Erdoğan, Gülen among 10 Turkish figures in Foreign Policy 500 List
Image above shows well-known Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen (L), Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (C) and Ecumenical Patriarch of Orthodox Christians Bartholomew. (Photo: Today's Zaman)
Date posted: April 29, 2013
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and well-known Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen are among 10 Turkish public figures who made the 500 List of Foreign Policy magazine in its 200th issue, which it dubbed the “Power Issue.”
Foreign Policy said it put together the so-called “Power Map” of the planet’s 500 most powerful people, from billionaires to bad guys, and from CEOs to central bankers, from other lists and called it “The 0.000007 Percent.”
Erdoğan, Gülen, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz, Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent, Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Turkish President Abdullah Gül, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and Ecumenical Patriarch of Orthodox Christians Bartholomew I were the public figures from Turkey included on the list.
As an educator I may be a bit biased, but I think the focus on education that we see in Hizmet, that we see in Gulen and his teachings and his being, that focus on education which is critical to the work of Hizmet is itself the most critical work that can be done in this age.
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.
A Muslim voice to be heeded
The majority of Muslims openly and loudly reject violent extremism regardless of the religious or ethnic identity of the perpetrator, but that is not what the Western media focuses on. If we closely look into a broad poll, we will see hundreds of Muslim leaders denouncing terrorism, and one of these Muslim voices that we don’t listen to is Fethullah Gülen.
Alevi leader Kenanoğlu: Discrimination against Alevis increased in 2013
It must be realized that religion is a matter for individual citizens. It is likely that the Gülen community will face restrictions and pressure from the government [as the AK Party government’s supporters have accused the Gülen movement of discrediting a number of ministers and their relatives in relation to a recent investigation into alleged bribery in public tenders, which saw the sons of three Cabinet ministers taken into custody alongside construction moguls and bureaucrats]. What we have been defending are universal rights, including the freedom of religion and belief. If these can be achieved, everybody will benefit from them, not just the Alevi community.
Turkey’s post-revolutionary civil war
What does this corruption investigation has anything to do with the AKP-Gülen Movement tension? Well, the prosecutor who apparently led this investigation in big secrecy, Zekeriya Öz, is believed to be a member of the movement. Corruption is a serious matter and the real best defense would be to help bring those who are charged to justice. Meanwhile, the Gülen Movement, normally a civil society group, should help save itself from the image of secrecy and infiltration that it has been drawn into in the past decade.
In a moment of respect and hope, Fethullah Gülen received the prestigious Manhae Peace Prize. Journalists and Writers Foundation President Mustafa Yesil accepted the award on behalf of Gülen, who was not able to attend the ceremony due to health problems. Yesil, who delivered a speech at the event, spoke highly of Gülen and his work with the Hizmet movement.
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