Date posted: July 18, 2016
As a wave of violence washed over Turkey, President Erdogan pointed the finger of blame to Fethullah Gulen. In a rare interview with CNN’s
Source: CNN , July 16, 2016
Tags: Defamation of Hizmet | Fethullah Gulen | Hizmet and politics | Military coups in Turkey |
The recent terrorist attacks in Paris once more brought up the issue of how homegrown terrorism is shaping up to be one of the most striking elements of today’s terror threat, as former US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano predicted in 2011.
Unlike Turkey’s classical Islamic activists, Gulen always distanced himself from politics, and like Said Nursi, his main source of inspiration, his message was focused on grassroots social activism, most importantly an education combining both Islam and modern science. Hizmet’s main goal was social: raising a new “golden” generation fusing moderate Muslim and Modern ethics to become the backbone of Turkey’s society and bureaucracy and its messengers to the world.
It is an open secret that Erdoğan is not targeting the prep schools, but the Hizmet movement that is inspired by the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. People and companies that are sympathetic to the movement operate the majority of Turkey’s prep schools. Like the rest of the educational institutions affiliated with the movement, they are the most academically successful, sending students with outstanding scores to the best schools each year.
Until this summer, Cetin Gul of Istanbul, Turkey, worked as a videographer for a company that did promotional work for clients that included a charity organization. That charity, Hizmet, is associated with the movement of Fethullah Gulen. After a deadly and unsuccessful coup attempt by some in the Turkish military in July, the government began suppressing organizations associated with him. “Because of the direct association with Hizmet, I was a direct target,” Mr. Gul said.
A little piece of Turkey sits in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, in the form of the breathtaking Nizamiye mosque – built as a replica of the famous Selimiye mosque of Edirne, with its myriad blue and white tiles. President Jacob Zuma officially opened the mosque in 2012, which was built and funded by the unassuming Islamic philanthropist known as Uncle Ali.
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.”