The Hizmet has proven that one can remain religiously observant and rise against tyranny at the same time. Thank God the Hizmet movement is one of the main actors in Turkey that has resisted the seemingly democratic but actually autocratic AK Party government’s lawless policies.
The Ministry of Education and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government have been focusing on closing down private prep schools for university preparation (dershanes) and Turkish schools abroad instead of spending its energy on resolving critical problems in the Turkish education system, experts say.
The fate of the Gulen movement’s schools — located in over 160 countries — is being debated following Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s declaration of war in the wake of the Dec. 17 graft probe that targeted individuals associated with his government.
Vural said that if the government does not protect its citizens who are involved in the Turkish schools — which are affiliated with the Hizmet movement, inspired by the teachings of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen — but instead complains about them to international governments, questions need to be asked.
In an attempt to defame the Hizmet movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, the Turkish government and its media outlets have presented letters sent by civil society representatives affiliated with the faith-based movement to foreign officials providing them with information about the situation in Turkey as “treachery.”
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu stated he had ordered the closure of Turkish schools in 160 countries, arguing that the officials of those schools had sent letters to the leaders of foreign countries in which they complained about the Turkish government. The closure of these schools is a serious step, but the reason for the closure is not based on real evidence.
Liberia’s Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai has urged the administration of the Liberian Turkish Light International School to improve the quality of education beyond the secondary level in the country.
The Turkish prime minister has decided that if he continues to be angry and vengeful, his power will be cemented. In his latest address in Parliament, he pushed his angry discourse to higher — or lower — levels, to make clear that he will not forgive and he will punish. Since he has chosen the Hizmet movement as the enemy, all he wants to do is inflict harm, regardless of on who or what.
Many from various circles, including intellectuals and academics, have leveled harsh criticism against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government’s attempts to shut down Turkish schools abroad affiliated with the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by the teachings of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
The Turkic American Alliance (TAA) has called on Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to provide evidence substantiating his recent claims that individuals affiliated with Turkish schools abroad sent letters of complaint to foreign officials about Turkey.