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 |

Since its inception in India, Hizmet is known for its peace activism, interfaith dialogue and counter-extremism. Operating in the country through interfaith dialogue centres, educational institutions and cultural associations, it is articulating an evolving narrative of peace, pluralism and non-violence based on the spiritual ideas and principles of Gülen’s progressive and dialogic narrative of Sufism, as this research paper also elaborates.

Mischief-makers continue to work hard. Every objective conscience sees that the Hizmet movement now has to struggle for its rights and to defend itself against some unjust and fallacious accusations, such as that the Hizmet movement has created a parallel state, that it is an illegal organization and that it is even a junta.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) claimed it would minimize the space the state occupies in people’s lives and reduce bureaucracy and downsize the public sector when it was first elected to office. During the early years of its rule, it really moved to achieve these targets. But as it increased its control over the entire state apparatus, it has increasingly become yet another typical Turkish ruling party that prioritizes the state.

It seems that US President Barack Obama and the rest of the world have not taken the Turkish president seriously on this matter. The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), the Swiss Dialogue Institute and the University of Geneva jointly organized a peace summit titled “Mobilizing Civil Society for Building Peace” at the UN Center in Geneva. The event attracted a great deal of attention, as evidenced by the participation of renowned individuals, including Hassan al-Benna’s grandson Tariq Ramadan; Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, whose statue stands in the garden of the UN Center; and Gunnar Johan Stalsett, from the Norwegian Nobel Committee. A total of 800 renowned figures from 50 countries participated in this gathering.

Çolakkadı, Öz, Seçen and Kansız are prosecutors who had overseen a number of probes and court cases such as Ergenekon, Balyoz and KCK between 2007-2012 against alleged coup attempts by groups within the military and outlawed Kurdish organizations during the time when Erdoğan favored the support of Gülen, who allegedly has sympathizers particularly in the judiciary and the police force.

HizmetNews.COM November 14, 2012 Members of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) gathered in Washington DC for a follow up discussion on the Gulen Movement on October 19, 2012. The group’s director Dr. Bulent Aliriza hosted the discussion… and said that the Gulen movement, perhaps more than any other in overall Turkish picture, […]
