Gülen movement

The Gülen movement is a transnational religious and social movement led by Turkish Islamic scholar and preacher Fethullah Gülen. The movement has no official name but it is usually referred to as Hizmet ("the Service") by its followers and as Cemaat ("the Community/Assembly") by the broader public in Turkey.

The movement has attracted supporters and critics in Turkey, Central Asia, and in other parts of the world. The movement is active in education with private schools and universities in over 180 countries as well as many American charter schools operated by followers. It has initiated forums for interfaith dialogue. It has substantial investments in media, finance, and for–profit health clinics. Some have praised the movement as a pacifist, modern-oriented version of Islam, and as an alternative to more extreme schools of Islam such as Salafism.

Description and membership

The movement has been characterized as a "moderate blend of Islam." Gülen and the Gülen movement are technology-friendly, work within current market and commerce structures, and are savvy users of modern communications public relations." Within Turkey the Gülen movement keeps its distance from established Islamic political parties.

Sources state that the Gülen movement is vying to be recognized as the world's leading Muslim network, one that is more reasonable than many of its rivals. The movement builds on the activities of Fethullah Gülen, who has won praise from non-Muslim quarters for his advocacy of science, interfaith dialogue, and multi-party democracy. It has earned praise as "the world's most global movement."

The exact number of supporters of the Gülen movement is not known as the movement has no official membership rolls; estimates vary from 1 million to 8 million. The membership of the movement consists primarily of students, teachers, businessmen, academicians, journalists and other professionals. Its members have founded schools, universities, an employers' association, charities, real estate trusts, student organizations, radio and television stations, and newspapers.

The movement's structure has been described as a flexible organizational network. Movement schools and businesses organize locally and link themselves into informal networks. The Gülen movement works within the given structures of modern secular states; it encourages affiliated members to maximize the opportunities those countries afford rather than engaging in subversive activities.

Critics have complained that members of the Gulen movement are overly compliant to the directions from its leaders. The movement has been accused of being "missionary" in intent, organizing in clandestine ways, or aiming for political power.

Activities

Schools established by the Movement

Main article: Gülen movement schools

The Movement is active in education (Kindergarten-university) as well as civic opportunities in other areas such as for interfaith dialogue, humanitarian aid, media, finance, and health.

Most Gülen Movement schools are private; its educational footprint extends to over 160 countries. In 2009 it was estimated that members of the Gülen Movement run schools in which more than two million students receive education. Estimates of the number of schools and educational institutions vary widely; it appears there are about 300 Gülen Movement schools in Turkey and over 1,000 schools worldwide.

Beyond the borders of Turkey, many Gülen schools can be found in countries with large populations of people of Turkish descent. Gülen schools in predominantly non-Turkish Muslim countries provide families with an alternative to madrasa education. In 2011 it was estimated that in the United States, stretched over 25 states, mostly concentrated in urban centers, there are about 120 educational institutions including charter Gülen schools operated by participants of the Gülen Movement. The Movement denies that the charter schools have a direct affiliation.

Gülen schools have received both criticism and praise.

Dialogue

Gülen and Pope John Paul II.

The movement's avowal of interfaith dialogue grew out of Gülen's personal engagement in interfaith dialogue, largely inspired by the example of one his influences, Said Nursi. Gülen has met with leaders of other religions, including Pope John Paul II, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, and Israeli Sephardic Head Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron. Gülen advocates cooperation between followers of different religions as well as those practicing different forms of Islam (such as Sunnism or Alevism).

Gülen's call for interfaith dialogue has influenced three generations of movement followers.

Gülen movement participants have founded a number of institutions across the World that claim to promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue activities. Among them the major ones are istanbul based Journalists and Writers Foundation, Washington based Rumi Forum and New Delhi based Indialogue Foundation.

Media

Movement participants have set up a number of media organs to promote its core values such as love, tolerance, hope, dialogue, activism, mutual acceptance and respect. These media organs include TV stations (Samanyolu TV, Mehtap TV), (Ebru TV) (English), the newspapers Zaman, Today's Zaman(English), magazines and journals in Turkish like Aksiyon, Sızıntı, Yeni Ümit, The Fountain Magazine (English), Hira (Arabic), The International Cihan News Agency and the radio station Burç FM.

Humanitarian Aid

The movement runs charity and humanitarian aid organizations which are transnationally active. Among them the leading one is the Istanbul based Kimse Yok Mu Association (KYM). KYM organizes charity campaigns to help those in need in different parts of the world. Like any other activities of the Gülen-movement, KYM runs local projects responding to specific needs. KYM holds UN Ecosoc Special status.

Another charity organization Embrace Relief was established in NJ, US and active in Americas,Asia and Africa.

Professional Associations

Being both praised and criticized for being market friendly, the Gülen movement established various professional associations and business networks. Among them Istanbul based TUSKON is the major non-profit business confederation which claims to promote economic solutions as well as social and political ones. Another one called TUCSIAD that is based in China as well as DTIK's Asia-Pacific Group supports the Gülen movement outside of Turkey in China hoping to influence Turkish politics from outside.

London Centre for Social Studies (LCSS) was founded in 2004 by a diverse group of Gülen movement academics to generate thinking and debate amongst academics, activists, policy makers, practitioners, media and civil society organisations both at the national and international level. As a non-profit independent research organisation, LCSS uses social science research tools to address major social, political and economic issues such as migration, social cohesion, subjectivity, education, gender, human rights in a critical way.

Criticism

Fethullah Gülen's and the Gülen movement's views and practices have been discussed in international conferences. In October 2007 in London a conference was sponsored by the University of Birmingham, the Dialogue Society, the Irish School of Ecumenics, Leeds Metropolitan University, the London Middle East Institute, the Middle East Institute and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Niagara Foundation of Chicago, together with several academic institutions, organized "The Gülen Movement: Paradigms, Projects and Aspirations" conference, which was held at University of Chicago on Nov 11-13 2010.

Allegations of cult-like behavior

Some commentators have been wary of alleged cult-like aspects of the organization. In 2008, the Dutch government investigated the movement's activities in the Netherlands. Following the investigation, the Dutch government concluded that the Gülen schools promoted "anti-integrative behavior" and reduced their public funding.

In the US

Taking into account the fact that these charter schools managed by Gulen followers attract considerable public funding, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story on March 20, 2011, entitled “U.S. charter-school network with Turkish link draws federal attention”, in which it was suggested that certain schools had not been acting in the best interest of the public. Of more serious concern is whether the these charter schools provide adequate and equal education for pupils in view of the fact that they are funded by the American taxpayer.

Political involvement

Questions have arisen about the Gülen movement's possible involvement in the ongoing Ergenekon investigation, which critics have characterized as "a pretext" by the government "to neutralize dissidents" in Turkey. In March 2011, seven Turkish journalists were arrested, including Ahmet Şık, who had been writing a book, "Imamin Ordusu" (The Imam's Army), which alleges that the Gülen movement has infiltrated the country's security forces. As Şık was taken into police custody, he shouted, "Whoever touches it [the movement] gets burned!". Upon his arrest, drafts of the book were confiscated and its possession was banned. Şık has also been charged with being part of the alleged Ergenekon plot, despite being an investigator of the plot before his arrest.

In a reply, Abdullah Bozkurt, from the Gülen movement newspaper Today's Zaman, accused Ahmet Şık of not being "an investigative journalist" conducting "independent research," but of hatching "a plot designed and put into action by the terrorist network itself."

According to Gareth H. Jenkins, a Senior Fellow of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Joint Center at Johns Hopkins University:

From the outset, the pro-AKP media, particularly the newspapers and television channels run by the Gülen Movement such as Zaman, Today's Zaman and Samanyolu TV, have vigorously supported the Ergenekon investigation. This has included the illegal publication of "evidence" collected by the investigators before it has been presented in court, misrepresentations and distortions of the content of the indictments and smear campaigns against both the accused and anyone who questions the conduct of the investigations.
There have long been allegations that not only the media coverage but also the Ergenekon investigation itself is being run by Gülen's supporters. In August 2010, Hanefi Avcı, a right-wing police chief who had once been sympathetic to the Gülen Movement, published a book in which he alleged that a network of Gülen's supporters in the police were manipulating judicial processes and fixing internal appointments and promotions. On September 28, 2010, two days before he was due to give a press conference to present documentary evidence to support his allegations, Avcı was arrested and charged with membership of an extremist leftist organization. He remains in jail. On March 14, 2011, Avcı was also formally charged with being a member of the alleged Ergenekon gang.

The Gülen movement has also been implicated in what both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as well as the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) have said were illegal court decisions against members of the Turkish military, including many during the Ergenekon investigation.

2013 corruption scandal

Main article: 2013 corruption scandal in Turkey

On 17 December 2013, an investigation into alleged corrupt practices by several bureaucrats, ministers, mayors, and family members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey was uncovered, resulting in widespread protests and calls for the resignation of the government led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Due to the high level of political influence by the Gülen movement in Turkey, it is rumored to be facilitated by the movement's influence on the Turkish police force and the judiciary, the investigation was considered to be a result of a break in previously friendly relations between the Islamist-rooted government and the movement.

2014–15 crackdown

On 14 December 2014 Turkish police arrested more than two dozen senior journalists and media executives connected with the Gülen movement on various charges.

A statement by the US State Department cautioned Turkey not to violate its "own democratic foundations" while drawing attention to raids against media outlets "openly critical of the current Turkish government."

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that the arrests went "against European values" and "are incompatible with the freedom of media, which is a core principle of democracy".

On 20 January 2015, Turkish police launched raids in Ankara and three other cities, detaining some 20 people suspected of illegally eavesdropping on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior officials. The suspects are linked to Turkey's telecommunications authority and to its scientific and technological research center TUBITAK. Local media said the move was aimed at the "parallel structure" — the term Erdogan uses to refer to Gülen's supporters in the judiciary, police and other institutions.

History

• 1941 – Fethullah Gülen is born in Korucuk, near Erzurum, Turkey
• 1950s – Gülen's first meeting with people from the Nur movement
• 1960 – death of Said Nursî
• 1960s – Gülen begins attracting disciples while a state preacher in Izmir
• 1971 – Gülen arrested for an alleged crime of organizing and/or participating in activities to change the basis of the constitutional system but is released seven months later.
• late 1970s – Gülen establishes himself independently of other Nurju organizations; first ışık evleri ("houses of light," i.e., student residences)established
• 1978 – First dershane (study center for university exams) opens
• 1979 – Science journal Sızıntı begins publication
• 1981 – Gülen retires
• 1982 – First "Gülen school" opens.
• 1986 – Zaman, a top selling daily newspaper in Turkey, begins publication
• 1988–1991 – Gülen gives lectures in Istanbul and Izmir
• 1991 – Fall of Soviet Union permits establishment of Gülen schools in Central Asia
• 1994 – The (Turkish) Journalists and Writers Foundation (Gazeteciler ve Yazarlar Vakfi), with Gülen as honorary president
• 1996 – Creation of Asya Finans (investment bank aimed at former Soviet Central Asia), with Tansu Çiller as an investor
• 1998 – Gülen meets with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican
• 1999 – Gülen movement schools in Tashkent closed by Uzbekistan government after a rift between Turkish and Uzbek governments
• 1999 – Gülen emigrates to Pennsylvania after the Turkish government charges him with attempting to set up an Islamist state in Turkey
• 2004 – Establishment of Niagara Foundation
• 2004 – Establishment of Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There?), a charitable organization; 2010, receives "special" NGO status with United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
• 2005 – Establishment of TUSKON (Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists)
• 2012 – Journalists and Writers Foundation (Gazeteciler ve Yazarlar Vakfi) receives "general consultative status" as a Non-Governmental Organization of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations

See also

• Fethullah Gülen
• Gülen Movement Schools
• Said Nursi
• Nur Movement
• Zaman
• Today's Zaman
• Sunni Islam
• Sufism
• Turkish Language Olympiads
• The Fountain
• Samanyolu TV
• Falun Gong
• Unification Church
• Scientology

External links

• Official website
• Fethullah Gulen
• Gulen Institute
• Gulen Movement Canada
• Gulen Movement News
• Fethullah Gulen