Fethullah Gulen: Turkish Scholar, Cleric — And Conspirator?
A Rare Interview: Jamie Tarabay Meets Turkish Scholar Fethullah Gulen
Date posted: January 8, 2014
Al-Jazeera America reporter Jamie Tarabay interviewed Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen in his home last spring. It was published in The Atlantic last August. Gulen is a Turkish spiritual leader to millions of Turks, both in Turkey and around the world, and the head of the Gulen movement. His network of followers spans the globe, and it has opened academically-focused schools in 90 countries, including the U.S.
Robert Siegel speaks with Tarabay about the interview.
‘Erdoğan signed MGK decisions to curb Gülen movement that Ecevit resisted’
Democratic Left Party (DSP) Chairman Masum Türker has said that controversial decisions made by the National Security Council (MGK) to curb the activities of the Gülen movement were ignored by former Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit in 2000 but signed by then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Aug. 25, 2004.
Erdogan may keep winning, but it wont’ do Turkey any good
I don’t believe Ankara is ever really going to stray from its partnership with the U.S., because Turkey simply cannot afford it. The coup — failed though it was — has left the formerly expanding Turkish economy gasping. Credit-rating agencies have lowered the nation’s stock, and the purging of coup conspirators, both real and imagined, has left tens of thousands of crucial private- and public-sector positions empty. Economic growth, meanwhile, is expected to dip.
Erdoğan’s accusation that Hizmet organized the coup attempt is noxious and absurd
The name of that “terrorist organization” was not spoken, but Ökem was referring to the so-called Fethullahçı Terör Örgütü. To the rest of the world, it’s the Hizmet movement founded by Fethullah Gülen, a former close and important ally of Erdoğan. No one else sees it as violent. Erdoğan’s accusation that it organized the coup attempt is noxious and absurd.
Turks in South Africa tell a different narrative about Erdogan
The Hizmet Movement, founded by exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, hosted a panel discussion by its South African branch last weekend. The purpose of the event was to clarify misconceptions about the movement and its involvement in the current political situation in Turkey.
Kimse Yok Mu extends hand to Syrian refugees
Around 100 volunteer families from the organization deliver aid boxes to the Syrian refugees every week. Syrian people who are in need of proper assistance expressed their gratitude with the aid assistance.
Intellectual deviations
Mahçupyan’s analysis of the Hizmet movement’s perspective on the Kurdish issue is wrong. When the settlement process was launched, the Hizmet movement announced its full support for the solution, with Gülen saying, “Peace is in itself goodness, and peace brings happiness.” It advocated non-violent social actors competing with each other freely and under democratic conditions. It openly declared that the right to education in one’s mother tongue is one of the fundamental human rights.
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
Pakistan – Of friends and us
Fountain’s Yeşilova: We believe human life and the universe are each a book to read
How did the West become Muslims’ paradise?
Local officials, volunteers launch expanded effort to help Syrian refugees
Hate Speech and Beyond: Targeting the Gülen Movement in Turkey
Executives of TUSKON call on Ghana GCCI
Dialogue advocacy group ‘disturbed’ by Erdoğan’s harassment of Hizmet