Saylorsburg protesters focus on Turkish cleric


Date posted: January 1, 2014

JENNA EBERSOLE

As a corruption investigation embroils the prime minister of Turkey and the country’s ruling party, protesters descended for a third time on Saylorsburg against Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen.

Gülen has lived at the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center in Saylorsburg for more than a decade, but remains mostly unknown to Americans. For Turks, he is a prominent figure who many believe promotes education and a moderate, peaceful form of Islam.

Gülen and the large movement he inspired remain at the center of discussion about Turkish politics, though his followers say he is non-political.

In the last few weeks in Turkey, an extensive scandal has engulfed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.The Associated Press reports that revelations of bribery and illicit money transfers to Iran are threatening Erdogan and his government.

Ties between Gülen’s movement and Erdogan have been broken, with conspiracy theories pointing to the Gülen as the force behind the investigation, the AP reports. Though the evidence for Gülen’s involvement in the investigation is weak, his movement’s influence in the country seems clear.

When protesters arrived at the Gülen center last summer from across the U.S., many said they believed Gülen is the puppet-master behind Erdogan.

Saturday afternoon, first in Brodheadsville then at Ross Township’s Van Buskirk-Haney Park, about 40 protesters said they organized for the third time because of the scandal. Although the investigation appears to divide the two figures, they claimed it is little more than a power struggle between them.

“That’s the reason we want them to go together, because they are both dangerous movements for Turkey,” protest organizer Armagan Yilaz said through translator Banu Saker.

“They are both on the same side,” added Saker, who came from Virginia.

Protesters carried a makeshift coffin with photos of Erdogan and Gülen, singing and chanting throughout the peaceful protest.

But Alp Aslandogan, spokesman for Gülen’s movement, said the protesters’ views are contradictory. He said Erdogan has blamed Gülen for the investigation, so protesters are supporting the ruling party by protesting Gülen now.

“Their action aligns them with them, although their rhetoric is against them,” he said Saturday.

Aslandogan said the scandal is not a power struggle between the two figures, but rather an example of corruption properly coming to light.

“He definitely supports the values of government transparency and accountability, and checks and balances in the government,” Aslandogan said of Gülen.

Gülen followers are among others who support democratic reforms, and the cleric never endorsed Erdogan but rather shared common views at a time when the prime minister’s party preached democratic reforms, he said.

Aslandogan provided a link to an article apparently written by Yilmaz, which lists the U.S. among Turkey’s enemies. Yilmaz has denied the protests are anti-American, and said they are aimed at raising awareness about the Gülen movement’s activities, including its involvement in U.S. charter schools, among Americans.

Aslandogan also pointed to a section of the group’s Facebook page, which quotes from a blog that appears to praise Erdogan for standing “on Turkish soil with Turkish citizens who are fed up with Gülen’s influence and corruption.”

Still, Aslandogan said the center supports the right of the group to protest peacefully.

Protesters said they will continue to come to Saylorsburg as long as Gülen remains.

“We are just trying to warn the American people,” Saker said.

Source: Pocono Record , December 29, 2013


Related News

Warning of another Feb. 28 on the eve of an MGK meeting

National Security Council (MGK) will convene. Turkey is going through a grave security crisis due to the situation in Syria and Iraq, and the escalation of domestic terror. The road map, the peshmerga corridor, martyred security forces…

Slain prosecutor’s daughter: My father was not with Gülen movement

The daughter of former Bursa public prosecutor Seyfettin Yiğit, who allegedly committed suicide in a prison bathroom on Friday morning after he was put behind bars over Gülen movement ties, said on Saturday that her father was not affiliated with the Gülen movement but was with the Süleymancı movement, an Islamic movement in Turkey founded by Turkish Islamic scholar Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan in the early 20th century.

‘Hizmet is really something that demonstrates what’s universal about Islam.’

People who identify with the Hizmet Movement really have influenced the way I view it, in that I can see that it’s gonna have a lasting impact, because Hizmet is really something that demonstrates what’s universal about Islam, for the members of the Hizmet Movement, that there are universal values that you find in other faith traditions as well.

Fethullah Gülen sends a message to the conference “Peacebuilding through Education”

The Fountain Magazine in collaboration with the Peace Islands Institute organized a conference titled “Peacebuilding through Education” on September 24, 2012 at The Times Center, NY. The conference aimed to highlight the importance of educating children, especially at the level of primary and secondary school, as an effective and sustainable method to prevent and solve […]

As Turks flee oppression, Ottawa urged to speak out on human rights issues

Asylum seekers are still fleeing Turkey for Canada and other western countries, Kaplan said. “There’s at least 14 families (in my neighbourhood in Ottawa). I mean ladies (with kids). All their husbands have been arrested (in Turkey,)” he said. The women are not comfortable speaking out publicly for fear it could imperil their husbands behind bars in Turkey, he added.

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.

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

France sentences attacker targeting Gulenists as Turkey releases gunman in similar case

Serbian torture base now houses Turkish school

Culture Day Celebrated In The Turkish Schools

Fethullah Gülen’s message of condolence for veteran journalist Mehmet Ali Birand

Toward an Islamic Enlightenment: The Gulen Movement (Book Review)

GYV says Gülen did not send letter to Erdoğan

Deporting Turkish teachers – Why can’t we separate politics from education?

Copyright 2024 Hizmet News