A solid step in Gulen movement Alevite community dialogue: Mosque-cemevi-soup kitchen project


Date posted: April 3, 2013

The Gulen movement and Cem Foundation of the Alevite community have agreed to launch an important project. They will build a mosque, a cemevi (Alevite house of gathering) and a soup kitchen side by side in the capital of Turkey, Ankara.

Gulen (Hizmet) movement takes a concrete step forward to extend common shared values with Alevite community of Turkey. The dialog that has been built up between the two communities in various programs over the years came to the point where they plan on a solid project.

According to the news from Rotahaber, a committee from Gulen movement recently paid a visit to Prof Dr. Izzettin Dogan, the chairman of Cem Foundation. The committee offered a joint project: a mosque and a cemevi side by side in Ankara. Pleased to hear the project and Dogan added: “We should also build a soup kitchen next to them so that there will be a place where mosque and cemevi congregations can get together.” His offer was accepted and the visit ended up with a decision to implement the project.

They already acquired almost 2 acres land in Ankara for the project and started preliminary works.

Dogan briefly explained this project to the of the Cem Foundation.

Gulen-Dogan friendship

Gulen and Dogan had built warm friendship through the activities of The Journalists and Writers Foundation in 1990s. This friendship had caused great excitement in public those days.

Their friendship had started with an interview. Dogan liked Gulen’s answer to a question in the interview: “Why do you prefer opening schools in the Central Asian countries to Arap countries.” Gulen had answered: “We preferred to find places like Turkic countries who would welcome us with open arms. You may reach out to Turkish world with Sufism. The number of cemevis must increase beside mosques.”

Source: RotaHaber April 1, 2013

Disclaimer: The original news is in Turkish. Slight deviations from the original meaning may have occurred due to the difficulties in translating phrases and idioms. PII volunteers translated the article.

 

 

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Man abducted by Turkish intel exposes torture during 9-month enforced disappearance

Gökhan Türkmen, who was allegedly abducted by Turkish intelligence officers and kept in a non-official detention center for 271 days, has said he was tortured, subjected to severe threats and sexually harassed and abused during his enforced disappearance.

Conferences on Hizmet movement in Egypt attracted masses

CUMALİ ÖNAL, AMR MUSTAFA | CAIRO In the three conferences held in three different cities in Egypt, the Egyptians, especially youngsters and students, flooded the conference rooms in order to understand the “Hizmet Movement” (aka Gulen movement) and Fethullah Gulen. Especially in the third and last day of the conference that was held in the world-wide famous […]

Logistics companies seized over Gülen links sold in fast-track auction

Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund announced it has sold Sürat Kargo and Sürat Lojistik, private logistics companies that had been transferred to the TMSF due to their alleged affiliation with the Gülen movement. Numerous private companies were transferred to TMSF due to their alleged links to the Gülen movement before and after a failed coup in 2016.

James Baker’s remarks about Fethullah Gulen and Gulen Movement

Honorary James Baker said: Problems of the world would be easy to address if, on the global level, we develop ways of sharing respect for each other’s religious perspectives. It is in this manner, the Gülen Institute and those who promote shared vision of interfaith dialogue provide truly invaluable leadership.

What Erdogan and Khomeini Have in Common

The Turkish secular elite who have long feared an Iranian-style theocracy in their own country may finally be seeing the worst of their fears come true. The widespread purges under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following last month’s failed coup attempt against his government suggest the Turkish state is moving toward authoritarian Islamist rule of the sort that Iran introduced in 1979.

Taiwanese scholar: Hizmet movement bears similarities to Confucianism

Taipei, Dec. 6 (CNA) A social movement that promotes love, tolerance, dialogue and peace inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen bears many similarities to Confucianism, a Taiwanese scholar said Monday. Turkey is entering a period of reflection, just as ancient China during the period from 770-221 B.C., when Confucianism matured, and the Hizmet (service) […]

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Turkish entrepreneurs open eye hospital in Senegal

I feel fooled, upset, hurt

GYV President Yeşil decodes the Gülen movement

Lebanese-Swedish singer Zain says proud to sing Gülen’s poem

Kimse Yok Mu opens school in Afghanistan

Another woman faces detention just after giving birth: opposition deputy

25-year-old woman escapes Turkey’s witch-hunt as Bosnia grants asylum

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News