Gulen`s Interview with the German Newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung

Interview with German Newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung ‘Charge of the Preacher’, dated 13th December 2014

Interviewers: Tim Neshitov and Christiane Schlötzer

Question: The Turkish government demands your extradition from Barack Obama. Do you still feel safe in the US?

The US is a democratic country with the rule of law. No one can be convicted arbitrarily and without due process here. There is no legal basis for the Turkish president’s extradition request. By doing so however, the only thing that is being is achieved is the violation of international law and the degradation of Turkey’s international standing and reputation.


Question: Once you supported of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s conservative-Islamic AKP party. What has changed since then?

AKP was founded on the promise of democracy, human rights, EU-membership, an end to corruption and stigmatization of ‘others’, and economic development. In the first years they undertook steps in accordance with these promises and accordingly participants of the Hizmet movement supported them. However, after coming to power for the third time in 2011, the AKP government started to govern in ways that was completely contrary to the democratic steps they had taken in their first two terms.


For example, the political pressure on the media, the granting of super powers to the intelligence services (MIT), the use of Stasi-like methods, the disregard and contempt of judicial decisions, the mistreatment of protestors and many other such measures and steps all prove how far we have gone back on our democratic gains. To cover up their corruption and to form an authoritarian system, the government has declared me an enemy of the state. But there is a saying that fits well in this context and that is: ‘a liar’s candle only burns till sunset.’


Question: Together with Erdogan you have forced back the influence of the army on Turkish politics. Is this all forgotten?

In the past Turkey has experienced four different military coups. Governments have been brought down, ten thousands of people have been interrogated and arrested, and many of them got tortured. In Turkey terrible things have happened which are not imaginable in the EU (which we want to join). In a 2010 referendum 58% of the Turkish population voted for a change in the law. This constitutional change allowed bringing officers who had attempted a military coup to a civil court. If the AKP hadn’t politicized the referendum so much, maybe 70% would have approved it. For the first time in my life I made a recommendation on a matter of public vote (i.e. the referendum). I had said, ‘even the dead should rise and take part in this referendum’. After the country had been freed from the repression by the military, the AKP connected all state bodies to the executive and thus made institutions that supervise and keep illegal activities in check completely dysfunctional. As a result, the judiciary was no longer independent, creating a tutelage of a political party. Just as we took a stance against military tutelage in the past, we are against a political party’s tutelage today. That is why we have been labelled as traitors.


Question: Where is Turkey heading for?

During the recent period, the Turkish Republic gives the impression that it is no longer a social, laic, constitutional democracy. It has rather become a one-party state; even a one-man state. The separation of powers has been suppressed except for the constitutional court which is still putting up resistance. Today, Turkey is experiencing an internal polarization and is losing any international reputation it has. Turkey is getting lonelier. I am saddened by the current situation that my country finds itself in.


Question: Erdogan says that he wants to raise religious youth. Don’t you want the same thing?
The objective of the state cannot be to raise religious youth. Otherwise, the state would be imposing one worldview on its citizens. Freedom of religion and belief is a basic human right. It is the state’s responsibility to create an environment in which its citizen are able to freely practice and teach their faith and religion, whatever that might be.


What was expected of Erdogan, who has been in power for over 12 years, was to pass laws that protected and provided this freedom for religious minorities in Turkey as well. Whether this has been done or not is a matter of debate. What’s more, a religious person should not compromise upholding people’s rights and justice. In this sense I wish for a religious generation. But if you mean a generation which has no idea of its own religion that sows division and hatred in the society, then my answer is very clear: No.


Question: Recently you published statements in five major US newspapers taking a stand against Isis. How dangerous Isis?

In the history of Islam radical groups have come up. In fact, these groups suppressed other communities, murdered people and hereby betrayed their religion. A few years ago there was Al-Qaida. Now there is Isis; that’s all we needed! Isis defiles the image of Islam. What they are doing is nothing but barbarism. Whoever was prejudiced against Islam feels vindicated now. The situation is dire and scares our sleep away.


Unfortunately, the Islamic World has not taken an unequivocal stand on this matter including the Islamic scholars of Mecca, Medina, Egypt and Turkey.


Question: Did you expect more protests?

Sadly I haven’t seen any large demonstrations. Furthermore it is alleged that Isis is being supported from other countries with weaponry and logistics. If these claims are true, world peace and the future of Islam are in danger.


Question: Are Isis fighters Muslim?
They are victims of a mass psychosis. In Europe this phenomenon is well known. People followed movements, which were responsible for massacres. Isis members are ignorant people who don’t know their own religion in the least. They made up a ‘holy war’. It is a system of madness.


Question: How can young Europeans be protected from this madness?

Although this might appear to contradict the ideals of freedom in the Western world but we need to better control our youth. They should be better educated through seminars and conferences. The responsibilities of the countries that these young people come from should not be forgotten, too.


Question: What do you recommend to the politicians of the Turkish government on this subject?

I cannot recommend them anything. They will not listen to me. They have brilliant minds and know everything.


Question: How do you like Erdogan’s palace?

Every state needs prestigious buildings. However, instead of erecting a palace with 1000 rooms, they could have renewed the existing buildings. There was a court order to even freeze all work on the new constructon. The Prime Minister ignored it. Such behaviour shakes the citizens’ respect for the rule of law. In the Ottoman Empire the most splendid palaces were built during the time of their decadence and decline. Today many heads of states work in modest buildings. That’s why this magnificent building has in fact harmed Turkey’s reputation. 60% of the Turkish people regard it as wasteful. From a religious perspective this is “haram” (sinful and forbidden).


Question: Erdogan accuses your movement of infiltrating the judiciary and the police.
A citizen cannot infiltrate the institutions of his own country, he serves them. Anybody who has the necessary qualifications can be a public employee. I wonder whether what is disturbing these people is that such employees or civil servants have not sworn allegiance to their particular party. The current political practice does not only stigmatize Hizmet sympathisers, but anyone who keeps themselves at arms length from the governing party. They see everyone within this spectrum as harmful elements in the state. This is called a witch-hunt.


Question: Thousands of civil servants have been moved and dismissed. How many of them were Hizmet members?
I don’t even know a tenth of the people who feel connected to this movement. After a certain time it will be recognized that many of the concerned prosecutors, police officers and teachers that have been dismissed have nothing to do wit the Hizmet movement. It is possible that they are doing all these things with two things in mind. On the one hand, they try to present us as a big threat by stigmatizing so many people. On the other hand, they want to get rid of everybody who keeps him or herself at arms length from the AKP. Most recently a leading member of AKP has also admitted to this strategy as well.


Question: The officials had collected corruption allegations against sons of ministers and pro-government businessmen. What do you think about these allegations?

No one has been able to get to the bottom of the matter now that the judicial investigations have been derailed. Had this happened in a western democracy, the government would have resigned. Ankara went so far to portray the investigations as an international conspiracy – again, a typical strategy in authoritarian regimes.


Question: Has the Hizmet Movement been weakened?
Indeed, it cannot be denied that the propaganda by the state-controlled media has tarnished the image of Hizmet. People who send their children to our schools and support us with donations are being scared. But some day these lies and propaganda will eventually turn against those that manufacture them.


Question: The government plans to close down all your schools in Turkey.

These schools have won high praise and many awards. If Turkey is a state of law, we expect that nothing will happen to these schools. Otherwise, Turkey will lose.


Question: Recently Gülen Schools have been closed down in Central Asia. Is the Turkish government’s influence responsible for that?

The Turkish government tries to find different arguments against us in every country. In the republics of the former Soviet Union they say we are American spies. In the US they call us religious fundamentalists and in Islamic countries they allege that we are luring their children away from religion. They are pragmatists. Yet, in this way Turkey is breaking down bridges of friendship and is harming its international standing. In this way, Turkish paranoia is being transported abroad.


Question: A former US ambassador once described you as second most powerful man in Turkey. How do you see yourself?

I seek refuge from God of such entitlements. Anyone who knows me a little can confirm that I do not want to be known or famous. I have never tried to obtain spiritual or material gain by being known. My life of 76 years attests to this. If there is any success worth applauding in this movement that should be directed towards the many voluntary participants of it.


Question: Will this movement exist after Fethullah Gülen?

People who do not necessarily share my worldview have supported this movement. Our view has always been universal values. People in Africa whom I have never met co-financed the schools and hospitals there. These were people from whom we were not expecting anything. Every night when I go to bed I doubt whether I might wake up again. But I do not have the least amount of doubt about the future of the movement.


Question: Do you think about returning to Turkey?
I miss my country very much. I am an emotional person. I have got family and friends. Recently my brother passed away and I wasn’t able to attend his funeral. This was also the case with other relatives. I have spent 60 years of my life in Turkey. I feel very connected to places and even to objects; the village I was born in, the graves of my father and my grandparents, the neighbourhood in Izmir where I lived for many years, the books in my library there… All of these are always in my mind and I can’t hold back my tears when I recall them. If I returned to Turkey today, some people working at the highest levels of the state would abuse this for their ill intentions.


Question: Can you imagine reconciliation with Erdogan?
We didn’t start a fight. That’s why they have to make the first move for reconciliation. If some day Erdogan confesses to everyone that everything he said at his rallies and meetings against the movement were nothing more than lies and slander, then I will be I will be content with such efforts. [In a later comment, Gulen says “provided that they are allow for an independent judicial process to take its course and adjudicate on the corruption allegations”.]


Question: Is there anything which makes you happy nowadays despite all difficulties?
I have never been happy for a long time. After each military coup I was persecuted. But what I experience today is even worse. Still, on the bright side ‘coals and diamonds are now separated’ (Turkish saying). The world is now recognizing the meaning of this movement.


Question: Many in America were amused about Erdogan’s recent statement that Muslims had discovered America before Christopher Columbus. What are your comments on this?
It is up to researchers and scientists to discuss when something is first discovered. There are people who say: “Who is Einstein anyway? And who is this Edison?” They argue that Muslims knew all about this in the 5th century. It is not right to say ’only Muslims could have done’ a certain thing.

Huffington Post Op-Ed from Rumi Forum President, Emre Celik: “To Good To Be True”

When was the last time you heard that?

I've heard it a few times -- here's the story.

I am now in my fifth year in Washington, D.C., having immigrated from Australia. Here I have had the pleasure and responsibility of presiding over the Rumi Forum, an organization dedicated to interfaith and intercultural understanding. As part of my position I have the good fortune to travel and talk about issues relating to pluralism, social cohesion, and peaceful coexistence.

On one occasion returning from a speaking engagement in Jacksonville, Florida, I stopped over at the Philadelphia airport for a short commute to a similar engagement at Georgetown, Delaware. I was seated amongst numerous dignitaries including State Legislators and various community leaders. After initial pleasantries we started speaking about the role of the Rumi Forum, and in particular the inspiration that Fethullah Gulen plays (Gulen is our Honorary President), and the motivation behind a global movement, Hizmet). This person had been on one of our study trips to Turkey as part of our intercultural mission to better educate leaders about this important Muslim majority country and strategic U.S. (and Western) ally. He knew quite well the important role Hizmet had played through numerous NGOs both globally and in the U.S. in regards to the values of civilizational dialogue, democracy, human rights, and respect for the 'other'.

Yet at the end of the conversation he leant over to me and said, "I like what the forum and the wider movement does, but it's too good to be true."

Three days later, I was in Norfolk, Virginia, to speak at our local chapter's awards night. I sat next to one of the recipients. An important civil servant, he had worked hard and passionately on various initiatives. He hadn't known much about our forum but had inclined to accept the award after some personal research. After we had developed a rapport, he turned to me and said, "Emre, I respect all that you do and am honored to be receiving this award but it's too good to be true."

In my five years in this position, I had only heard those words twice, and they were three days apart. I wasn't at all surprised. People for various reasons can have doubt or be skeptical about individuals or groups. But at the same time, I was somewhat saddened that after close to 15 years of service to the wider American community, particularly in the wider D.C. metropolitan area, the forum had people that had known us and our mission well or had come into contact with us through various programs still fostered doubt.

I wasn't sure if it was our Muslimness, or Turkishness or the fact that the forum is part of a global movement (only becoming recently known to the wider American population through various articles) that somehow led to such skepticism. Is it purely a post 9/11 syndrome by a small minority or simply an attitude toward all forms of 'other' -- and we happen to be the new or current 'other'?

Does such skepticism further ostracize the 'other' or does it give rise to greater motivation and encouragement for such communities, groups and organizations to be more proactive? I believe it is the latter. Our passion for community service can (and never should) be dampened by a handful. We need to ask ourselves, "What can we do further to bridge the gap between communities and eradicate doubt, prejudice and misunderstanding -- personally, socially and intellectually?"

We should all be proactive in dialogue, and this is not too good to be true!

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emre-celik/too-good-to-be-true_1_b_4350879.html

OP-ED: Are Fethullah Gülen's remarks really surprising?

ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ a.bilici@todayszaman.com

Are Gülen's remarks really surprising?

When he said, "Peace is in itself goodness, and peace brings happiness," Fethullah Gülen, a well-respected Turkish Islamic scholar, made a deep impact on the public debate revolving around the new peace process which started with the negotiations between the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is currently serving a life term on İmralı Island off the coast of İstanbul.

At a time when the minds of many people were confused, Gülen, as an opinion leader, referred to the Qur'anic verse, "Peaceful settlement is better" (Sura an-Nisa, 4:28) as well as to the Peace Treaty of Hudaybiya, a major turning point in the history of Islam, in stressing the significance of peace, and this is certainly a great contribution to the settlement of Turkey's top issue. Aside from the usual efforts by certain marginal groups to distort his words, his message was generally welcomed positively. The most interesting of the comments made about Gülen's words were by those who were surprised by the most expected words from a person who has made it his habit to give messages of peace and dialogue in Turkey and in the international arenas and to support projects that seek to reinforce peace and dialogue. This is really interesting because the comments of these people imply that they expect Gülen not to lend support to this process and even to feel uneasy about such developments. These perception is perhaps the outcome of systematic defamation campaigns extending from “cosmic rooms” to international lobbies. Whatever the case, the perception that Gülen and the Hizmet movement would not be warm to a historic opportunity for a solution to a major conflict in Turkey is essentially flawed. Indeed, 21 years ago, this movement made its public appearance with a peaceful vision, which may even be considered utopian, of bringing together Toktamış Ateş and Barış Manço or Kasım Gülek and Abdurrahman Dilipak. The headline story about that famous meeting held at Dedeman Hotel on June 29, 1994 quoted Gülen as saying, "There will be no turning back from democracy." At that time, neither the coup of Feb. 28 nor the 9/11 attacks had occurred. And Gülen's words sounded extremely revolutionary for Islamic movements. What worried Gülen in those years was about the “clash of civilizations” scenario, voiced by Samuel Huntington, and its hair-raising consequences. Gülen proposed to create "islands of peace" in various parts around the globe, and he encouraged people who wouldn't refuse him to go to various places including Siberia, Papua New Guinea, Africa, and the Americas to create those islands of peace. When Gülen met Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew in 1996 and with the Pope in 1998, this was perceived by the pious Muslims of Turkey as far too progressive, and he was harshly criticized by Muslims at the time. He also inspired the Abant Platform, which sought to regularly bring together Turkish, Kurdish, Islamist, Alevi, agnostic, liberal, Armenian, secular and nationalist intellectuals to discuss the main issues in the country. These preliminary steps to gather practitioners of different faiths and followers of different ideologies together later evolved into fast-breaking dinners, award ceremonies and conferences. He exerted unceasing efforts to eliminate the coldness and alienation between Alevis and Sunnis, and in this the context, he, in his capacity as a Muslim scholar, refuted the oft-parroted "mum söndü" libel (the candle was blown out) -- a phrase used to refer to Alevi religious ceremonies pejoratively and in which participants supposedly turn to debauchery and incest when the candle is blown out. Gülen has complained that Kurds were denied their right to education in their mother tongue. "Why isn't Kurdish allowed to be taught in school? In the schools run by Turkish entrepreneurs in various countries across the globe, even in the US, Turkish is taught as an optional course and no one raises an objection to it. This is one of the characteristics of being a great state," he said in October 2011. When asked "What is the primary goal of the Hizmet movement?" by Mehmet Gündem of Milliyet newspaper during an interview seven years ago, Gülen said: "We seek to find the ways of agreement and reconciliation to bury the hatchet and place heavy stones on it and to prioritize peace, tranquility and harmony." SOURCE: http://todayszaman.com/columnist-304232-are-gulens-remarks-really-surprising.html

BOOK: Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gülen: English vs. Turkish by Dogan Koc

Fethullah Gülen is a moderate Turkish Muslim scholar who is known mostly for his education and dialogue activities. The Hizmet Movement, inspired by Gülen, has established hundreds of education and dialogue institutions throughout the world. Several books and hundreds of articles and news reports have been written about Gülen himself and the movement. In recent years, a defamation campaign has been launched against Gülen and the Hizmet Movement. Although these defamation articles may seem random, this book will show that the articles are written strategically in a campaign manner. In Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gülen, close to 500 defamation articles, books, and other forms of writings are analyzed according to their languages. Koç concludes that these defamations are not random and that they appear according to their respective audiences.

SOURCE: http://www.amazon.com/Strategic-Defamation-Fethullah-G%C3%BClen-English/dp/0761859306

TIME MAGAZINE A Visit with Turkey's Controversial Religious Movement (ie Fethullah Gulen Movement)

By Piotr Zalewski / Diyarbakir Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Children attend a class at Fatih College in Istanbul April 16, 2008. The 640-pupil school is run by followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Muslim preacher who advocates moderate Islam rooted in modern life.

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It is Monday evening in Diyarbakir, a city in Turkey's southeast, and a weekly meeting of several local members of the so-called Gulen movement has begun with a book reading. One of the eight men present — this is an all-boys affair — picks up a paperback by Fethullah Gulen, the charismatic Islamic preacher after whom the movement is named, and reads out a few paragraphs. The subject is one of the central tenets of Gulen's philosophy: hizmet, service to others. Once the reading ends, a few of the other members — smiling beneath cropped mustaches — begin to extemporize on the difficulties and rewards of teaching and the challenges of shaping young minds.

Many Turks view the Gulen Movement with suspicion. The group has drawn comparisons among the conspiracy-minded to the freemasons; it has been accused of being a shadow government and more than once of trying to engineer an Islamist takeover of Turkey; and in recent years, some of its opponents have found themselves snared in legal proceedings. There's little reason to expect such issues to come up during an informal gathering of local Gulenists in a place like Diyarbakir. The movement not only forswears any role in politics, but is also said to discourage discussion of political issues among its followers. (A student who stayed at one of the movement's dormitories in Istanbul told me that he, an international relations major, was asked not to read or discuss books on politics in his room.) Still, the next item on the Diyarbakir meeting's agenda comes as something of a surprise.

It involves the day before, Sunday May 13: "What did you do for Mother's Day?"

The question comes from Bilgi Ozdemir, a public school teacher who is presiding over the gathering. A tour de table follows. One of the men reports that he and a group of friends cooked dinner for a group of women. All the time they are the ones cooking, he says, but on Mother's Day "we told them to sit still and let us prepare the food." Another man took a group of moms to a picnic outside Diyarbakir. Yet another organized a sightseeing tour of the city, including visits to a mosque and a reading hall — the local equivalent of a Boys and Girls Club — run by fellow Gulen supporters.

As the meeting progresses, it's hard to avoid the impression that the men, all of whom have regular jobs, have much time for anything other than hizmet. For the months of May and June alone, Ozdemir's circle, one of many similar Gulen groups in Diyarbakir, has scheduled at least a dozen events. Fundraisers, trips, charity functions: one for Nurses Day; another for Disability Week; and still more for the International Day against Drug Abuse. They might as well belong to the Rotary Club. Except that hizmet can be a little all-enveloping.

Nearly half a century after Fethullah Gulen began delivering impassioned sermons in Izmir, a city on Turkey's Aegean coast, the religious movement he helped inspire counts as many as six million followers. (There is no formal membership structure, Gulenists say, making exact numbers impossible to compute.) The largest religious movement in Turkey, Gulen sympathizers are known to run hundreds of schools, several media outlets, including Zaman, the paper with the highest circulation in Turkey, as well as a bank, a number of foundations, and a major charity.

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 they have raised for the construction of four new reading halls in the city. Each of the members, Ozdemir tells me, represents a group of lower-level followers who have been asked to pitch in, along with friends, neighbors and family. Celal, a physiotherapist seated to my left, has managed to raise 4,000 lira, or about $2,200. Others report having raised 1,400, 1,500 or 250 lira. Ozdemir carefully records all the sums. For transparency's sake, he tells me, we prefer bank transfers. "If donations are made in cash, we will provide receipts."

Apart from nominal contributions for special projects, it is local businessmen sympathetic to the movement's cause who often foot the Gulenists' bills. "When I was in high school, some people inspired by hizmet helped me financially," says Aladdin Korkutata, who heads DIGIAD, a local business association. "Now that I've reached my target I am happy to help others."

Leading lights within the movement usually insist that that Gulen-affiliated institutions are administered autonomously, with little supervision from above. Meetings in Diyarbakir, however, show that at least here, at the local level, the movement runs a very tight ship. Most local Gulenists have no difficulty producing data about the movement's educational activities. In the southeast as a whole, Gulen followers run 57 elementary schools, Ali Pehlivan, a principal at one of the schools, tells me. In Diyarbakir province alone, another Gulenist says, the movement's 27 reading halls cater to roughly 4,500 children. FEM, a network of Gulen dershanes, or cramming schools, operates 14 local branches, attracting about 11,000 students per year. The total number of FEM branches in Turkey is "roughly" 615.

At one of dershanes, Bulent Ince, the headmaster, explains that 2,000 lira, the price of tuition, buys local high schoolers much more than a 10-month prep course for Turkey's feared university entrance exam. Students, he says, are also assigned so-called teacher-guides, who look after them in and outside of class, and even after they enter college.

The teacher-guides, says Ince, serve as role models. "None of them smoke or drink," he says. Many become the teens' confidants, calling on them regularly, offering advice, teaching them "love for their parents, love for their country, love for others," and "Islamic values." "Sometimes, our kids will share things with their teacher-guides that they will not share with their parents," says Ince. Students can phone their guides late at night to talk about their problems. "It's 24 hour hizmet."

When students enter college — FEM students score better on the entrance exams than most others — they remain under the watchful eye of Gulen followers. If a student goes off to study in another city, says Ince, a teacher will accompany him there and try to place him in a dorm or a house where "people don't smoke and drink, and where they pray." Otherwise, he says, "we will introduce him to our friends, who will keep in touch with him." After graduation, he explains, "we will help him find job, or make him a teacher and send him abroad." As he puts it, "If you're in hizmet, you're never alone."

SOURCE: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2115391,00.html?iid=tsmodule

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Finance Minister of Turkey, Mehmet Simsek spoke at the Rumi Forum, Washington DC

Patriarch Bartholomew praises Gülen's dialogue efforts

With faith and hope, Turkey builds a new identity

April 11, 2012|John Kass

LINK TO FULL ARTICLE BELOW


...But economic and democratic liberalization have gone hand in hand with dialogue, and Bartholomew has been working to build it with an Islamic Turkish theologian who now lives in Pennsylvania, is relatively unknown in America and yet has vast influence here.

His name is Muhammed Fethullah Gulen.

Gulen preaches interfaith acceptance and peace. His followers number in the millions, in Turkey and across the world.

Bartholomew refers to his friend by the affectionate nickname of "Hoja Effendi."

"He builds bridges, and religion should build bridges," said the patriarch. "This is why we need the dialogues. Not to have religious fanatics who divide people. The idea is to bring people of faith together for the benefit of humankind."...

see full article:

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: With faith and hope, Turkey builds a new identity

see also:

TODAY'S ZAMAN: Patriarch Bartholomew praises Gülen's dialogue efforts

see also these Suggested Links

• Rumi Forum official web site
• White House and the Rumi Forum
• Suggested web sites - MEDIA, ARTICLES, CONFERENCES
• Rumi Forum Corporate Video
• Rumi Forum Newsletters
• Rumi Forum Videos & Photos
• Learn Turkish at Rumi Forum
• The Necessity of Interfaith Dialogue by F. Gulen
• Fethullah Gulen Biography
• Quotes by Fethullah Gulen
• Books on Fethullah Gulen & Gulen Movement
• Fethullah Gulen & Gulen Movement
• Fethullah Gulen Blog

FETHULLAH GULEN: A modern Ottoman - Prospect Magazine

Fethullah Gulen is the Honorary President of the Rumi Forum. Below is an article that dates back to 2008. It is an important article that explains and introduces the reader to both Gulen and the reasons so many have been inspired and motivated by his ideas. Currently, it is said that the Gulen (Hizmet) Movement is active in more than 120 countries

MEDIA - Interfaith dialog advocated at iftar dinner in Washington

Interfaith dialog advocated at iftar dinner in Washington



23 August 2011, Tuesday / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL


Guests from different countries, cultures and religions gathered around the same iftar table Monday night in Washington, D.C., for the special Muslim tradition of the daily fast-breaking during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan.

The Rumi Forum and the Turkic American Alliance (TAA) of Washington, D.C., organizations in the Washington metropolitan area promoting interfaith dialog and peace, organized the Annual Intercultural İftar Dinner.

Turkish Ambassador Namık Tan was in attendance along with ambassadors and embassy officials from various countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Norway, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Bahrain, Senegal, Fiji, Indonesia and Sweden. White House and State Department officials and some business leaders gathered around the iftar table as well.

Guests from a myriad of religious and cultural backgrounds sat down to share iftar, during which they had the opportunity to taste the unique flavors of Turkish cuisine prepared by skilled hands.

The dinner commenced with the traditional evening call to prayer, which was accompanied by the English translation projected on a screen.

Following the iftar, the evening’s speakers called for dialog and cooperation to combat religious and cultural discrimination.

Ambassador Tan, noting the shrinking of the world through globalization, said, “Everyone should work together to cooperate and understand one another.”

Merely talking is not enough, Tan said. To achieve true dialog, everyone must be able to love, respect, aid, forgive and apologize, he said. Referring to the “smart power” approach put forward by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Tan added that Turkey has found an alternative strategy to solving problems, called “soft power.”

Tan said that Turkey considers “soft power” to be the best tool in conflicts because of its central geographic location.

The Rumi Forum was founded in 1999 with the mission to promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue and to provide a common platform for education and information exchange. The Rumi Forum endeavors to foster the noble ideals of Rumi, bringing people and ideas together for a more peaceful coexistence.

The TAA is established as a broader umbrella organization for federations, councils and similar entities which bear the qualities and share the objectives of establishing closer relations with the Turkic American community and the community at large and also with the members of other ethnic communities in the US.

SOURCE: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-254713-interfaith-dialog-advocated-at-iftar-dinner-in-washington.html

Ori Soltes speaks on Historic Ottoman Exhibition - The Art of Living Together"

Summary
Come see how the Ottomans were able to cohesively and harmoniously live and provide sanctity to their minorities. In a first for Washington DC, Rumi Forum has organized re-prints of Ottoman Decrees regarding their Armenian, Jewish and Greek minorities dating back 550 years, also including documents and letters outlining the transatlantic relations between North America and the Ottoman state.A total of 25 documents are present in this exhibition. All re-prints of original documents from the Ottoman archives with both English and Turkish translation.

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW

BBC - What is Islam's Gülen Movement?

What is Islam's Gülen Movement?

Founder Fethullah Gülen: His motives have been questioned in the past.

Turkey's Gulen movement, which promotes service to the common good, may have grown into the world's biggest Muslim network. Is it the modern face of Islam, or are there more sinister undercurrents?

From Kenya to Kazakhstan, a new Islamic network is attracting millions of followers - and billions of dollars.

WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT interviews Rumi Forum

Excerpt from full article that explores the new and growing language courses in Washington DC including our Turkish language classes

Turkish Classes in Washington DC- enjoy our new Rumi Forum video

Rumi Forum's new video on our Turkish courses is below.The new 2011 courses start February 6. Those interested should contact Kenan bey on turkish@rumiforum.org

More info here and here

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MEDIA - Gulen : A model for other religions - Dirk Ficca

A new article based on an interview in Brussels appeared in the media a few days ago, including an interesting view on Fethullah Gulen's as a model for others

‘Gülen not only my hero, also a model for other religions’ 22 November 2010, Monday / Hatice Avcı, Brussels

A leading American minister Dirk Ficca spoke to Today’s Zaman in Brussels last week. A leading American minister Dirk Ficca spoke to Today’s Zaman in Brussels last week.

A leading American minister has said all religions need an adherent like Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish-Islamic scholar whose teachings focusing on interfaith dialogue have been widely lauded around the world.

“He is not only my hero for what he has done for the Muslim societies but also [offers] a model for all other religions,” said Dirk Ficca, executive director of the Chicago-based Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, an international NGO aiming to cultivate better understanding between the world’s religious and spiritual communities by highlighting the similarities while also acknowledging the differences between them.... FULL ARTICLE:  http://www.sundayszaman.com/sunday/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=227553

NEW RESEARCH- Muslim Networks and Movements in Western Europe - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

The Rumi Forum is part of a global movement usually referred to as the Gulen Movement - inspired by Fethullah Gulen. Pew Research has produced a report that was officially launched and published yesterday, September 15, 2010. The Gulen Movement is involved in numerous educational and dialogue activites in more than 100 countries. Some estimate the number of schools to number more than 1000 in 110 countries. The movement is primarily involved in interfaith dialogue (like the Rumi Forum), media, hospitals, schools and universities and welfare/relief organizations. The report also includes a section on Gulen Movement activities in the USA - mentioning the Rumi Forum in the appendices. Hizmet (meaning service in Turkish) is the word used by members of the Gulen Movement to describes themselves.

Muslim Networks and Movements in Western Europe

ANALYSIS September 15, 2010

Gülen Movement
The Gülen movement refers to a cluster of religious, educational and social organizations founded and inspired by Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Islamic scholar, author and speaker now in his late 60s. The movement strives to give faithful Muslims the secular education they need to thrive in the modern world. At the same time, it also emphasizes the importance of traditional religious teachings. To this end, the movement has inspired the creation of a worldwide network of schools and other centers of learning that focus on secular subjects in the classroom but also offer extracurricular programs that emphasize religious themes.
By some estimates, there are now more than 1,000 Gülen-inspired schools and centers in more than 100 countries around the world.  In Germany, the European country with the strongest Gülen presence, there are at least a dozen of these schools and more than 150 smaller educational and cultural centers. While open to students of all backgrounds, Gülen-inspired schools in Europe typically cater to Turkish immigrants and their offspring.  Many of the schools charge tuition, but it is generally low because the schools are subsidized by wealthy supporters of Fethullah Gülen.
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Muslim Networks and Movements in Western Europe - Gülen Movement - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Schoolgirls write on a chalkboard during a lesson at Türkisch Deutsches
Bildungsinstitut Berlin-Brandenburg (TÜDESB), a Gülen-inspired school in Berlin.-
(c) COPYRIGHT PEW FORUM

The report was also covered by Reuters Press on September 15, 2010:
Low support for radicalism among European Muslims | Reuters


Primary researcher, Peter Mandaville spoke at the Rumi Forum
Globalization, Identity and the Transformation of Islamic Activism | Luncheons
and also on Youtube:
YouTube - Globalization, Identity and the Transformation of Islamic Activism- Rumi Forum

(Peter Mandaville, Director, Center for Global Studies, and Professor of Government and Islamic Studies, George Mason University; Visiting Fellow 2009-10, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life)

See also:

• Other Media  - Washington Post, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, Prospect, PBS TV, NPR Radio, The Age, Forbes, LA Times, Reuters
• The Necessity of Interfaith Dialogue by Fethullah Gulen
• A Movement Originating Its Own Models by Fethullah Gulen
• Mevlana Jalal al-Din Rumi by Fethullah Gulen
• BOOKS by Fethullah Gulen and on the Gulen Movement
• PBS 'Religion & Ethics' : The Gulen Movement aired on US public television last Sunday
• Honorary President (F.Gulen) commended by resolution passed by Texas Senate
• Gülen movement challenges Islamophobia, contributes to peace
• Fethullah Gulen: Following in the Footsteps of Rumi by Thomas Michel
• 'Gülen movement makes Turkey more noticeable'
• Greek broadcaster praises contributions of Gülen movement
• Civic engagement, success and the Gülen movement
• VIDEO - Peace Through Education and Dialogue

And Rumi Forum sites:

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