy,” Cemal says.

Arguing that it is hard to name one particular strategy of the Gülen movement in terms of politics and that it is certainly impossible to say the police and the judiciary acted on Gülen followers’ influence, Radikal’s Oral Çalışlar recalls how Gülen made a speech a couple of months ago in which he argued there are some rights that Turkey owes to Kurds and one of them is to allow education to be taught in Kurdish in its predominantly Kurdish regions. He says that Gülen and many intellectuals known to be supporters of Gülen’s ideology support the idea that terrorism in Turkey can only be solved through dialogue and mutual understanding. However, Çalışlar also points out that a TV channel owned by the Gülen movement covertly supported the government’s military operations against terrorists, which killed many of them, and asks how we can say that this movement has a certain political motive or goal.

Source: Todays’ Zaman http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-271735-are-politics-and-hizmet-from-different-walks-of-life.html

 


Related News

Turkey Wants Mongolia To Shut Down Turkish Schools

Just ten years ago, Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc recalled a dramatic scene. One diplomat dropped his teacup upon hearing that he was posted to Mongolia with 5,000 USD, special residence, and a car — a lavish job at that time. “How can I live there?” the diplomat reportedly asked, according to Arinc.

Too Good to Be True

Emre Celik When was the last time you heard that? I’ve heard it a few times — here’s the story. I am now in my fifth year in Washington, D.C., having immigrated from Australia. Here I have had the pleasure and responsibility of presiding over the Rumi Forum, an organization dedicated to interfaith and intercultural […]

Accused by Erdogan of plotting a coup, Hizmet movement fears for freedom in Turkey

The Hizmet is based on the idea of a “modern Islam compatible with democracy” that has been disseminated by Fethullah Gülen since the 1960’s. Gülen, now 75 years old, is a former imam, writer, thinker and teacher. He has been living in the US in volunteer exile since 1999, when he left Turkey due to successive military coups. Even from afar, Gülen keeps influencing thousands of Turks and Muslims around the world.

Former deputy Uras: Erdoğan struck deal with Ergenekon against Gülen movement

A former member of Parliament, academic Ufuk Uras claimed during an interview with a daily on Monday that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had made a deal with the leaders of the Ergenekon clandestine organization during his fight against the faith-based Gülen movement after the Dec. 17 and 25 graft investigations became public at the end of 2013.

Discrimination by AKP government [against Hizmet movement]

Discrimination by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which argues that it has addressed this issue vis-à-vis religious people, has never been analyzed. The recent row between the AKP and the Hizmet movement refers to an important and interesting fact, because it reveals this reality. In light of these discussions, bureaucrats who have been discriminated by the AKP government because of their views are now talking.

AKP deputy: “Imprisoned Gulen supporters and PKK members will be massacred by furious mobs”

Another dirty AKP plan was revealed by AKP deputy Huseyin Kocabiyik. Kocabiyik in his Nov 13th tweet revealed the plan. “Assassinations will be staged against statesmen and furious people will hang all imprisoned PKK members and Hizmet supporters,” he said. “This is what is spoken among the public,” he tweeted.

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

Gulen wants Anatolian [interpretation of] Islam

Kerry Tells Turkish Foreign Minister Coup Accusations Irresponsible

Post-coup purge in Turkey leaves children parentless after mother and father are put behind bars

Albanian president to Erdoğan: Turkish schools pose no threat

What is the main offense that the Cemaat (Hizmet movement) has committed?

Nine decades later, Hizmet gives back to Karachi

Turkey’s permanent state of crisis

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News