Opinions
Gülen becomes litmus test for American media
The International Herald Tribune and the New York Times published a story on Fethulah Gulen and the civic society movement he has inpsired, the Hizmet movement. It was the same story with different headlines. It was full of mistakes if not defamation. Below is a detailed analysis of the the news.
The Gulen schools are signposts to a silent transformation in Turkey
ATUL ANEJA, May 5, 2012 In the enclosed greens of a football ground at Istanbul’s Fatih University, a heated contest is underway. Young men from Kyrgyzstan, dressed in red, are feverishly locking horns with a team from Azerbaijan, attired in blue and white clothing. The atmosphere around the ground is electric — the result of […]
What is behind the schools associated with Gülen?
TAHA AKYOL, May/07/2012 What is behind the schools associated with the Fethullah Gülen movement (aka Hizmet movement)? Since the first school abroad was opened in Azerbaijan in 1991, what is the power that has caused them to be so widespread across the world in 30 (including domestic schools) years? Can the “green belt” theory of […]
The genesis of the hatred against Gulen and the Hizmet Movement
By Kenyan Nomad May 2, 2012 Every now and then, we are subjected to a purportedly investigative report by a ‘respected’ (pun intended) journalist about famed Turkish Scholar, Fethullah Gulen and the movement he inspired: The Hizmet (service) Movement. On reading the said article or report, we realize it is the same innuendos, fabrications and the macabre claims […]
Recent poll on Hizmet movement
DR. DOĞU ERGİL, April 24, 2012 The MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Center conducted a nationwide survey during the last week of March and the first week of April. The topics polled included the clash between the Gülen community and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). The number of respondents who believe the Gülen community wants to […]
Warriors of enlightenment: pen versus bullet
BÜLENT KENEŞ, April 24, 2012 As we were watching the country finals of International Turkish Olympiads enthusiastically and becoming impatient for the great final in Turkey, we were shocked to learn that a heinous attack had been launched against one of the educational institutions that, like their counterparts in the remotest parts of the world, […]
A serious question for a respected newspaper
Abdulhamit Bilici, April 29, 2012 It is not easy to understand a fast-changing and multi-layered country like Turkey. This is a nation where some who self-identify as progressive, modern, social democrats oppose freedoms in a number of arenas and hope for assistance from military coups, while some labeled as Islamic, devout and even reactionary wind […]
The hype about the Gülen Movement
Mustafa AKYOL Recently, there was a long New York Times story about the matter, which quoted a Turkish journalist who believed that Gülen followers “have proliferated within the police and the judiciary, working behind the scenes to become one of Turkey’s most powerful political forces.” So, as another Turkish journalist, let me also tell you […]
Turkey’s Gulen movement sees a smear campaign
ATUL ANEJA, April 26, 2012 As the endgame in Turkey’s transition to a mature democracy nears, media attacks have sharpened against the Gulen movement — a mass mobilisation vehicle that has, over the years, openly and peacefully challenged the concentration of privileges among the country’s military-backed old guard. Simultaneously, the movement has offered a socio-political […]
Setting the facts straight on the Gülen movement
25 April 2012 / JAMES C. HARRINGTON Much of what Dan Bilefsky and Şebnem Arsu’s recent article in the International Herald Tribune (“Shadow Force Grows in Turkey,” published on April 18 describes about Fethullah Gülen and Turkey’s recent history is accurate, but the authors cast a shadow of innuendo and loose conclusions, apparently more driven […]
Look at what International Herald Tribune is doing
EKREM DUMANLI, Sunday April 22, 2012 Once upon a time, people used to have faith in some papers, which have become famous because of their meticulous journalism, and to read their columns and opinion pieces with great admiration and attention. These papers actually deserved this attention and interest because they were objective, free of ideological […]
What are The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune after?
BÜLENT KENEŞ, Sunday April 22, 2012 I was quite taken aback as I read “Shadow force grows in Turkey,” co-written by Dan Bilefsky and Şebnem Arsu, which appeared at the International Herald Tribune (IHT), the international edition of The New York Times (NYT), on Wednesday. I couldn’t understand why the NYT and the IHT, one […]
Hizmet movement and military coups
İHSAN YILMAZ, Wednesday April 18, 2012 With the democratization of Turkey and the new mentality of the judiciary it has created, prosecutors can now tackle past coup attempts and successful coups, the most recent being the Feb. 28, 1997 coup process. I call it a “process” since the toppling of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan’s […]
Hizmet Movement’s Responsibility
Etyen Mahçupyan, April 8, 2012 I wrote this column before The Journalists and Writers Foundation, which is closely related to Hizmet movement (aka Gulen Movement), made a statement. But I won’t change it as I believe it’s better unchanged. Obviously one of the hottest topics lately is the issue of the ‘movement’. It is claimed […]
