An opposition out of Gulen Community?


Date posted: July 15, 2013

Mehmet Barlas

I recently got a phone call from the Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondent Daria Aslamova saying she would like to meet with me. So I invited her to my house.

She said she had been working on a future news coverage on the impacts of Gezi Parki-related protests on Turkish politics. She had met with people from various circles before me.

I am a journalist who observed global incidents at the scene and conducted interviews, after all. If I see a country with a politically hesitant landscape, I first of all wrap my head around the condition alternative political parties are in.

My Russian colleague asked no question on CHP’s (Republican People’s Party) stance and power. Instead, she brought up “Gulen community” and asked her question by drawing an analogy that I would have never imagined: Can we refer to Fethullah Gulen as “the Muslim version of Soros?”

A political Movement?

Noting that it’s an interesting analogy, I told Gulen community is not a political movement and its participants refer to their movement as “hizmet.” As our conversation moved on, I got the feeling that the correspondent regarded Gulen community as the most influential organized opposition movement against the ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party).

In parenthesis, when she was commenting on the impacts of political and radical Islam on the Muslim population in Russia, she suggested that Gulen community’s moderate and conciliatory approach can be an alternative to al-Qaeda and Hezbollah.

She had earlier given remarks on Gulen community on a TV show in Moscow and said it was impossible for Russia to benefit from this movement on the ground that Gulen resides and has relations in the US.

The community’s public image

It is not unusual for me and this Russian journalist to speculate on the Gulen community. Countless commentaries and analyses about Gulen community have appeared on the most prominent newspapers of the West to date.

What matters is what Mr. Gulen and the community think about their public image.

Aren’t the speculative news and commentaries, arguing Gulen community is against PM Erdogan and AKP, excessively covered by our media? Didn’t we read those claiming Gulenist prosecutors attempted an investigation on MIT (Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization) undersecretary and prime minister reacted to that? Don’t we recall the hearsay news that when the journalists harshly critical of PM Erdogan visited Gulen in Pennsylvania they had a sort of heart-to-heart talk on the issue.

Call for return

And wasn’t it their split on attitude in Mavi Marmara incident which started the break-up, according to some? Or didn’t the negative answer to Erdogan’s call for Gulen to return to the country lead to various interpretations?

In short, the image of the community ultimately reached the point of a Russian journalist’s attempt to conclude an anti-Erdogan opposition portrait. And this attempt seems to have taken her off the ground so much so that she regards Gulen as “Turkish Soros.” What seems to be missing here is the concept “political risk.”

AKP and Erdogan will be faced with components of the political risk they carry in case of a failure. However, as is seen in past experiences, whenever an officially Jacobean secular ideology interrupts democratic politics, organisms called ‘community’ have to face “penal risks”. Wasn’t the same risk that took Gulen to the US?

Sharing the power

Those carrying political risks do not share their power with foundations, associations or communities but ensure their existence and freedoms. Without engaging in active politics and acknowledging the risks of engaging in politics in the Middle East, claiming “We have a share in the power” will only meet reactions.

In sum, such efforts, both by the Russian and Turkish media, to form an opposition movement out of Gulen community against AKP will go no further than being futile attempts.

These can be, at best, scenarios invented by those who underestimate Gulen’s reason, intellect and awareness and are ignorant of the lessons he’s driven from experiences.

Source: HizmetMovement.Com , July 15, 2013


Related News

Answers to slanderous accusations about Hizmet movement

The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) has responded to a series of controversial claims and slanderous accusations made about the Hizmet movement which the foundation said are designed to pit the government against the movement and create tension between the two. Releasing a statement on Tuesday, the foundation felt an obligation to respond to the allegations as a sign of respect for the public’s right to be informed.

Another Police Chief Jailed Over Alleged Gülen Links Dies In Turkish Prison

Fifty-two-year-old Ahmet Tatar, a police chief who was arrested as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement in Osmaniye province, has died in prison, the TR724 website has reported.

Turkey targets the Gulen family

Turkish police detained Fethullah Gulen’s brother on Sunday. Fethullah is one of five siblings. He has three brothers – Mesih, Salih, and Kutbettin – and two sisters, Nurhayat and Fazilet. Turkey accuses the preacher of organizing the July 15 coup attempt. His organization denies any involvement in the coup.

Academic says Gülen movement followers should be sent to rehabilitation camps

A professor of communications, Muttalip Kutluk Özgüven, has said followers of the Gülen movement should be sent to rehabilitation camps and subjected to psychological treatment. “Their bodies do not belong to them. They have to serve Turkey’s interests,” he said.

Police wait outside delivery room to detain woman who just gave birth

A group of police officers are reportedly waiting outside the delivery room in Niğde Hayat Hospital in order to detain Büneyye Ö. who just gave birth. According to the report, police are now at the hospital to detain the woman over her alleged links to the Gülen movement.

Erdogan’s diplomats have become ‘Gulenist-busters’

A diplomat told me that there was no way he would do what Tayyip Erdogan was asking him to do. It was against everything he held dear: chasing one’s own citizens without any credible evidence. Soon, many diplomats who refused to turn into Gulenist-hunters were not promoted, demoted or, worse, expelled from the ministry.

Latest News

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

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Zaman journalists defy threat of arrest with heads held high

Why Erdogan Snubbed Biden

“True change in a society cannot be achieved through politics but through conscience and collective awareness”

Crimes Against Humanity in Erdogan’s Turkey

Niagara Foundation Peace and Dialogue Award Honorees Recognized in Chicago

Erdoğan distorts Gülen’s NYT op-ed, says it is about Bank Asya operation

Fethullah Gulen Cited among Watkins’ 2019 the Most Spiritually Influential 100 Living People

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News