Opinions
Hizmet is rooted in the culture of dialogue
Dr. Marcia Hermansen, the Director of the Islamic World Studies Program and a Professor in the Theology Department at the Jesuit Loyola University Chicago, presented a lecture on Hizmet Movement (here after HM) at Indialogue Foundation, New Delhi on 7 March 2012. Dr. Hermansen teaches courses in Islamic Studies and the academic study of religion. […]
Mind-polluting leaks about Hizmet movement
The Taraf daily has performed extraordinarily in the fight against the bureaucratic oligarchy. Its contributions to the process of cleaning up the back alleys of the country cannot be ignored. However, it appears that it has started to make several errors due to its skyrocketing self-confidence. BÜLENT KORUCU March 8, 2012 Add to this overblown […]
To be able to confront coups
EKREM DUMANLI March4, 2012 Fifteen years have passed since the Feb. 28 coup, which was said to “last for 1,000 years.” Every year that “postmodern coup” was questioned and criticized, but it never became such an object of scorn and disdain as it did this year. Certainly there are reasons for this year’s rumble against, […]
Feb. 28 postmodern coup and sins of collaborative media
The anniversary of the postmodern coup of Feb. 28, 1997, has seen much debate as to what happened during the coup, and we continue to discuss it heatedly even though one week has passed since the anniversary. BÜLENT KENEŞ, March 6, 2012 And if they were rewarded with energy, mining and banking tenders amounting […]
What was the ‘postmodern coup’ about?
Şahin Alpay, Sunday March 4, 2012 In the summer of 1996, a coalition government was formed in Turkey between the Islamist Welfare Party (RP) led by Mr. Necmettin Erbakan and the center-right True Path Party (DYP) led by Mrs. Tansu Çiller, who had declared herself to be the foremost opponent of the RP. This coalition […]
Does the Gülen movement securitize the Kurdish question?
Turkey’s highly polarized political climate is flooded with conspiracy theories on any given topic. Hence, facts are often lost amid speculations. Recently, a frequent target not only in Turkey but also the West has been the Gülen (Hizmet) movement. Ali Halit Aslan, Friday March 2, 2012 One of the most repeated speculations nowadays is that […]
Recalling Turkey’s ‘post-modern coup’
MUSTAFA AKYOL, February/29/2012 Yesterday was Feb. 28, or the 13th anniversary of Turkey’s “post-modern coup.” And it is worth remembering today what this was all about. In June 1997 the generals declared a long list of companies that were “backward-minded” (i.e., too religious) and promoted boycotts of their products. Islamic spiritual leaders such as Fethullah […]
Who stalls the reforms [in Turkey]?
ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ “A group of people, including businessmen, students and teachers who came all the way from Thailand, traveling 9,000 kilometers to cast their votes in the referendum (on September 12, 2010), are now back to Thailand. Neşet Kahraman, who spent $2,000 on travel in order to cast his vote, said: ‘The referendum was pretty […]
Globalization and the Hizmet movement
The Gülen movement, however, erodes the boundaries of elitism. Cohorts of Turkish society, who were previously not able to experience the world, are going beyond shallow short term trips and living in and deeply engaging with the world. They are also willingly bringing the world back to large sections of society, unlike the old elite who jealously limited their experiences to the small socio-economic and cultural circles they moved in.
Will you overthrow the government or not?
This is a question no junta general asked his superior or counterpart. It was asked by a “journalist”: Emin Çölaşan. We are in 1997, in the aftermath of the Feb. 28 coup. MARKAR ESAYAN, Friday February 24, 2012 A short introduction for the uninitiated: On Feb. 28, 1997, as a result of a political crisis […]
An instructive crisis
The links revealed between the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), which have been maintained by MİT to embrace Kurdish politics and blur the line between legal and illegal activities, were not surprising to anybody because, in terms of its personnel, MİT is still a military organization. ETYEN MAHÇUPYAN, Thursday February […]
The confidence crisis and remaining wounds
I have long been pondering on some questions which are bugging everyone. When an appointed prosecutor launches an investigation into appointed bureaucrats and MİT members’ activities involving a terrorist organization, why should this be described as a “civilian coup”? BÜLENT KENEŞ, Thursday February 23, 2012 While on my way to work on Thursday morning, a […]
Society, not community!
Considering that the issue of “the Community” has been discussed extensively, I would like to make a humble contribution to this matter. Most of the arguments raised on this matter have been wrong or unfair. Those who raise these arguments have little knowledge of the cultural atmosphere and the emotions of the members of this […]
Are politics and Hizmet from different walks of life?
The possibility of rivalry or conflict between ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Hizmet (the Gülen movement, which consists of followers of Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen’s ideas), came to the agenda once again when individuals known to be Gülen followers took the side of the judiciary in a debate between the government and […]
