Gulen Schools Worldwide
Restore the Ottoman Caliphate. Disclaimer: if some videos are down this is the result of Gulen censorship which filed a fake copyright infringement to UTUBE.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Gulen Charter Schools in the USA: Gulen Charter School Syracuse Academy of Science a...
Gulen Charter Schools in the USA: Gulen Charter School Syracuse Academy of Science a...: "Syracuse Academy of Science another Catholic School conversion Here is another Gulen conversion of a Catholic school, this one is a s..."
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Gulen Charter School Gulen's Phoney Awards
Turkey’s Fethullah Gulen movement, for some others a sect or a cult, promoting service to the common good, may have grown into the world’s biggest Muslim networking community. Is it the modern face of Islam, or are there more sinister motives?
From Kenya to Kazakhstan, from USA to Sudan and Nepal, a new Islamic network is attracting millions of followers and apparently billions of dollars. Inspired by a Turkish imam, Fethullah Gülen, who resides in the USA, the Gulen movement is linked to more than 1,000 schools in more than 130 countries as well as think tanks, newspapers, TV and radio stations, universities – and even a bank.
The massive network is really unique. It has no formal structure, no visible, no tracable accounts or organisation and no official membership. Its followers state they simply work together, inspired by the message of charismatic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who tries to convince to promote a tolerant Islam which emphasises altruism, hard work and education.
Turkish businessmen are attracted by what they see and hear as his international outlook and pragmatic approach to issues like using a finance credit.
In Turkey currently the movement is thought to have up to 10 million supporters. A recent study shows many are dedicated in giving between 5%-20% of their monthly income to many sub-groups affiliated with the movement.
Critics are centered that the movements aim is nothing but to gain power, to spread socially conservative Islamic attitudes on issues like marriage and alcohol around the world, and to suppress any opposition, just like any other radical islamist organisation.
Fethullah Güven A threat to Turkey’s Secularity?
In the past year, three of its most prominent critics have been sentenced to prison in Turkey, revealing claims that it has become a sinister controlling might in Turkey.
Mr Fethullah Gulen’s critics hint to a video from 1999, in which he preaches his followers that they should purposely attempt to infiltrate mainstream structures:
“You must move within the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing your existence, until you reach all the power centres. You must wait until such time as you have got all the state power, until you have brought to your side all the power of the constitutional institution in Turkey.”
The following year, Fethullah Gulen faced charges of trying to sabotage Turkey’s secular state.
He left then for the United States, claiming the recording had been tampered with. He was later cleared in absentia of all charges.
Today Fethullah Gulen is 70 years old and lives a secluded life on a country estate in Pennsylvania, USA.
Fethullah Gulen has urged his followers to build schools instead of mosques, and encourages interaction with people of other faiths through dialogue societies, including one in the UK and many in the United States.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Fethullah Gulen Hoca Fendi Living in Amerika- NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/us/29cncislamu.html?_r=1
May 28, 2011
Return of Islamic College Raises New Questions
By DAVID LEPESKA
The American Islamic College, closed since 2004 when the state revoked its operating authority, is expected early next month to win approval to reopen.
Supporters see the opening of the Chicago college, founded in 1981 in the Lakeview neighborhood, as an important step for Islamic instruction in the United States. But its detractors point to the college’s ties to a secretive and far-reaching international movement that has been accused of Islamism in some countries and of an overuse of non-immigrant work visas to hire foreign teachers in its schools in the United States.
The movement, led by Fetullah Gulen, a Turkish religious leader living in self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania, supports scores of charter schools that have gained a reputation for academic achievement and a commitment to spreading Turkish language and culture.
Yet the Gulen schools have caused widespread concern about possible manipulation of immigration laws and misallocation of taxpayer dollars. Mr. Gulen, an extremely wealthy and well-connected Turkish spiritual and political leader, fled Turkey amid charges of plotting to overthrow the secular government. He was acquitted of all charges in 2006.
The college would become the second Islamic educational institution in the country to offer college-level credit. For Muslims in the area, it would be a rejoinder to those who depict followers of Islam as prone to extremism.
“It looks like a resurrection of the college, which is great,” said Zaher Sahloul, head of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. “It’s very important to have an institution of higher learning run by the Muslim community.”
Top officials at American Islamic College have been linked to Mr. Gulen’s movement. In a cable obtained by Wikileaks, the United States’ former ambassador to Turkey characterized the Gulen movement as a potentially destabilizing influence in Turkey that more secular Turks see as an effort to bring about an Islamic state.
The Gulen movement, called Hizmet (a Turkish word meaning “service”), promotes public service and education and oversees research institutes, universities, media outlets and one of Turkey’s largest banks. The movement seeks to spread Gulen’s influence internationally through an informal network of 1,000 schools in 130 countries.
Hizmet operates more than 120 publicly financed charter schools in 25 states, in addition to a handful of private schools, like the Science Academy of Chicago, run by Niagara Educational Services, a Mount Prospect firm associated with the Gulen movement. Like many of the movement’s American schools, the Science Academy focuses on math and science.
Administrators of the schools often deny any official connection to the movement, which has no formal organization or official membership but operates through a network of followers, according to Hakan Yavuz, a political science professor at the University of Utah and co-editor of a 2003 book on the organization.
“It’s safe to assume that A.I.C. will be influenced by the Gulen movement,” mainly through the selection of the college’s instructors and administrative staff, Mr. Yavuz said.
“It makes sense for them to hire people from the Gulen community,” he said, “as they have much more knowledge and experience in the American education system.”
According to recent news reports, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Departments of Labor and Education are investigating accusations that as many as 100 of the movement’s American schools have used taxpayer money to pay for the immigration of teachers’ families from Turkey and provide other financial support for the Gulen movement.
Federal officials declined to comment.
Ali Yurtsever, head of the executive committee setting up the American Islamic College, denied any connection with Gulen. The school will have to generate its own income, unlike Gulen schools in the United States that are supported by the movement, he said.
Mr. Yurtsever has long been a follower of Mr. Gulen and serves as administrator of Niagara Educational Services. He previously was president of the Gulen-backed Rumi Forum, a Washington research institute whose honorary president is Mr. Gulen.
Attempts to contact Mr. Gulen through his Web site and through Mr. Yurtsever were unsuccessful.
School officials say the college will present what Mr. Gulen has long stood for: a more moderate form of Islam than the extremist version that has often dominated public debate in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001. The school plans to offer more than a dozen courses in the fall and hopes to attract up to 400 local and international students in the next few years.
The college was established 30 years ago by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a Saudi Arabia-based association of more than 50 predominantly Muslim countries. In 2004, the Illinois Board of Higher Education revoked its operating authority, citing a failure to comply with state regulations.
Now, after spending $500,000 from the Islamic Conference to renovate its library, dorms, mosque, and 1,000-seat auditorium, the college is reopening under new management. It is led by Mr. Yurtsever, a mathematician with a Ph.D. from Ege University in Turkey who taught at Georgetown University.
College officials expect to receive authority to offer for-credit courses from the Illinois Board of Higher Education on June 7. The college has applied for full accreditation, which would allow it to confer four-year degrees.
Mr. Gulen, 70, has lived in the United States since 1999, when he left Turkey. In a widely circulated video from that time, he advised his followers to “move within the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing your existence, until you reach all the power centers.”
In the United States, Gulen schools often import Turkish teachers using H-1B visas, which allow American employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty jobs.
The federal government places a strict limit on the number of H1-B visas it issues, and corporations often complain the cap restrains their ability to transfer highly qualified workers from foreign countries. Yet Gulen-backed schools received 839 H-1B visas in 2010, a 65 percent increase from 2007, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Teachers unions and education reform groups in several states have spoken out against the spike in foreign-born teachers at Gulen schools. “There is no reason to bring teachers in from other countries under the guise of lack of staffing,” said Jenni White, president of Restore Oklahoma Public Education.
Mr. Yavuz, the political scientist, said he did not see the movement as a danger, “but I don’t see it as productive. “
“I think their main goal is to improve the image of Islam in the U.S.,” he said, “but even there, I don’t know if they can be successful.”
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Gulen Schools in Zambia to be closely monitored, ordered by President Rupiah Banda
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| Zambia Flag It seems that President Banda has been to Turkey twice, and was impressed with the schools. Of course, they only showed him what was staged as the schools in Turkey are 32 out of 34 on the OCED rankings just above Mexico and Chile. This is a great sales job by the Gulen Movement, taking on the humanitarian slant that they will help the world's poor pull themselves out of poverty with their educational plan. This is a lie, the people in Turkey are poor and there are 300,000 Turkish teachers unemployed. Interesting the Gulen Movement has quite a few "Horizon Schools, a chain in Ohio and in SE Asia. Zambia: Monitor Private Schools, President Orders Ministry24 May 2011 PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has advised the Ministry of Education to pay serious attention to privately-run schools that are low on quality, efficiency, purpose and focus. Mr Banda said yesterday that when parents pay considerable sums of money they should be able to reap significant harvests of good character formation in their children. Speaking when he officially opened Horizon Primary and High School in Lusaka's Kabulonga area, Mr Banda said for some schools, poor character among children was still a challenge. Mr Banda said the Government would collaborate with organisations like Horizon Educational Trust in pursuit of quality education for all children regardless of their colour, creed, race and tribe. He commended private educational institutions that had excelled in the provision and promotion of quality education. The president said education played an important role in the upbringing of children as it not only provided a platform upon which to train their minds and bodies but also helped instill personal discipline and independent thinking. Mr Banda said the Government was continuously reviewing the national educational policy to make it more responsive towards the needs of the people. "Stakeholders in education development are being consulted countrywide in this review process to ensure that the future of our children remains bright. "To this effect, I wish to thank our Turkish partners and Horizon Educational Trust for this investment into our educational sector," he said. Mr Banda said he had been to Turkey twice and was impressed with the country's standards of education and that is why he had requested Turkish partners to come to Zambia and work with the Government in the pursuit of quality education. He said education helped to fight poverty, ignorance and delinquency because such problems had impacted negatively on the children and society. "Through education we can fight poverty and ignorance and we can bring about behavioural change in our children, which is critical in the fight against youth delinquency," he said. Mr Banda said the success of any school was largely dependant on the school management and surrounding communities. Turkish Ambassador to Zambia Ahmet Arda said Horizon Primary and High School was equipped with the state of the art equipment which would greatly contribute towards the learning process of the pupils. Mr Arda said cultural exchange programmes were important and that they should be encouraged between the two countries. He said Zambia was on track to in meeting Millennium Development Goal number two on the provision of education that is to ensure all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling. Serif Ali Tekalan from Turkey University said Horizon Educational Trust was able to set up the school in Zambia because of the peaceful environment obtaining in the country. Horizon Primary and High School Parents Teachers Association chairperson Leslie Mbula said the school would focus much on Mathematics, Science and Information Communication Technology. |
Gulen School in Hawaii, not this time Hawaiians say "Aloha Oe" to the Gulen Movement
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| Queen Liliuokalani statue at the capital, her spirit still guides and protects the Hawaiians today! Queen Liliuokalani is also the writer of the song "Aloha Oe" (Farewell to Thee) Aloha Oe to the Gulen Movement |
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Gulen Schools- The rights of the Kurdish children are being trampled on by the Gulen Movement
Kurdish people have rights too.
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| Ekrem why don't you write the truth? These Kurdish children have every right to know their language and culture- what have you done for them lately...where is that Gulen Peace, Love and Harmony for Kurdish children? These brave Kurdish children stand the chance of being arrested for their protest of protecting their birthright. |
Kurdishaspect.com Dr. Aland Mizell
The editor of the Zaman newspaper, Ekrem Dumanli, wrote in his column, “It is time to counter the global lies.” Ekrem Dumanli confessed that the Turkish media would write lies, distort stories, and mislead the public, but that no one would be able to say anything against them. Some people have been jailed, and other individuals have been defamed by those lies. For many years the public was misguided because there were no alternative news sources, he says. Mr. Dumanli doth protest too much, methinks. Even with some non-state sources on the scene, Mr. Dumanli again failed to mention how the Kurdish people have been demonized. He failed to mention why the Turkish government closed Roj TV. Mr. Dumanli
failed to mention about Zaman and Gulenists media’s smear campaign against Osman Baydemeir and BDP party. It is true that the Zaman may have the appearance of promoting peace and tolerance and advocating democratic values, but in reality vast bias and inaccuracy make it mostly an ideologically-driven, narrow-minded news media. It is the disinformation tool to praise the AKP and Fethullah Gulen. Mr. Dumanli rightly says that it is impossible for lies to go on forever.
I do agree with him on this point, but when will he end the
practice of false journalism and inaccurate information against the Kurds and specially the BDP? When will he end the demonizing of the Kurds and of the more than 20 democratically elected representatives? On the contrary to his claim that Turkey “was able to put an end to false journalism,” accurate and tolerant media will provide accurate, non-biased information, but not his diatribe. Mr.Dumanli mentioned that the Zaman newspaper was an alternative voice. How many times has the Zaman reported positive news about the Kurds or the BDP party? How many times have the Gulenists invited alternative viewpoints to their conferences? Mr. Dumanli’s analysis conflicts with reality. He argues that some have changed their strategies and sets forth a litany of ways this has occurred. In his view, now false information and distorted analyses are being made abroad,
and some people are knocking on the doors of think tanks and reporting
developments in Turkey incorrectly. He continues by contending that some people are providing analyses to prominent newspaper and magazines based on groundless information, and some are disclosing information about Turkey’s foreign diplomats even though they know it is untrue. I would like to ask to Mr.Dumanli who knocks on the doors of Europe to close down the Kurdish news media Roj TV? Who knocks on the doors of politicians in the USA to give them free tours in Turkey to promote Gulen’s ideas? Who spends thousands of dollars to buy lobbyists in the USA? I think Mr. Dumanli expects that people should just sit, watch or read, and believe those lies that have become a part of the routine.
Rather, their tactics expose readers to a one-sided story and
ill-informed views of what is really taking place on the ground. Why does
Mr.Dumanli not report against the AKP’s policies of putting most of the Kurdish intellectuals and leaders in jails, demonizing the Kurdish people, and constantly seeing them as “the other”? Why does Mr. Dumanli not explain their fascination with the PKK and Ergenekon, while Zaman has provided relatively sparse information on other Kurdish topics, such as the Kurdish right to have education in the mother language? How many times did the Zaman conduct investigative reporting about the razing of 4000 villages? How many times did the Zaman newspaper report about the kidnapping of Kurdish leaders and intellectuals? How many times did the Zaman reporters ask for a full investigation about military and State murder cases against the Kurds? Absolutely, I am also like Mr. Dumanli --fed up with and oversaturated by the immorality of the media, specifically the lies about the Kurdish people. Kurds should not tolerate these lies and fabrication of facts; they should counter them, ironically as Dumanli’s article calls for. Why does the Zaman always link the BDP with the PKK and publish Ocalan’s statement, even though we are not really sure that these statements were really made by Oçalan? For example, who really attacked the AKP party’s camping convoy on May 4 after a rally in which Prime Minster Erdogan addressed the listeners in the Black Sea province of
Kastamonu? One policeman was killed. There was no claim of responsibility, but the Zaman wrote that it was the Kurdish rebels who were responsible for the attacks, because it wants to spread animosity towards the BDP among the public, so that people will not vote for this party. Yes, Mr. Dumanli, Kurdish consciences will always see the truth sooner or later. Right, the mud that is thrown leaves a stain. So I would ask you to stop throwing the mud at the Kurds and their democratically elected leaders in the BDP.
Does the Zaman-Gulenists’ media have the right to call another
Muslim “kafir” or (“Dinsiz”)? Another example of the Zaman’s distorting
characterizations and demonizing of the Kurdish people is the Kurdish campaign’s sit-down protests and the Kurdish worshipers praying in the open air, refusing to pray under the Turkish movement’s appointed Imams in the mosques. Gulen’s Media did not waste any time denigrating the Kurdish religious leaders and accusing them of not being true Muslims; this is a very serious situation. Where do you get the right to charge that respected Kurdish religious leaders do not know anything about Islam and do not have any faith? According to true Islam, this is slander of a Muslim, and accordingly Muslims cannot claim that another Muslim is not a Muslim. Someone who believes in Islam holds that God is one, and that Mohammed is the Messenger. If a person believes this, he or she is a Muslim. How can the Gulenists’ Media charge that those thousands of people who read the namaz are associated with the PKK and label them, as they do the PKK, a
kafir organization? Is this slander? According to the teaching of Islam, if
someone called another “kafir,” one of them is absolutely so. For many years the Turkish media has indeed promoted lies, fabricated stories, and erroneous information against the Kurdish people. Now it is time for the Kurds to hunt down the perpetrators of the lies and distortions regardless of what part of the world they are from and how powerful they are.
The power of the media plays a pivotal role in shaping public opinion and is
growing day by day. Its influences cannot be overemphasized. This role has
further intensified as newspapers, television stations, magazines, the internet, and computers become part of our everyday lives. They have the power to make the guilty seem innocent and to make the innocent look guilty. Whoever controls the media controls the minds of the population. What would be the impact of 24-hour television stations promoting biased and untrue information against Kurdish groups? The public should raise questions about the accuracy and objectivity and wonder how the media could be balanced by airing such hate speech and information that they promote. The reason that the Zaman and the Gulenists’ movement are successful today is because of the falsehoods and lies they produce; they have been experts at these machinations. They never look at their
lies, biases, and misperceptions as they blatantly divide the society into camps in Turkey. Furthermore, even the government could use the media to reduce the crisis and promote truthful ideology, for example, as America did during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Voice of America countered Communism. Also, if the media does not accurately report out of journalistic integrity, it could be misled by the government and promote war, such as the Vietnam War, or later create anti-veteran sentiment. The role of the media is to report the news accurately and objectively. In addition, the media should question themselves and ask what the consequences of the inaccurate and biased reporting could be. Is the Turkish government using the Gulen media to counter the Kurdish problem? For the last 30 years, how has the Kurdish question been framedby the media? There is no question that the Media is the most powerful machine. Since the Kurdish people do not have freedom of the press and media to frame their issues, these issues in the past have been shaped by the state ideological media as
merely terrorism. Now that there has been a shift of power to an Islamic
government, their media also constructs the Kurdish issues in terms of bad and good Kurds. Bad Kurds are those who are in line with the BDP and reject the influence of Gulen and his version of Islam in the region and who are labeled as the friend of the PKK. The Good Kurds are those who have been recruited by the Gulenists and get support from the AKP. The Gulenists’ media has its own agenda. They do not want to point to facts. They have bias against the Kurds. The Kurds have no freedom to express their own view, select their own themes, or influence their own public image; instead, this public image is always shaped by the biased mainstream media. It never truly reflects the true nature of the issues, but instead uses mostly distorted and inaccurate terms designed to dehumanize the Kurds.
An examination of the role of media on Kurdish problems should query whether its role should be preventing or exacerbating the Kurdish conflicts. I think the true role should be a true and independent media to reflect the reality, not to represent a certain ideology or party. Accuracy in reporting is of prime importance, especially when dealing with the Kurdish conflict. Media should promote the truth factually without fear, bias, or censorship in order to educate the people about truth. The question remains: how do the Zaman and other Turkish media shape public opinion about the Kurds? Can the Turkish media participate in the search for peace regarding the Kurdish problem? How do they educate the Turkish public about Kurdish issues? How do Gulen’s media view Kurdish problems? Can you see any positive report from the Zaman on the Kurdish movement or their problems? If the Kurdish problem has been Turkey’s most critical concern for three decades, could it have been prolonged in part by the state-owned media’s labeling them as terrorists, thereby provoking some of the forces? It has been an issue consisting of social, cultural, economical, political and ethnic dimensions. So how does the Zaman differ from any other media? The Turkish State tried to make some changes but did not bring about
results. Some of these changes did not meet the Kurdish demands. It is true that the State launched the Kurdish channel, but it will only promote the view of State, yet at the same time the government will close down the Kurds’ TV channel Roj TV that is broadcast from Europe. The Kurdish question is a historic problem requiring an effort to achieve a sincere, not biased, solution, as well as integrity on the part of Turkish political parties, State bureaucrats, NGOs, Kurdish and Turkish intellectuals, writers, and, of course, fair and balanced media. The Turkish readers’ whole political thinking is manipulated against the PKK and Ergenekon. This is a dehumanization of the Kurdish people and it is the biggest crime of the Zaman Gulenists’ media against the Kurds. If one person is corrupt, they can blame the whole of the Kurds, borrowing the guilt by association tactic and consequently deny the Kurds’ rights. According to the Qur’an, if there were nine guilty and one innocent in a boat, for the sake of one innocent person, that boat cannot be sunk or destroyed. So how can someone who claims to bring peace and justice and to champion Islam, associate
everybody who does not agree with them with the PKK line or Ergenekon?
In conclusion, we all know the facts about mass media forming our
image of the community, certain groups, political parties and even particular individuals for us, and then telling us how to make decisions about that image they have created for us. The Kurdish issue has been framed mostly as Terrorism by the biased media rather than as a struggle for basic rights, one against the Turkish regime’s oppression and injustice. Whoever controls the image and language controls the race. Sometimes appearances overpower even the truth. We all know based on facts that the Zaman controls opinions, thereby molding media to be nearly monolithic. By having all of the control, Gulenists’ media speaks
with a single voice, each writer reinforcing the others’ views. Despite the
appearance of promoting peace and tolerance, in their camp there can be no real dissent, no alternative voice or facts about the Kurdish issues and problems, to allow het people to form their own ideas and to make their own decisions. Also, Mr. Dumanli should put his house in order, before he criticizes others. Mr.Dumanli’s and Gulen‘s statement about it being the time to counter lies more rightly applies to their adversaries: it is also time for Western media, Kurds, and all intellectuals to counter Gulenists’ lies and propaganda. Mr. Ekrem Dumanli should understand that free speech in American is part of its framework, and it will not be threatened. Is it not Turkey, fabricating lies, tapping civilians’ phones, eavesdropping on conversations, harassing innocent civilians, and putting writers in jails? That’s how tolerant this movement is. It cannot even tolerate different views in society. This is called despotism.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Gulen Schools Worldwide WARNING about trip to Turkey for 9th Annual International Olympiad.
If you check out how many groups are angry at the Fethullah Gulen community, like the PKK which has targeted Gulen Schools or the current state of affairs with the undemocratic arrests of Turkish Journalists or perhaps the growing hatred toward America, Israel and other countries by Turkish Nationals. This Gulen Show June 15-30th in Turkey is not safe for any child in the world. Gulenists make it clear what their objection is "7 billion people one language" (their goal)
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Gulen Movement- Time to Counter Global Lies - Today's Zaman Gulen's Journalism
Our current “Gulen Cry Baby Award” goes to Editor of Today’s Zaman, Gulenist Ekrem Dumanli. Todays article is a sad reflection of where journalism in Turkey is going. In fact, it is SO pathetic we are honoring Gulenist Ekrem a double award of the WAAAaAmbulance award.
Ekrem see below for your award and please enjoy your special song for you and Hocaefendi.
Get out the tissues it is worse than the rantings, wails and crying of a Gulen sermon. Basically in this article Gulen controlled Today’s Zaman complains about everything, everybody and everyone. From Finkel, CNN, false Journalism, Ergenekon, AK Party, putting labels on ODATV “Dark Room” Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Dani Rodrik, the son-in-law of retired Gen. Çetin Doğan, a suspect in the Sledgehammer case, Taraf Daily.
WHEW..Ekrem please take a chill pill……
Start looking at the mirror of the deficiencies of your journalism which serves only to protect The Gulen Movement and the AK Party. Time to practice some of that “Fair Balance” that you rant about. Even the most inexperienced of readers can spot your journalistic flaws.
Time to counter global lies | |
At one time in this country, the media would write lies, distort stories and mislead the public and no one would be able to say anything against them. Coups were staged, memorandums were released, groups of people were discredited and individuals were defamed with those lies. For several decades, the public was misguided because there wasn't an alternative news source. | |
It's impossible for lies to go on forever. And they didn't. Fortunately, Turkey was able to end the practice of false journalism. A casually released piece of information no longer becomes the subject of serious analysis 10 minutes later. When lies are told, they become exposed instantly. It is for this reason that fictional stories about reactionaryism are no longer written. Those who fabricate stories know very well that other media organizations will quickly access the people, places and witnesses mentioned in the false story and expose the true side of the story. With the lie machine broken and incorrect information being defeated by correct information, some people have changed their strategies. Now false information and distorted analyses are being made abroad. Some people are knocking on the doors of think tanks and reporting developments in Turkey incorrectly, some people are providing analyses to prominent newspapers and magazines based on groundless information, and some are disclosing information about Turkey to foreign diplomats even though they know it is untrue. Certain people (and even some institutions and organizations) who are speaking with certain lobbies and trying to take control of Turkey with the help of outsiders are relentlessly trying to undermine two social realities. Firstly, they want to spread animosity toward the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) among the global public, and secondly they want to infect foreigners with paranoia about the Gülen movement. The sad part is that neither of these two structures is fully aware of the terrible game they are up against. They approach the issue with the courage brought on by being honest and continue on their democratic and peaceful ways believing that "a lie never lives to be old." In a sense, they are right. The public conscience always sees the truth sooner or later. But what if the mud that is thrown leaves a stain? There's always a possibility that journalist or academicians can misinterpret events. But an honorable intellectual should never submit to false information. The dreadful situation before us stems from misinformation rather than misinterpretation. The most upsetting part is that some people are creating false information on purpose and are trying to distort historical facts. Unfortunately, some of the efforts out there have nothing to do with journalism or academic studies -- instead they are the works of agents of influence. For example those who could not undermine the Ergenekon case in Turkey are trying to achieve this objective abroad. While this may engender an opportunity that foreign forces have been waiting for, what's important is the truth. Several coups have been staged in this country, several memorandums have been released, and several interventions have been made into democracy. There have been torture cases, assassinations and mysterious murders. The deep structure that killed people and sparked clashes between Kurds and Turks, Alevis and Sunni, rightist and leftist, secularist and anti-secularist for their own purposes became exposed in the Ergenekon case. There are weapons, bombs, assassination plots and plans, murders, and projects to destroy individuals and groups of people. Some people try to portray Ergenekon as an innocent association despite all the evidence and concrete information, and some even say the cases filed against journalists for writing about the Ergenekon are efforts to pressure the secular segment of society by the party in power. After all, how is a European or American supposed to know that some members of the judiciary who see themselves as a part of the deep structure are punishing people who write about the Ergenekon reality and that the democratically elected government of this country can't even stop it. Those who tell foreigners that around 5,000 to 6,000 cases have been launched against journalist in Turkey are doing so thinking they are hurting the AK Party. But neither the hostility toward the AK Party nor community paranoia can be used to explain these cases. For example, they don't mention the link between the Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener incident and the dark room known as OdaTV.com. They don't talk about how plans were made at the office of OdaTV.com on how to defame people and how to intervene in politics nor do they explain the duties that were assigned to Şık and Şener in these plans. They have become obsessed with the "community." They are making people targets even though there is no evidence against them. Why is a group of people, who ignore concrete information and documents, blaming people without any information or evidence? For many years, the perceptive media in this country has fought against false news stories and has cracked down on lies and slander. Fortunately, a new absurdity does not emerge every day like it used to. Now there is another test waiting for us: hunting down lies and distortions regardless of what part of the world it happens and regardless of whether it is being carried out behind a reputable brand or under the wings of a certain lobby. It's unimaginable for people who believe in Turkey's role in global balances and the honor of the profession of journalism to surrender to global lies. Just as we got rid of the roots of false news in Turkey we must eradicate it from the rest of the world as well. This is the only way to uphold the virtue of "searching for truth" which is the spirit of journalism. If prime suspect's son-in-law is "objective" then A conference was organized at Harvard University last week. According to the program, Orhan Kemal Cengiz was speaker. Dani Rodrik, the son-in-law of retired Gen. Çetin Doğan, a suspect in the Sledgehammer case, tried to dissuade people from listening to the writer speak at the conferences. This was not the first time he did something like this. Why? Apparently, Cengiz, who has worked as a lawyer on behalf of non-Muslim citizens who were killed in the Zirve massacre, who is known for his work on human rights and who writes for Today's Zaman, was "biased." Etyen Mahçupyan, who was earlier invited to a similar conference was also declared biased by Rodrik. Mr. Rodrik does this all the time. He tries to prove that the Sledgehammer case is rubbish by writing for reputable newspapers and magazine. He targets the "AKP" (the acronym AKP is generally preferred by opponents of AK Party) and the community; he criticizes liberals and downgrades democrats. So who is Rodrik? He is the son-in-law of the primary suspect in the Sledgehammer coup case. In other words, the son-in-law of a suspect can be objective, but Cengiz and Mahçupyan can't? Perhaps Rodrik's efforts to support his father-in-law are admirable, but isn't it disgraceful for him to pretend he's unbiased when he's writing articles left and write and trying to prevent people from attending a conference? A shame and an injustice Today's Zaman parted ways with Andrew Finkel. Things like this happen in journalism. The writer either loses faith in his newspaper or the newspaper feels the writer has become detached from its publication principles. Both reasons are valid in Finkel's departure. At this point, it doesn't matter who is right. The relationship cannot be forced. The sides talk and then part ways. Finkel was a writer I valued and followed as well. His departure saddened me, but it did not surprise me. I could see from his latest articles published in Today's Zaman that he had lost faith in the newspaper. In such cases I think an honest journalist should shake hands with the editor-in-chief after parting ways. An "I don't believe in you any more, but I am going to continue writing for you anyway" type of attitude does not befit an honorable journalist. For some reason Finkel's departure made some journalist working for Doğan Group very happy. They wrote articles about and conducted interviews with him. We didn't say, "If you're so interested in him, give him a column." We knew they wouldn't. After all they probably didn't forget what he said about Aydın Doğan. Anyways. In his interview with Doğan Group, Finkel blamed the Zaman daily. He also said the Taraf daily was Zaman's vanguard. That was shameful, very shameful. It was an injustice to Zaman and to Taraf. Apparently, I didn't know Finkel very well. A few days ago I learned that Finkel has started writing for the Taraf daily. Congratulations. I'm happy for him. His decision to start writing for the vanguard must be a new phase of his honorable struggle in his career. It would have been better if he had explained why Zaman and he parted ways to foreign media without distorting the facts. But let's say he said what he believed; then he should also come out and say, "Now I am working for Zaman's vanguard." Isn't this an injustice to Zaman, Taraf and journalism in general? | |
2011-05-08 | |
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| Special 'GULEN CRY BABY AWARD" To Editor and Chief of Gulenist Ekrem Dumanli  Ekrem Dumanli Editor of Gulen leaning Today's Zaman Your source for Unbiased News (snicker, giggle) |
Gulen Schools Worldwide-Gulen opens a 5th Turkish School in Vietnam
From left to right: TUSKON President Rızanur Meral, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç and Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan. |
The government of Vietnam is keen to strengthen mutual trade and investment ties with Turkey and increase the current bilateral trade volume of $850 million to $2 billion in 2012, Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan said in an exclusive interview with Today's Zaman on Friday in İstanbul. |
Doan, accompanied by 40 businesspeople from Vietnam, was in İstanbul to participate in a Turkey-Vietnam Trade and Investment Forum organized by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON). Representatives of businesses from various sectors in Vietnam met with more than 100 Turkish businesspeople to discuss possible cooperative opportunities during Friday's TUSKON event. Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç and TUSKON Chairman Rızanur Meral also delivered speeches on Friday. Evaluating the current trade relations between Turkey and Vietnam, two fast developing economies, Doan said trade between the two countries was developing very well. But she added that her government encouraged new investments particularly in the fields of tourism, science and technology research and development and education in Vietnam. Turkey and Vietnam signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in February, a step to contribute to the friendship between the two countries as well as strengthen economic ties. “We are committed to working closely with Turkey to enhance economic, commercial and investment cooperation and promote trade ties. I believe that our countries, as gateways to Asia and Europe, have enough political will and economic potential to further improve mutual trade,” she explained. Turkey can reach emerging markets in South Asia through Vietnam, and we have the similar opportunity to branch out into the EU market via Turkey, Doan continued, adding: “The Vietnamese government has taken steps to create attractive investment opportunities for foreign investors, especially for Turkish entrepreneurs. We pay a lot of attention to upgrading our infrastructure to meet the investment demands of foreign entrepreneurs. Vocational training and using the country’s young labor potential are also among our priorities.” Turkey exported $109 million worth of goods to Vietnam last year. Although this figure is too small given the total population and the economic size of the two countries, the good news is exporting goods to Vietnam has become a countrywide affair in Turkey as some 37 provinces across the country, from all regions, managed to export their products to Vietnam in 2010. Arınç said the government has started studies to hammer out a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Turkey in 2010 signed a deal on accession to ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC). The government places heavy importance on improving trade with ASEAN, which spans an area of about 4.5 million square kilometers with a population of approximately 580 million people, or 8.7 percent of the world’s population. Meral said Vietnam is a safe haven for Turkish investors that would like to open to the Asia-Pacific region because of its lucrative investment environment and political stability. “Vietnam is currently the fourth biggest oil producer in Southeast Asia, while it also has rich coal, natural gas and other metal reserves. These rich resources offer many opportunities for Turkish businessmen,” Meral added. ‘We highly appreciate services of Turkish schools in Vietnam’ Highlighting that the two countries enjoy long-term political and social relations, Doan said: “We attach great importance to cultural and social exchanges between the two countries. Education plays a prominent role here, and we highly appreciate the presence of the Turkish schools in Vietnam.” She said schools established by Turkish entrepreneurs in Vietnam help Vietnamese students have access to advanced education. Noting their government encourages investments in education, she said they would be happy to see Turkish entrepreneurs develop new projects for opening new schools in the country “so long as they maintain the current efficiency and quality work.” The fifth campus of the Turkish Horizon International Bilingual School was opened this February in Hanoi. Inspired by the teachings of the widely respected Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, Turkish volunteers, teachers and businesspeople, have opened educational institutions from kindergartens to universities in more than 100 countries around the world since the early ‘90s. |
Friday, May 6, 2011
Fethulla Gulen CNN News. Gulen Charter Schools Gulen attacks Free Press
Gulen is about censorship not Dialog, please support freedom of speech in Turkey and the jailed 60 journalists!
Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- The four-year investigation into an alleged plot to overthrow Turkey's government just keeps getting bigger. But as police arrest more and more journalists accused of aiding the coup plot, press freedoms groups are expressing alarm.
With more than 50 reporters currently behind bars in Turkey, activists argue freedom of expression is under fire in a country that is often promoted as a model Muslim democracy for the turbulent Middle East.
Meanwhile, many writers claim that a new taboo has emerged in this Byzantine web of politics, power and press... an enigmatic Muslim cleric who leads a vast network of international schools and businesses from his home in exile, a farm in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Last March, police swept through the Istanbul homes of two high-profile investigative journalists, seizing documents and detaining the reporters: Posta newspaper columnist Nedim Sener and online news editor Ahmet Sik.
These arrests came after police detained the editors of Oda TV, a hard-line secularist internet news portal that often criticized the government of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The journalists have yet to be formally charged. They join hundreds of other jailed suspects awaiting trial in the sprawling investigation into "Ergenekon," an alleged gang led by ultra-secularist Turkish military officers aimed at toppling Erdogan's Islam-inspired government.
Supporters of the Ergenekon investigation argue it is "demilitarizing" Turkish society.
But the arrests have spread fear among many Turkish reporters.
On a chilly and rain-soaked day last month, several hundred journalists marched through the streets of Istanbul, waving signs saying "Hands Off My Opinion."
"We are here to protest the growing repression over Turkish media by the Turkish government for the last couple of years," said Can Dundar, a well-known columnist and anchorman for Turkey's NTV.
"We want to be free to write. We want to be free to talk and we want to be free to publish our books without any repression or fear," he added.
"At present, 57 journalists are in prison in Turkey and the number of ongoing trials that can result in imprisonment of journalists is estimated to be from 700 to 1,000," said Dunja Mijatovic, the representative on freedom of the media for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in a recent report.
Meanwhile, in a report issued this week on World Press Freedom Day, the Washington-based watchdog organization Freedom House rated Turkey "partly free." Turkey, which is currently negotiating to join the European Union, was ranked 112 out of 196 countries, next to Bangladesh, Congo-Brazzavile, and Uganda.
In an interview with CNN last November, Sener ominously predicted that he might be targeted for his criticism of the Turkish government.
"Today there is direct pressure from the political authority. They can easily corner the reporter they don't like for news they don't like and act in ways that can lead to getting fired," said Sener, who received a World Press Freedom Hero award from the International Press Institute for his book investigating the 2007 assassination of Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor Hrant Dink.
Turkish government officials deny claims the media atmosphere is growing increasingly intolerant.
"The issue here is not the big bad government trying to silence the press," wrote Egemen Bagis, Turkey's European Union integration minister, in the pro-government newspaper Today's Zaman.
"Despite the expression of concern from the highest echelons of the state on the arrest of the journalists, the prosecutors have clearly stated that they have evidence that links the journalists to the Ergenekon terrorist group," Bagis added.
Some observers, including the two recently detained reporters, have observed a pattern of arrests targeting critics of an enigmatic figure on the Turkish political scene... the influential Muslim cleric and powerful supporter of the Turkish government Fethullah Gulen.
From his home in exile on a farm in Pennsylvania, Gulen is the inspirational leader of an enormous network of schools and universities operating in more than 120 countries around the world. He speaks to his followers through a small empire of pro-Gulen newspapers, publication houses and TV stations in Turkey as well as over the internet. During his victory speech after winning a referendum on constitutional reform last year, Erdogan took care to thank his "friends across the ocean"...code-words for the Gulen movement.
"The government... and the Fethullah Gulen group are the taboos in Turkey. It is very dangerous to write about these in Turkey and I write about them," said investigative journalist Sener said in his November 2010 CNN interview.
Meanwhile, as he was being led from his house to a waiting police car, the arrested journalist Ahmet Sik yelled out to the crowd of people gathered on the street, "If you touch him, you will burn."
When he was arrested, Sik was in the midst of writing a critical book about the Gulen movement titled "The Imam's Army." Police seized his book as evidence.
Another author of a recent book slamming the Gulen movement is also behind bars. In "Devotees on the Golden Horn: Yesterday's State, Today's Religious Movement," former police commander Hanefi Avci claimed supporters of Gulen had infiltrated the Turkish police force. He also accused the "Gulenists" of illegally tapping telephones. A month after the book was published, police arrested Avci. He now stands accused of being a member of a leftist terrorist organization, a charge Avci denies.
Gulen's supporters deny claims that it is dangerous to criticize the movement in print.
"This is a smokescreen campaign and this is also a psychological war," said Professor Ihsan Yilmaz, a political scientist at the Gulen-operated Fatih University in Istanbul.
Faruk Mercan, one of Gulen's biographers, pointed out that other authors have written dozens of other critical books about the reclusive evangelist without facing prosecution. And he argued that the media had often worked in close collaboration with the Turkish military, when it overthrew four elected governments in coups over the last 60 years.
"When you look at Turkish history you can see there are very famous Turkish journalists involved in military coups," Mercan said. "Now is the time for post-modern coups in which un-armed forces like the media or civil society organizations are basically fulfilling a similar task."
After dominating Turkish politics for decades, the military and its allies in secularist political parties have has been in retreat. Since his Justice and Development Party swept to power in 2002, Turkey's fiery prime minister has repeatedly defeated his secularist opponents both at the ballot boxes and in the courts. Initially, Erdogan made joining the European Union a top national priority.
"I thought that Turkey was becoming a more liberal place," said Andrew Finkel, a Canadian journalist who has lived and worked for years in Turkey. "I thought that if you dismantle the military apparatus... that the country would be freer."
Finkel, a free-lance contributor to CNN, had to defend himself in Turkish courts in 1999 and faced a possible six-year jail sentence, after he was accused of "insulting the military" in an article he wrote. More than a decade later, Finkel said he ran afoul of the new powers-that-be that govern Turkey.
After spending the last four years writing a column for the Gulen-owned Today's Zaman, Finkel was fired last month.
He claimed he lost his job because of his last, unpublished column written in defense of the jailed journalists.
"I was criticizing my own newspaper for not being vocal enough in the defense of freedom of expression. I felt we should be doing more about people seizing books, about being more tolerant even if those books were against us," Finkel said.
The editor of Today's Zaman denied these accusations.
"No newspaper is obligated to work with all of its writers until the end of time," wrote Bulent Kenes in an editorial last month. "What has changed is that some of our writers have come under the influence of the strong and dark propaganda that is at play and have started to stagger. Unfortunately, I feel the same way about Finkel."
The stark polarization of Turkish politics and media is likely to get worse in the final weeks before parliamentary elections on June 12. Polls predict Erdogan will win a third term in office. This week, on World Press Freedom Day, Turkish journalists made another appeal to Erdogan, to better protect a fundamental democratic right.
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