Well-known Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has encouraged the broadening of rights and freedoms of people and the improvement of ties with Kurds to restore peace and security in areas long plagued by a simmering conflict that has killed at least 40,000 people. Speaking to Rudaw, an online newspaper in northern Iraq’s Arbil, Gülen touched […]
Well-known Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has voiced strong support for education in one’s mother tongue, in reference to allowing the use of Kurdish in education in Turkey, and said basic human rights and freedoms could not be the object of any political bargaining as they are the natural rights of human beings. Speaking to […]
The Intercultural Dialog Association in Cologne organized a symposium titled “Fethullah Gulen who Encourages the Dialog Studies”. At a weekend in Cologne, many academics, members of the parliament, representatives of some NGO’s, Turks and Germans attended the symposium.
Gulen movement is an inspiration for all, says Obama’s Muslim adviser Mogahed. Appointed by US President Barack Obama and the first Muslim woman to be a member of the White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Dalia Mogahed has said the Gülen movement, a faith-based social movement named after Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, is a model and inspiration for all those working for the good of the society.
Vicente Fox served his term as President from 2000 to 2006. He was the first candidate from an opposition party to be elected president since 1920. Under his leadership, the country experienced a stretch of fundamental economic strength and stability. The perspectives of the Institute are inspired by the life and works of the distinguished contemporary scholar and civic leader Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Muslim scholar, thinker, author, poet, opinion leader, educational activist, and preacher emeritus. He is regarded as the initiator and inspirer of the worldwide social movement of human values known as the Hizmet (Service) Movement or the Gülen Movement.
James C. Harrington, founder [director] of the Texas Civil Rights Project and professor at the University of Texas at Austin Law School, spoke to a crowd of students, lawyers, judges, and local business people about his new book: Wrestling with Free Speech, Religious Freedom, and Democracy in Turkey: The Political Trials and Times of Fethullah Gulen. Harrington discussed recent changes in Turkey’s legal structure as part of the Gulen Institute’s ongoing lecture series, pointing to the result of the Fethullah Gulen trial as a pivotal victory in the nation’s struggle for civil liberties.
HÜSEYİN AYDIN, İSTANBUL Fermani Altun, head of the World Ehl-i Beyt Foundation, a leading Alevi association, has welcomed Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s recent remarks in which he stressed Alevi-Sunni brotherhood amidst an ongoing debate over the naming of a new bridge after an Ottoman sultan considered controversial by Alevis. In a speech broadcast on herkul.org on Wednesday, […]
WALTER RATLIFF* In Gaziantep, Turkey, the children at a local orphanage were recently asked to write about what they wished for most in life. The exercise was designed to help them think about their goals for the future. However, one child took the answer in a different direction: “I wish my parents could come back […]
German journalist and author, Dr. Jochen Thies, stated that it saddens him to see that the public is not aware of the self-sacrifice, perseverance and quality that he has observed in the schools in Germany that have been founded by Hizmet volunteers. Noting that in five years these schools will be serving as guiding beacons […]
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has called for living together in peace, echoing similar remarks issued by President Abdullah Gül last week against the background of two-week-long anti-government protests in Turkey. “For the love of God, let’s live for a while in a [spirit] of brotherhood,” Gülen said, borrowing a theme from a popular song […]
Just like the Seljuks and the Ottomans emerged and spread to the Balkans and the Middle East, the Gulen movement repeats the same experience in a different form – by participating in globalization. Globalization shakes the nation-state, dissolves society. The Gulen movement, despite being part of globalization, also protects the individual from the resulting side effects.
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has urged that the protests that have gripped Turkey for nearly 10 days not be underestimated or ignored, adding that “we share the blame” for the unrest. Gülen also urged restraint and patience from his followers and said “our duty is to work to rehabilitate hearts.” Gülen frequently used “we” in a […]
TAUSEEF AHMAD PARRAY* This article explores the Islam-democracy debate in the thought and writings of one of the prominent living Muslim intellectuals of Turkey, Fethullah Gülen. Born in 1941, Gülen, addresses the hotly debated issues that have gained prominence as they become highly intensified in the post 9/11 world. Fethullah Gülen (b. 1941, Erzurum, Eastern […]