Date posted: October 8, 2016
Nowadays, most articles about Turkey, Erdogan and Gulen have a default sentence: “Erdogan and Gulen were former allies”. It is said and written so many times that eventually became a fact. However, the reality is not that simple.
This 2 minute-video illustrates Gulen-Erdogan history.
Tags: Fethullah Gulen | Hizmet (Gulen) movement | Hizmet and politics | Turkey |

So, as expected, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared all-out war. The enemy — what he and his advisers regard as “the junta formation within the police,” the media, the judiciary, the American Embassy, affiliates of the mainly volunteer Hizmet movement, and, well, whoever seems to disagree with the way he intends to run the country and whoever tends to believe there is no smoke without fire — have dug their trenches in a circle.

Zaman correspondent Tuğba Mezararkalı, who was told by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to change her job and leave the Zaman daily during a press conference held on Friday, has said Erdoğan is clearly intervening in freedom of the press, stating she did not begin her job in Zaman, where she has been working for four years, on the prime minister’s orders and would not leave her job on his orders as well.

What does Gulen say? He says: “Work hard and earn money, but be honest. Allah will reward your hard work and honesty. But do not squander that reward. Turn it into an investment and help others.” It sounds a lot like the Protestant work ethic. This is the underlying vision of capitalism. The Gulen Movement looks a lot like the Ottoman-era Ahi movement. It is a kind of a solidarity group that provides people with jobs, education, and reintegration into society.

İPEK ÜZÜM, İSTANBUL The government should take a more active role in preventing domestic violence — which is on the rise across Turkey and the world — stated the final declaration of the conference on violence and society organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation‘s (GYV) Women’s Platform between Nov. 24 and 26 in İstanbul. […]

In a 43-page report published on Tuesday, the human rights group said a “climate of fear” had prevailed since July’s failed coup against President Tayyip Recep Erdogan and the arrest of thousands under a state of emergency.

Previously, most observers had wrongly assumed that these groups were inherent allies because of their faith-based worldview. In sharp contrast to this misperception, these groups came from entirely different pasts and political orientation, although they share a common interest in free market economy and cherished upward socio-economic mobility.
