Süleyman Sargın* 7 June 2012 The volunteers of the Hizmet Movement do not expect appreciation from anyone. Their highest ideal is that humanity can live in a world dominated by love and peace. The fidelity of Anatolian people makes them forget about all their trials and tribulations, yet the lack of fidelity from certain friends […]
Sanitsuda Ekachai 21/06/2012 I have just returned from Turkey, one of the world’s most beautiful countries. What has stayed deeply in my mind, however, is not the country’s picture-perfect postcard beauty, but its people, its modern take on Islam and a host of questions for my own country. During the visit, we, a group of […]
Yavuz Baydar June 14, 2012 Is it the movement attacking the government, or vice versa? Some believe that it is, some hope that it is, some deny that it is and many others feel deeply concerned that it is. I tend to belong to the latter camp. It is undeniable that the Hizmet movement (aka […]
7 June 2012 / OSMAN ÜNALAN, NEW DELHI Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, an Islamic scholar in India, has praised the Hizmet movement (aka Gulen movement) and its activities for helping Turkey get rid of negative and biased views about Islam and transforming it into a much-admired center for more self-aware Muslims. Speaking at a symposium titled […]
BÜLENT KENEŞ May 22, 2012 Neither the state nor political parties can act as guarantees for democratization and democracy. With the fact that the main impetus behind and guarantee for our democratization is our ever-growing civil society, we need to consider whether we are attaching due importance to “Civil Society Organizations”. In the speech I […]
30 May 2012 / KAMİL ERGİN , ADDIS ABABA An international symposium on the Hizmet movement (aka Gulen movement), which includes followers of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s principles, and the concept of dialogue, held in Ethiopia last week, brought together a large number of academics and top state officials from close to 40 countries to […]
Dr. Tariq Rahman May 24, 2012 The hospitality of Turkey, more precisely the Gulen Movement (aka Hizmet movement), started in Pakistan in the form of a call by Harun Koken who looks after the Turkish schools in Pakistan, the Rumi circle and a number of other educational activities in Pakistan. He gave me a book entitled The […]
Piotr Zalewski / Diyarbakir, Turkey If anything, the tiny, informal gathering in Diyarbakir reveals a side of the Gulen movement that is key to its power — its management at the grass-roots level. Opening an Excel file on his laptop, Ozdemir the teacher asks each of the eight men present to report how much money […]
18 May 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL The principles, aims and practices of the Hizmet movement have been discussed at a workshop in South Korea’s leading universities attended by Turkish and South Korean academics and other prominent figures. Organized jointly by the İstanbul Cultural Center in South Korea and Seoul National University’s Research Center for […]
İHSAN YILMAZ 18 May, 2012 When we look at the recent discussions and debates surrounding the Hizmet (Gülen) movement especially in the Turkish media, I observe that some writers are inclined to see the movement composed of a few relatively autonomous groups with sometimes clashing visions and practices. I do not think that behind this […]
Peace Islands Institute hosted Dr. James Harrington on a “Book Conversations” program on March 1st 2012. Journalist/Writer Aydogan Vatandas interviewed Dr. James Harrington on his book titled “Wrestling with Free Speech, Religious Freedom, and Democracy in Turkey: The Political Trials and Times of Fethullah Gulen“. Following his presentation there was Q&A part. Below is the interview […]
6 May 2012 / İLKAY GÖÇMEN / NURULLAH KAYA, GAZİANTEP “During my visit to Turkey, I met with many people who are inspired by Gülen. I noticed educational institutions that are doing great things across the world and making efforts in the medical field. What the Gülen movement have been doing across the world is […]
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 […]
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 […]