17 Percent Students Of Nile University Are On Scholarship

November 23, 2014, 2:18 am

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Prof. Hussein Sert, the Vice-Chancellor of Nigerian Turkish Nile University (NTNU), said that 17 percent of students in the institution were on scholarship.

Sert told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday the institution offered scholarship to students that performed excellently in pre-university examinations.

According to him, some state governments also sponsor their students in the institution.

“Over 17 percent of our 700 students are studying under scholarship; we offer scholarship to students who perform excellently well in JAMB and WAEC.

“All top performers at the International Science Olympiad get scholarship and we also send students to Turkey for exchange programme,’’ he said.

He said that 70 percent of the lecturers in the school were Nigerian, adding that NTNU did not compromise standard of learning and quality of lecturers.

“We look for high quality lecturers; in the first year of this university, we laid off 10 lecturers because they were not meeting our standards.

“The minimum qualification for being a graduate assistant in the school is a master’s degree while lecturers must have Ph.D,’’ Sert said.

The vice chancellor said that the NTNU had students from Turkey, Cameroon, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, among others.

Published on Leadership, 22 November 2014, Sunday

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'Hizmet is really something that demonstrates what's universal about Islam.'

November 23, 2014, 2:42 am

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Fikir Atlasi*, Episode 17 (Full text)

My name's Kathleen Moore**, and I'm a professor of Religious Studies, and chair of the Religious Studies department at UC Santa Barbara.

The Hizmet Movement is something that I've gotten to know over the past several years by taking trips to Turkey and by going to the Anatolian Festival, by visiting many of the schools and the hospitals and the dialog centers and, but what has been most valuable is meeting the people that I've known over the years, that identify themselves with Hizmet, meaning service. And so they've really demonstrated, in this encounter, the values that are the core of Hizmet. And, you know, those are about hospitality, and, you know, the genuine empathy and warmth that I've experienced with my relationships that are growing. People who identify with the Hizmet Movement really have influenced the way I view it, in that I can see that it's gonna have a lasting impact, because Hizmet is really something that demonstrates what's universal about Islam, for the members of the Hizmet Movement, that there are universal values that you find in other faith traditions as well. For instance, if I might say, I am the Board of Directors president of a non-profit organization in Santa Barbara, which is called the Interfaith Initiative. And so, we get into interfaith dialog with many groups, and I find that the Hizmet Movement is the one that has been the most sustained group that is committed to genuine dialog, to really talking about all of it. Not just the best parts of their tradition, but every part of the tradition. And connecting what that means for their lived experience; commitments to taking care of people, to disaster relief, to feeding people. I've been invited to people's homes for Ramadan dinner, and it's, you know, when you engage in dialog with that level, at the personal level, in people's homes and not just at formal luncheons or friendship dinners or talks, that really true dialog happens. And so, you know, I think that they've really got something in the Hizmet Movement.

Obviously Fethullah Gülen has had a great impact on young and middle-class Turks and Muslims, that he is able to inspire the growth of so many schools, and to inspire people who are in the business world, to be able to go out and volunteer, and also contribute, not just of their money, but of their time, in promoting the ends of their charities.

Hizmet Movement represents Islam in the sense that the members who identify with the Hizmet Movement are really inspired and motivated, for community service and for their professional lives, from the values that they locate in Islam. And some are very universal values, like the concept that God is merciful. And so they represent Islam in the sense that these kinds of things, that are not specific only to Islam but that they have in common with other faiths, are very important, and that becomes a basis for the dialog. And there's, in the interfaith movement, there's a man named Krister Stendahl, who was a Lutheran bishop, who was located in Stockholm for many years, but at the end of his life he came to the United States and taught at Brandeis University. And he established three rules of interfaith understanding, which I think are very important. And the third rule is one that's called “pious envy.” And his point was to say, you know, you may see something in another person's faith that you really like, but you're not allowed to appropriate that and make it your own. You know, you need to respect boundaries. In other words, if you see something in another faith tradition that you like, you can admire it, but don't try to adopt it and claim it as your own. And that is really, I think, the basis for a lot of mutual respect between religious traditions. And what I really like about the Hizmet Movement is that I see that demonstrated in their approach, is that there is a recognition of the universal things that we all have in common, but then there are certain things that are specific to Islam, that when I go on the trips, you know, to Turkey, for example, I see and admire, but I've learned how to live with the ambiguity, the desire to want to have that for myself but not to pursue that. You know, to respect that it has its place and its time, and for a reason. And an example of that is to go to Turkey, like to go to Konya, which is a really beautiful city, you know, where the Seljuq Empire, and the history there, and to go to Rumi's tomb, and watch as worshipers go through Rumi's tomb, and the great devotion that they show, and the whirling dervishes and so forth, that is specifically, you know, a manifestation of Islam, and something I admire and I'm drawn to, but, and I know that there are other pilgrimages around the world where, you know, the same kind of devotion, or similar devotion is demonstrated. But this is something, in my mind, that creates an impression that this is what Islam is really about. And so, that's what Pacifica Institute and the Hizmet Movement have given to me, is to be able to experience that for myself, to remember, to be reminded of that rule of pious envy, that this is something that is valuable, I see in another religion, it’s not part of my own, but I've been blessed to be able to witness it, and to be able to empathize.

A key difference between the Hizmet Movement and other social movements in the Muslim world, the Mediterranean region, and so on, is that the Hizmet Movement really is dedicated to dialog across boundaries. And the Hizmet Movement doesn't serve just Muslims. It's there to serve the needs of the world. So, in disaster relief, you know, there's never a second thought given to where they're going to go; they go where they're needed. In education, you know, as I've said, they educate the whole person, and it doesn't matter whether the person's Muslim or not. And the Hizmet Movement is really inspired by Gülen's philosophy, and the message that it isn't about the “I,” it's the “I” within the whole. And it's an organic, holistic system, and so there's a real conscious emphasis placed on how the actions of individual members of the Hizmet Movement have ramifications for the rest of the world.

I was really impressed visiting Hizmet schools in Turkey, even in places that were far from city centers. They would build these enormous and well-appointed schools, and it was clear that there was a lot of money, you know, donated to create these schools that were then used to promote science and technology and mathematics, and subjects that are really important for an educated person, and that they made this education available to all, regardless of their income level, their ability to pay for it. So sometimes, you know, private schools are pushing the envelope, and challenging national schools to be able to keep up. And some of the places we visited in Turkey were of that model. They were really kind of on the cutting edge, and shamed the national schools to be able to try to meet the new bar that they had set.

Charitable activities of a group that serves people regardless of their faith tradition is really, you know, the model. I think that being able to give charity or to give disaster relief where it's needed is really the highest priority. And when we break up into our own ethnic or religious or national groups, then we're really dividing rather than uniting, and so it does no good for a Muslim to say, to criticize a Muslim organization because they're serving those beyond the Muslim community. It's counterproductive.

**Profile: Dr. Kathleen Moore is the professor and the chair of Religious Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her doctorate from University of Massachusetts Amherst. Kathleen wrote several books about Muslims in United States, Muslim women in America and Islamic law. She teaches courses like Muslim Diasporas and the law, introduction to religion and politics, Islam in America, and law, religion and secularism, and religious liberty.

*Produced by Spectra Media exclusively for Irmak TV, Atlas of Thoughts (Fikir Atlasi) connects the scholars, politicians, jurists, religious figures, journalists, and academics reflecting on Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet Movement with the audience. Each episode features a person from a different segment of the society with diverse experiences regarding the Hizmet activities and its volunteers. If you are interested to hear about the Hizmet and Mr. Gulen from these people’s perspectives, do not miss this show!

Source: Fikir Atlasi (Episode 17), © Spectra Media, 18 April 2014, Friday

Hizmet: A Language and Culture of Compassion for and Service to Humanity

November 24, 2014, 12:00 am

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Margaret J. Rausch

Fethullah Gülen’s vision of education focuses on language and culture as integral to self-perfection and global societal reform. Whilst spiritually grounded, its holistic approach and goals comprise multi-level intellectual, emotional and material development. By contrast, in nationalist projects language and culture are employed as means to unify, improve and integrate, but sometimes as tools for envisioning diversity with mistrust and animosity.

Education, in Gülen’s view, is a life-long process that begins in childhood. Both parents participate in the education of their children through their words and deeds, which reflect their values and principles. Role modeling is an essential component of education during this, but also subsequent phases, as elucidated in the following excerpt:

The real teacher[s] … lead and guide the child in his or her life and in the face of all events … . [A] child is cast in his or her true mould and attains to the mysteries of personality … [I]magination and aspirations, or specific skills …, everything acquired must [be] … a guidance to the ways to virtue … to connect happenings in the outer world to their inner experience … . [As] intermediaries, teachers … provide the link between life and the self … find a way to the heart of the pupil and leave indelible imprints upon his or her mind. Teachers … provide good examples for their pupils and teach them the aims of the sciences … through the refinement of their own minds … .

Educating people is … the most difficult task in life. In addition to setting a good example, teachers should … know their students well, and address their intellects and their hearts, spirits, and feelings … , not forgetting that each individual is a different ‘world’. (1)

Fethullah Gülen emphasizes the importance of developing the whole individual and advocates equal participation for women and men as parents and teachers.

Education, according to Gülen, continues beyond formal schooling in the form of further development of the self. For men and women affiliates [of the Hizmet Movement], it entails the individual and communally supported pursuit of self-perfection, through the acquisition of attributes and propensities such as

◾self-supervision (muraqaba),
◾self-scrutiny (muhasaba) and
◾limiting one’s relationship to material things (zuhd).

It centers on self-renewal through the emulation of advanced-level affiliates and prepares affiliates to offer service to humanity as a means to address global problems linked to widespread animosity and lack of compassion for others, which he understands as arising primarily from excessive materialism.

Fethullah Gülen envisages self-perfection as a means to revitalize compassionate acceptance of others, which is central to true humanism. It empowers spirituality against the carnal self (nafs) instead of shunning the material world. The compassionate acceptance of others, dialogue and a mutually supportive existence are central to discovering ‘true identity’. The two essential components, action and thought, are integrally linked to serving and guiding others, as articulated in the following excerpt:

[T]he way to true existence is action and thought, and likewise the way to renewal, individual and collective.

Action … means embracing the whole of creation with full sincerity and resolve … expending all one’s physical, intellectual and spiritual faculties in guiding the world … .

As for thought, it is action in one’s inner world. Any truly systematic thinking entails seeking answers to all questions arising from the existence of the universe as such. In other words, … [it] is the product of a conscious mind relating itself to the whole of creation and seeking the truth in everything through its language.

[T]he realization of such noble aims depends on the existence of guides and leaders able to both diagnose our external and inner misery and to be … in constant relation with the higher worlds … . Thus, all the institutions of life will be remolded … . Sciences will progress hand-in-hand with religion, and belief and reason combined will yield ever-fresh fruits of their cooperation. In short, the future will wit- ness a new world built in the arms of hope, belief, love, knowledge, and resolve. (2)

Unlike early European Christians, early Muslims, honoring the message of the Qur’an, saw no contradiction in combining science and religion, which Gülen underlines in the extract above. Furthermore, he elucidates the interconnection between language and culture and the central role of language in developing thought, at present and progressively, as follows.

Language is one of the fundamental dynamics in the composition of a culture. Language is an important tool for humankind in our efforts to better understand the cosmos and events both holistically and analytically. The more richly and colorfully a nation can speak, the more they can think; the more they can think, the broader is the span their speech can reach. Every single society leaves behind what they speak and think today for its validity to be probed, tested and protected by future generations. In this way, a huge reserve of experience and learning are saved from being wasted; the knowledge and ideas of the past are utilized for the benefit of the present; what was right or wrong in the past is compared with the rights and wrongs of today so that we do not tread the same path and suffer from the same errors. This is valid for all nations of the world; the capacity of a language to express a thought is related to the level of development it has achieved, and a thought can become the instrument by which the language is tuned to this level of development. From every aspect, language plays a defining role in the formation of our culture. (3)

This elevation of the interplay between language and culture, and between language and thought, is linked to the interrelationship between reason and spirituality, but also to emotion, whose disavowal was at the core of European Enlightenment thinking. Also emphasized is the humility and honesty which, while essential to acknowledging past mistakes and present flaws and ensuring future advancement, are lacking in many current contexts, particularly in the West. Gülen uses the term ‘nation’ to encompass all societies and peoples, in their past, present and future forms, defined by their unique languages, which number between 3,000 and 6,000, and refers to the potential service that they can offer others when they develop themselves so as to promote the advancement of humans as a species and family. Elsewhere, Gülen grounds the compassionate acceptance of others (hoşgörü), imprecisely translated into English as ‘tolerance’, in the following Qur’an verses: “If your Sustainer had so willed it, He would have made humankind into a single nation, but they will not cease to be diverse … . And, for this God created them [humankind]” and “O Humankind! God has created you from a male and female and made you in diverse nations and tribes so that you may come to know one another”. Implied here is a self-perfection process comparable to that undertaken by [Gülen] movement affiliates, facilitated by group spiritual reflection and conversations (sohbetler), in which more advanced affiliates serve as role models and monitor novices’ progress.

While providing no explicit guidelines for sohbetler, Gülen makes clear that his writings offer a new language and culture to be cultivated by a future generation of role models for humanity, whose attributes and tasks are elucidated in his writings. They will “put might under the command of right, never discriminate on grounds of colour or race”, and “unite in their character profound spirituality, wide knowledge, sound thinking, a scientific temperament, and wise activism … . Never content with what they already know, they will continuously increase in knowledge – knowledge of the self, knowledge of nature, and knowledge of God”. They attain ‘true life’ by applying the attributes and values developed in the self-perfection process.

… There is a mutually supportive and perfective relation between one’s actions and inner life … . Attitudes like determination, perseverance, and resolve illuminate one’s inner conscience, and the brightness of this inner conscience strengthens one’s will power and resolve, stimulating him or her to ever-higher horizons. They will always seek to please the Creator and humanity [...] and enjoy orderliness, harmony, and devotion to duty in their outer worlds. At the same time, they increase the pure light of their inner worlds … . Their intellect can combine … all current knowledge … and thereby obtain new syntheses. They are so modest that they see themselves as just ordinary people … . [T]heir altruism has reached such a level that they can forget their own needs and desires for the sake of others’ happiness. (4)

The attributes and values listed here enable them to confront societal problems globally.

Key to their resolution is guiding others, as elaborated in the following excerpt:

In order to awaken the people and guide them to truth … they … implant hope in our hearts, enlighten our minds and quicken our souls … . They will visit every corner of the world … and pour out their reviving inspirations into the souls of the dumbstruck people. (5)

As revealed here, affiliates continuously pursue self-perfection in preparation for, but also in the process of, offering service and guidance to others. All three aspects,

◾cultivating self-perfection,
◾guiding others by example, and
◾compassionately accepting and serving all of humanity,

are equally accessible to men and women, and both are able to work to resolve societal problems. Most importantly, every action is undertaken to please God.

This vision stands in sharp contrast to the concept of ‘progress’ as it is understood in the Western European philosophical tradition from its emergence until very recently. The enthusiasm with which the tenth- to the fourteenth-century Muslim scholars embraced advanced knowledge of philosophy, medicine and science (which they wrote treatises on) alongside their deep religious conviction, was not matched by Europeans’ experiences of these fields, which came centuries later. After the treatises were translated into Latin and Europeans began to embrace, study and teach these fields in their universities, in some cases using the translations as textbooks, their reaction and approach were entirely different. In fact, their vision of science and rational thought as being incompatible with and contrary to religion led them to distinguish sharply between the body and intellect and between emotion and reason. This dichotomy resonates in projects promoting nationalism created around the globe beginning in the late nineteenth century, including Kemalism, the Turkish version.

Notes:
(1) Gülen, F. (2006b). ‘Our education system’, (http://www.fethullahgulen.org).
(2) Gülen, F. (2006a). ‘Action and Thought’, available at (http://www.fethullahgu- len.org).
(3) Gülen, F. (2008b). ‘Language and thought’, The Fountain, January – February, Issue 61
(4) Gülen, F. (2008a). ‘Balancing the spiritual and the physical’, http://en.fgulen. com/about-fethullah-gulen/as-a-teacher/809-the-balance-between-the-physical- and-the-spiritual.
(5) Gülen, F. (2006c). ‘The awaited generation’, available at http://loveandtolerance. net/love-and-tolerance/towards-the-lost-paradise/123-the-awaited-generation.

Excerpt from: Margaret J. Rausch. ‘A Bucket with a Hole’: Hizmet Women and the Pursuit of Personal and Professional Progress Through Sohbetler (Spiritual Conversations). Hizmet Studies Review
 Vol. 1, No. 1, Autumn 2014, 75-95

Published on http://www.gulenmovement.us/hizmet-a-language-and-culture-of-compassion-for-and-service-to-humanity.html, 21 November 2014, Friday

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Hizmet-Linked Educational Platform Among Most Successful Projects In Europe

November 24, 2014, 9:47 am

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The Dutch Platform for Education, Innovation and Talent Development (NPOINT), a Hizmet movement-affiliated educational platform operating in Holland, has been placed among some of the most successful educational projects in Europe by the SIRIUS policy network. SIRIUS is a European policy network working.

The Dutch Platform for Education, Innovation and Talent Development (NPOINT), a Hizmet movement-affiliated educational platform operating in Holland, has been placed among some of the most successful educational projects in Europe by the SIRIUS policy network.

SIRIUS is a European policy network working on the education of children and young people with migrant backgrounds. Its aim is to support the education outcomes of young people with migrant backgrounds in European countries. This network is being supported by the European Union.

With the high-quality education and mentoring services it has been providing to students with migrant backgrounds in Holland, the NPOINT Platform affiliated with the faith-based Hizmet movement -- inspired by the teachings of Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen -- is one of the three most successful projects that provide the best educational opportunities to migrant students in Europe, according to SIRIUS.

The policy network was established in 2011 to achieve the 2020 educational goals set by the EU and to close the gap between native and migrant students across EU countries.

Last week, a two-day conference was held at the European Parliament. During the conference, NPOINT was labeled as one of the most successful initiatives achieving to close the gap between migrant and native student groups.

NPOINT was founded in Rotterdam in 1994 by Turkish educational entrepreneurs and volunteers. The platform is an umbrella establishment that includes numerous schools operating across Holland. The platform was invited to the conference to share its 20 years of educational experiences with other educational institutions serving migrant students in Europe. About 200 educators attended the conference.

Speaking with Today's Zaman on the conference, NPOINT General Director Ibrahim Elmaagaç said that they had made presentations on educational and mentoring services that can be provided to migrant students.

“We are the oldest institution to have attended the conference. We started to serve in 1994 and we [the platform] include 17 educational institutions operating across Holland,” he said.

Indicating that the institutions under the platform provide an education to some 2,000 students each year, Elmaagaç added that they provide services like guidance, school selection, homework help, skill support and working with parents to raise awareness and hold meetings on education and training issues.

Published on Haberler.com, 24 November 2014, Monday

Cover version of song by Nigerian Turkish school students goes viral

November 24, 2014, 9:53 am

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The video that was prepared by students of Hizmet movement linked Nigerian Turkish school for their teachers on the occasion of teachers' day went viral in social media.

Starring of colored and white students of the school in the video gave additional meaning to teachers' song. Reportedly the video was prepared by the students who are the members of Nigeria Lagos Turkish School's Turkish Language Club.

Published on Cihan, 24 November 2014, Monday

Erdoğan’s slight to Africa

November 24, 2014, 9:56 am

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Abdullah Bozkurt

Turkey's beleaguered President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan engaged in his typical antics once again during his African tour last week, confirming a long-held view that he has been on a self-destructive path since the massive corruption investigations incriminated him and his family members almost a year ago.

He asked Algerians not to allow foreigners to impose their own policies in solving the lingering problems in Algeria or neighboring countries, without stopping to think that Turkey is also an outsider in North Africa. Then he moved on to the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, where he delivered political and religious lectures in his usual self-aggrandizing manner.

Not surprisingly, Erdoğan also said he wants African leaders to shun Fethullah Gülen, the moderate Islamic scholar who has inspired a global educational and interfaith volunteer network called Hizmet (Service). Erdoğan was trying to drag Africans into his self-declared war against Gülen, who has exposed political Islamists including the chief Islamist Erdoğan for what they are: a bunch of ideological zealots who abuse religion for political purposes and hope to proselytize Africa with their own brand of ideology using overseas agencies and state aids as cover.

In his own naiveté, Erdoğan, an embattled leader who is struggling to find a successful way out of the legal troubles stemming from the dragnet that exposed alleged activities of corruption involving billions of dollars, thinks African leaders will jump on the bandwagon at his whistle. He thinks many African leaders will fight his losing war and appease his political agenda of forcibly incorporating religion into the government by acquiring political power. It is no wonder that Erdogan is often cast in such a negative light by the national and international media; his own actions allow him to be portrayed as such.

It was in fact Erdoğan's own failure to grasp the intricate nature of African politics that paved the way for Turkey's enthusiastic African initiative to stall and later fall into a nosedive. Last year, he skipped the funeral of the iconic South African leader Nelson Mandela when so many leaders, including US President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, participated. Perhaps failing to personally pay homage to Mandela topped off the series of missteps Turkey has taken with regard to sub-Saharan African politics under the political Islamist regime.

South Africa is not the only power slighted by Erdoğan. Similar problems can be detected in Ankara's policy with regard to Ethiopia, another heavyweight in Sub-Saharan Africa that can project power throughout the Horn of Africa. Turkey's engagement with the Sub-Sahara, especially in Somalia and in its provinces in the north, has by and large bypassed Ethiopia. Considering that Ethiopia is the oldest nation that has never been colonized, Addis Ababa's expertise and knowledge of the region is invaluable for Turkey. Yet Ankara behaves as if it can do without Ethiopia.

In short, Erdoğan and his band of brothers in ideology act without fully understanding the dynamics of the African continent. They are not hesitant to use African issues for domestic consumption when it suits their petty interests. Just as Erdoğan sees everything at home only in terms of votes without due regard for the ramifications of his actions on the nation in the future, he also looks at Africa as a big voting bloc that may help him gain back the international credibility he may have already lost. In fact, the same logic applied during Turkey's bid to secure a seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 2009-2010.

As a newcomer to Africa with no historical baggage of a colonial past, Turkey was extended good credit at the outset. Yet political Islamists have squandered the windfall of goodwill displayed by most African countries as the credibility of Turkey's leaders has quickly faded, with Ankara seen as increasingly belligerent and interventionist in its foreign policy agenda. Turkey's worsening ties with the US, the EU and Arab world have also contributed to the negative perception of Turkey in Africa. As a result, a success story recorded only four years ago turned into a terrible defeat this year when Turkey lost the UNSC bid in a landslide.

The main weakness in the approach adopted by political Islamists is that they see Africa as merely a means to an end to accomplish their goals elsewhere, rather than being a true and sincere partner that would invest in a long-term relationship with a comprehensive and workable strategy. Instead of challenging others head on, Ankara should have worked with partners and allies in Africa. Yet Erdogan and his associates in the government, including the adventurist Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, have all been displaying a perceived pattern of imperialist behavior with a strong anti-Western narrative and condescending attitude.

In North Africa the outlook for Turkey does not seem to be promising, either. Turkey has troubles with the heavyweights in the north just because Erdoğan and his Islamist brethren do not like Egypt's new President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for ideological reasons. The constant bashing of Egypt by Erdoğan on every possible occasion, including at UN platforms, has led to worsening ties between Ankara and Cairo.

Sisi was not the only one subjected to Erdoğan's dartboard approach. He even insulted Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of al-Azhar and former president of al-Azhar University, in a public speech he delivered at a Turkish university that carries his name in the northeastern city of Rize in August. Erdoğan said history would curse men like Tayeb after criticizing Tayeb's alignment with Egypt's new president. Imam Tayeb responded by saying that offending Azhar, a leading institution in the Muslim world, means offending all Muslims and all Egyptians. However, Erdoğan did not seem to mind the repercussions of his vitriolic rhetoric.

Just like Imam Tayeb, Islamic scholar Gülen, who raised concerns about the behavior of Islamists that seem to be exploiting Islam for political purposes, was also viciously attacked by Erdoğan with a strong hateful narrative. The educational institutions that were built by Hizmet volunteers and that were present in many African countries long before the Turkish government decided to open embassies, have been defamed in a smear campaign run by Erdoğan and his ilk. This is a full-frontal assault that is totally unjustified and uncalled for; yet, Erdoğan relentlessly seeks to have his political ideology dominate Turkey's overwhelming Sufi-oriented Islamic tradition.

Erdoğan's self-declared war against Gülen, who is a well-respected Islamic scholar with a strong commitment to building human resources capacity and who has encouraged Turkish volunteers to invest in education, health, trade and charitable work where needed in Africa, has backfired. This futile attempt has rather reinforced feelings across Africa that Turkey, while under a political Islamist government, is not a full and trusted partner. The conclusion is that African leaders will maintain a friendship with Erdoğan's Turkey and continue to engage with the government in Ankara to the extent possible, but they will remain uncommitted to his campaign and unsure about whether building a true partnership is achievable given that their relationship with Erdoğan can fall apart when the going gets rough for Turkey's Islamists.

As a result Erdoğan's efforts to convince African leaders that Gülen is the enemy are in vain. South Africa rebuffed Erdoğan's overtures privately, while Kenyan President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome publicly declared during their visits to Ankara that they would welcome Turkish schools affiliated with Gülen. Egypt has restricted the activities of Turkish government institutions in Cairo, such as the offices of the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) and the Yunus Emre Institute, and shut down the government broadcasting agency Turkish Radio and Television Corporation's (TRT) bureau. Yet Cairo's government did not interfere in the operations of the Selahaddin International School in Egypt, which is affiliated with Gülen.

This contrast can be seen in other places as well. The uneasiness on the part of host governments over the activities of the Turkish government's development, cultural and media arms are understandable given that the staff are mostly appointed from political Islamist backgrounds and even some pro-Iranian figures. They appear to have been quietly mandated to propagate the ideology of the current Turkish government as well.

In extreme cases, questions even arose about the support of radical groups in host countries. For example, the liberal Turkish daily Taraf reported in September that most of the associations backed by TİKA and the Yunus Emre Institute in Kosovo have been closed down for allegedly offering support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front. This recalls the audio leak on YouTube in March in which Mehmet Karataş, executive assistant to the chief executive officer of Turkish Airlines (THY), is heard telling Erdoğan's chief advisor, Mustafa Varank, that he feels guilty about the transfer of weapons to Nigeria. Karataş is heard saying in the recording, “I don't know whether these [weapons] will kill Muslims or Christians.” Of course, Prime Minister Davutoğlu's government denies such involvement with radical groups and just like Erdoğan, Davutoğlu blames others for his own mistakes and shortcomings.

When challenged about this rather worrying pattern of behavior, Turkey's political Islamists even try to turn the exposé to their favor by invoking all kinds of conspiracy theories. Yet nobody in Africa seems to be buying Erdoğan's story. Turkey's president simply wasted his time and energy on travel, as the meetings he attended didn't produce any results in his favor. I think African diplomats in Ankara have come to realize that Erdoğan has a big appetite and the ability to twist any reasonable criticism from opposition parties, media and civil society at home as well as from Turkey's partners and allies abroad, for his own propaganda. For that, Africans see through Erdoğan, perhaps better than Turks themselves. Africa can't be fooled by Erdoğan's the games and tricks that have played out in dozens of government-subsidized media outlets in Turkey.

Published on Today's Zaman, 24 November 2014, Monday

Turkish schools

November 24, 2014, 9:57 am

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Mümtazer Türköne

About 15 years ago, I attended an international academic conference in a state located within the former Soviet geography. These conferences give us the chance to make on-the-spot observations about changes around the world. There were two Turkish high schools in the city: a state school, run by the Turkish Republic under bilateral agreements, and a private school run by Turkish entrepreneurs inspired by the ideas of well-respected Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. I visited both and talked to students and teachers.

The state school was like one of the public schools in Turkey. The building was unclean and neglected, although it was a freshly established school. Teachers were wearing ragged clothes; male teachers were unshaved and sullen. Students were exhibiting disciplined behavior that was clearly for show. The atmosphere was gloomy and repressive.

But in comparison, the private school was a lively place. Teachers were dealing with students in an affectionate manner and we could see how this close care was reflected in students' faces. The building was sparkling and clean. Everyone was happy.

To understand the causes for this profound difference, I asked our guide several questions. The teachers at the state-run school were paid ten times higher salaries. But the quality of education was higher at the private school and its students were more successful. Its graduates could attend distinguished universities. The school had emerged as the center of civil society activities. An inter-faith dialogue meeting had been organized with the participation of Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish clerics.

The Gülen-inspired Hizmet movement is Turkey's most powerful global civil society. This organization has exported Turkey's potential for solidarity and humanitarian cooperation, creating a multicultural, civic tradition. The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), the honorary president of which is Mr. Gülen, obtained consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2012 and has been at the forefront of peaceful efforts, which should certainly tell us the progress this movement has made.

Turkish schools operate in about 170 countries. These schools champion the concepts of peace and tolerance, and so far, not a single complaint has been made about them. For this reason, African leaders must have been surprised to hear the accusations President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made about these schools when he was visiting Equatorial Guinea for the recent Turkey-Africa summit. Civic humanitarian efforts are particularly appreciated in Africa, and the Hizmet movement has been conducting large-scale training, health, water supply and relief projects in this geography. Erdoğan labels these schools "agents" or "secret organizations," but fails to provide the slightest hint about what secret purpose is behind all those good services and sacrificial work. On the return flight, Erdoğan told journalists that he got "feedback" from African leaders, but this remark per se indicates that he was not taken seriously by African leaders. None of them said, "We believe you and we will shut down these schools." Most probably, they were amazed by the contradiction between the phenomenal success of the Turkish schools and Erdoğan's remarks about them.

Erdoğan is waging a "black propaganda campaign" against the graft and bribery investigations he failed to cover up in Turkey. His target audience is not African leaders, but the Turkish public. He believes that the messages he gives abroad will be more influential. During the last National Security Council (MGK) meeting, Erdoğan tried to pass a decision against the Hizmet movement, but failed. We learned this from Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, the government spokesperson, who said, "We didn't discuss such a matter." Despite this fact, Erdoğan claimed that the MGK passed a recommendation and that the Cabinet made a decision in the same line. This is a typical example of black propaganda. It shows that this is still a serious matter to Erdoğan. The Turkish schools, however, are continuing on their way, with outstanding achievements.

Published on Today's Zaman, 24 November 2014, Monday

Turkish charity in Virginia sends 30 thousand blankets to Syrian refugees

November 25, 2014, 12:00 am

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Organizing an aid campaign in USA's Virginia state, Turkey's Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There?) charity association managed to collect 30 thousand blankets and USD 70,000 for Syrian refugees in Turkey.

The campaign which was kicked off last year by Mayors of Virgina's Fairfax, Loudoun and Purcellville counties visited a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey's southern province of Adana within the sidelines of their trip that was organized by American Turkish Friendship Association (ATFA). Mayors who witnessed the life of refugees under very hard conditions expressed their intention to ATFA representatives about organizing an aid campaign in their municipalities. After that Kimse Yok Mu undertook the task and managed to collect 18 thousand blankets and USD 10,000 first year.

The great interest of US citizens to the campaign encouraged municipalities and Kimse Yok Mu to proceed it for the second year while the number of contributing municipalities in Northern Virginia raised to fourteen from four. Including culture centers, mosques, churches and synagogues, the blankets were collected in 40 points across the state. Along with local dailies, The Washington Post also informed people about how to deliver the blankets to the aid centers and as a result of a month long campaign 30 thousand blankets and USD 70 thousand could be collected.

Meanwhile, the transportation sponsor of the campaign MAERSK reported that it will send the blankets to Turkey in December.

Published on Cihan, 24 November 2014, Monday

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TÜBİTAK scolded for hiding olympiad winners were from Hizmet schools

November 25, 2014, 1:00 pm

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The president and members of the government have scolded the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for not revealing that the majority of medal winners at two recent scholastic olympiad events were students from schools affiliated with the Hizmet movement, the Taraf daily reported on Tuesday.

İstanbul's Fatih Koleji, Ankara's Samanyolu and Atlantik, and İzmir's Yamanlar schools, which have been under pressure from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, picked up 64 medals out of a possible 120 on Wednesday in the 22nd National Science Olympiad and the 19th National Mathematics Olympiad for primary and secondary schools.

The schools are among thousands of educational institutions affiliated with the Hizmet movement -- a faith-based social movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen -- that have been targeted by the AK Party and government circles, particularly since Dec. 17, 2013, when a massive corruption and bribery scandal went public.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accuses the Hizmet movement of plotting to overthrow the government. In May, then-Prime Minister Erdoğan publicly advised AK Party supporters not to send their children to schools affiliated with the Hizmet movement. “We will not even give them [Hizmet members] water,” he vowed. Erdoğan also ordered officials in AK Party-run municipalities to seize land and buildings belonging to the Hizmet movement by any means necessary. The movement strongly rejects the claims against it, and the allegations have not been proven in any court.

Taraf said TÜBİTAK did not tell the government or Erdoğan, who is orchestrating the anti-Hizmet campaign, that the students were from Hizmet-affiliated schools and that this was why, for the first time, the schools' names were not announced after the winners' names at the award ceremony.

However, after the schools published newspaper ads announcing their students' success, the TÜBİTAK administration was reprimanded by the president and other members of the government, Taraf said.

Published on Today's Zaman, 25 November 2014, Tuesday

Related

• Hizmet schools win 64 out of 120 TÜBİTAK medals despite gov't pressure

MHP blasts Erdoğan’s obsession with Hizmet

November 25, 2014, 1:28 pm

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The leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's obsession with the Hizmet movement does not serve Turkey's interests.

“Does Erdoğan not have anything to do other than inviting such and such to a 'parallel safari' in Africa?” Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the MHP, said at his parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, emphasizing that it is not possible to defend the nation's interests in such a way.

The MHP leader was criticizing Erdoğan, who presented the Hizmet movement as a criminal organization at a recent summit in Africa, for being obsessed with an alleged imaginary “parallel structure,” which Erdoğan claims to be nested within the state.

Demanding to know what makes Erdoğan so fearful, Bahçeli highlighted that Erdoğan cooperated with the Hizmet movement during his first 11 years in power, but now accuses the movement of acting as a “parallel structure” within the state.

“Is creating an imaginary enemy and fighting against it the only issue [important to] the president?” the MHP leader demanded to know.

During a Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit in Equatorial Guinea last week, Erdoğan warned African countries against a “threat” from “dangerous structures that look like nongovernmental organizations or education volunteers,” saying his administration is ready to cooperate with African governments against such structures.

He did not name the Hizmet movement in his speech, which is a social movement known for its cultural and educational activities around the world, but it was clear the reference was to Hizmet, which was inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Erdoğan's call to the leaders of African countries meant Hizmet, which significantly helped to increase Turkey's prestige around the world thanks to schools abroad linked with its name, was presented as a criminal organization.

When Bahçeli underlined that this action by Erdoğan would not serve Turkey's interests, he obviously implied that Erdoğan was shooting Turkey in the foot by calling on Africans to take action against Hizmet.

“Parallel structure” is a term invented by Erdoğan to refer to followers of the Hizmet movement within the bureaucracy. He made the elimination of the so-called “parallel structure” a priority after a major corruption scandal involving people in his inner circle erupted with a wave of detentions on Dec. 17, 2014. The president, who was then prime minister, framed the corruption investigation as a “plot against his government” by the Hizmet movement and foreign collaborators.

Published on Today's Zaman, 25 November 2014, Tuesday

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• Gülen’s lawyer denies Turkish schools working against host nations

Gülen’s lawyer denies Turkish schools working against host nations

November 25, 2014, 1:29 pm

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Lawyer of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has categorically rejected claims made by the Turkish president that schools opened by sympathizers of the Gülen movement in Africa are working against host nations.

Last week, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned African countries against a “threat” from “dangerous structures that look like nongovernmental organizations or education volunteers,” referring to the volunteers of the Gülen movement, saying that his administration is ready to cooperate with African governments against such structures.

Gülen's Lawyer Nurullah Albayrak rejected the accusations in a written statement on Tuesday, describing the attacks as "hate speech and discrimination" against Gülen and volunteers of the movement. "It should be known crystal clear that neither Fethullah Gülen nor anyone having sympathy to him has never involved in any illegal activity against Turkey or other countries," Albayrak stated.

The “parallel structure” is a term invented by Erdoğan to refer to followers of the Gülen movement, particularly followers within the state bureaucracy. He made the elimination of the so-called parallel structure a priority after a major corruption scandal involving people in his inner circle erupted with a wave of detentions on Dec. 17, 2013. The president, who was then prime minister, framed the corruption investigation as a “plot against his government” by the Gülen movement and foreign collaborators.

Turkish schools affiliated with the Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet, have been opened around the world over the past several years, including in many countries in Africa. A charity group that is affiliated with the movement, Kimse Yok Mu, was also active on the continent until its license to collect donations was rescinded in Turkey, apparently as part of the government's fight against the “parallel structure.” The Council of State halted the decision this week.

“We hope that heads of state and government will be more alert regarding these organizations, which create clandestine structures in every country they operate in and whose spying activities have lately become more visible,” Erdoğan said at the 2nd Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit in the capital of Equatorial Guinea, Malabo.

The lawyer said it is impossible to justify such "illogical" statements with democracy and universal values, adding that participants of the Gülen movement, with their contributions to trade and educational activities between Turkey and host nations gained the sympathy of the countries they are located. Gülen's lawyer challenged Erdoğan to prove his claims. He said allegations against Gülen movement's education and relief activities are not only false, but also libelous.

Published on Today's Zaman, 25 November 2014, Tuesday

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• MHP blasts Erdoğan’s obsession with Hizmet

'Hizmet Movement has been tremendously effective in showing the true face of Islam'

November 26, 2014, 12:01 am

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Fikir Atlasi*, Episode 18 (Full text)

My name is Rabbi Reuven Firestone. I am a professor of Jewish Studies and Islamic Studies at a Jewish seminary in Los Angeles. The name of the seminary is Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. And this college is on the campus of a very large, secular, private university; University of Southern California. So I teach about half of my courses to seminary students at Hebrew Union College. Those are people who are going to be rabbis and leaders of the Jewish community in America, and in some places abroad. And I'm also teaching half of my courses to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Southern California.

I'm also a co-partner in a center called the Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement, which is a center designed to present material that is accurate regarding the religion of the other. So if Jews want to know something about Islam, instead of listening to lies that are very often in the Internet, they can go to this site and get information. And also if Muslims want to learn something about Judaism and Jews, they can do the same.

About fifteen years ago, I was on a panel at the university, and one of the participants came up to me afterwards. There was a discussion about Judaism and Islam, on some issue of some sort. And he said to me, “oh, I'm a member of this movement, a student movement at the university, and you really should learn about us. I think you might find us an interesting movement. We found your presentation very interesting.” So that was fifteen years ago, and since then I've actually been involved, pretty actively, in the Movement. Not as a Movement member, but as a supporter.

I have read about Fethullah Gülen. Of course, I have never met him personally, but I've read some of his writings, and I have read some analytical articles about him that were written by people who were not members of the Hizmet Movement. And I know something about the controversy. Is he the real thing? Is he what he says he is? Is he what his supporters say he is? And my personal experience is that he really is the real thing. He has written about how important it is to have a religious grounding, but secular education. This is my personal background as well. He is in favor of engagement and dialog with people of other religious traditions. That's very important to him and the Movement. That's exactly important to me as a Jew who is grounded in my own tradition, and realizes and understands that it's critically important for religious people to reach out to people of other faith traditions, and other linguistic traditions, and other ethnic traditions, because we're all humans, and we all live in one world. We need to get to know one another better.

I have been to Hizmet programs, organizations, in Los Angeles, and in Atlanta, and in Texas, and in Colorado, and now I'm going to actually be in Istanbul for a project there. And I have found, really, it quite consistent, that they are concerned with making the world a better place. We live in a world that is full of fear. And a lot of fear in the West is fear of Muslims. The Hizmet Movement has been tremendously effective, in my opinion, in showing the true face of Islam. That it's a religious tradition that in many ways is no different than Judaism and Christianity. There are good people in the tradition, there are problematic people in the tradition, but the religion itself is a religion of great depth and beauty. That's a very important message.

I think the Hizmet Movement represents Islam very positively. I am a scholar of religion in the Academy. And as a scholar of religion in the Academy, my job is not to try to make a religion into what it is not, but to try to understand a religion in its full depth and breadth. And all of the monotheistic traditions include histories of persecution, in which they persecuted other communities. And all of the monotheistic traditions have also suffered persecution themselves. And so, we have a tendency, everyone, to judge the best of our own religion against the worst of the other religion. And that is a very common activity. It's a common program. And it's not good for us, and it's not good for the world.

One of the great contributions of Hizmet is to show a positive light of Islam, but not to deny that there have been histories of problems within a religious tradition, too. As a Jew, and as a religious scholar, and as an academic, all three things combined, I feel obligated to acknowledge that we have made errors in our past, as Jews. But our Jewish religious tradition is a beautiful tradition. And we need to mine it for the best that it has to offer to us, to make us the best citizens in the world that we can be. That's exactly the program that I see coming from the Hizmet movement; a way of understanding Islam in a manner that will promote good things for human beings, not only for Muslims, but for the world at large.

When I look at how other religious communities engage in dialog, I'm always comparing it to my own community. And I think that's important to do, because if we don't analyze the other using a similar methodology to the way we analyze the self, then we have a tendency to look at the other as too foreign. So I look at Muslim engagement in inter-religious dialog in relation to Jewish engagement in inter-religious dialog.

In my community, there are some people who say we should not be engaging in dialog with other religions, because there is a fear that those who engage in dialog are really trying to convert us. And we have a history of persecution as a minority religion in many parts of the world, so we're very sensitive to this. First of all, I don't see this happening at all with the Hizmet Movement. The Hizmet Movement, to me, is trying to present Islam positively, but not only that. This is something that's special about this Movement. They don't only want to present Islam positively; they genuinely want to learn about my tradition. Sometimes I go to a dialog program, and I see people talking about themselves, and valorizing themselves, telling us how good they are as a community, and how wonderful they are, but they don't ask me questions about my community. “What do you believe? What is your faith commitment? How do you engage in working with people outside of your community?” And that's not the kind of message I get from Hizmet. From Hizmet, I'm hearing them asking these questions. So I can imagine, because in the Jewish community, there's some people who say we should not engage in dialog, that there are also people in the Muslim community who say we should not engage in dialog. I believe it's very important to engage in dialog and not to be influenced by that position.

Education is extremely important, and when I say education, I mean a particular kind of education. There are examples of education where one learns bad things, when one learns things that are inaccurate or unfair, especially about others. And there's education that I call a kind of universal, ethical education, and that kind of education is important because we live in a world that is increasingly small. It's growing smaller and smaller as we come together, as different people on the same planet, and in the same countries, and in the same villages, and in the same cities. And we need to have an education where we learn to respect the other, and to learn to expect respect from the other as well. That's the important kind of education.

Now, I have not visited the Gülen schools, the Hizmet schools, but I have read about them, and I've read about the curriculum, and I've also read about some of the controversy that's associated with the schools. And I understand them to be schools that are very dedicated to a deep grounding in secular education, in science education, but the exposition of the education, the articulation of the education, is through a kind of ethical framework, that is framed by Islam, understood by the Hizmet Movement. And that, I think, is a very valuable contribution. So one is teaching values through example, and teaching knowledge through science.

Sometimes people ask the question about charitable engagement in other countries. We're all suffering from lack of resources to do all the things that we want to do in our communities. That's a reality. And so when resources are expended in other communities, some people complain. And they say, “We should be spending at home, and not spending abroad.” But when you engage in helping people in other countries, and in other communities, you're also an emissary, and you're representing a community yourself. So in the Jewish world, for example, we have a lot of charitable involvement where we engage in other countries, when we're allowed to do so and we can be welcome. That's a very good thing. Not only because we are helping other people in other countries, but we're bring people together to interact with one another. I think that's what Hizmet is doing as well. So I don't think that there's a problem with engaging in charitable activities in other countries. In fact, I think it's an important activity.

**Profile: Reuven Firestone is Professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. He received his doctorate in Arabic and Islamic studies from New York University. He is the founder and director of the Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement at the University of Southern California. Rabbi Firestone serves on numerous committees on interfaith relations and serves on the editorial boards of numerous scholarly publications. He teaches Introduction to Islam and Quran, Interreligious Dialog Theory& Practice, Jerusalem as Holy City.

*Produced by Spectra Media exclusively for Irmak TV, Atlas of Thoughts (Fikir Atlasi) connects the scholars, politicians, jurists, religious figures, journalists, and academics reflecting on Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet Movement with the audience. Each episode features a person from a different segment of the society with diverse experiences regarding the Hizmet activities and its volunteers. If you are interested to hear about the Hizmet and Mr. Gulen from these people’s perspectives, do not miss this show!

Source: Fikir Atlasi (Episode 18), © Spectra Media, 22 April 2014, Tuesday

Council of State says Cabinet decision on Kimse Yok Mu unlawful

November 26, 2014, 12:00 am

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The Council of State has issued a stay of execution on a recent Cabinet decision to rescind the Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) charity organization's right to collect charitable donations, saying the decision is against the law.

The 10th Chamber of the Council of State announced on Tuesday its decision regarding an appeal by the charity against the October Cabinet decision that removed Kimse Yok Mu's right to collect donations without obtaining permission from relevant authorities. Indicating that the Cabinet argued the charity was involved in irregularities in collecting donations when justifying its decision, the court said it found no irregularity that would lead the charity to lose its qualification as an organization that exhibits “accountability, transparency, institutionalization and reliability.”

The court said the decision was made by a majority vote. With the court's decision, the charity's rights have been reinstated. The court cited reports prepared by inspectors assigned by the Interior Ministry in 2013 and 2014 that found no irregularities in the activities of the charity organization.

Kimse Yok Mu is Turkey's only aid organization that holds UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) special consultative status. It developed internationally recognized relief programs in partnership with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) in 2013. It was also granted the Turkish Grand National Assembly Outstanding Service Award in 2013 under Justice and Development Party (AK Party) rule.

The organization has had many of its rights as a charity revoked by the ruling AK Party since corruption investigations went public in December 2013, due to its affiliation with the Hizmet movement. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan holds the Hizmet movement, a grassroots social initiative known for its educational and cultural programs, responsible for the investigations, which implicated some of his inner political circle and family members.

Kimse Yok Mu is active in 113 countries around the world. The charity distributes food, including the meat of sacrificed animals; constructs hospitals, schools and orphanages; and digs wells to extend a helping hand to those in need.

The Council of State decision effectively allows for the charity's ongoing flow of aid to many regions in Turkey and abroad, including Gaza, to resume.

Published on Today's Zaman, 26 November 2014, Wednesday

Kimse Yok Mu head: Council of State confirms charity’s transparency

November 27, 2014, 5:15 am

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According to İsmail Cingöz, president of the charity Kimse Yok Mu, the Council of State's unanimous annulment of a recent Cabinet decision to rescind the charity's right to collect donations confirms its institutional transparency, accountability and reliability.

Speaking with Today's Zaman, Cingöz welcomed the court decision, saying it is good to see that the judicial system is still functioning in Turkey. Drawing attention to the unanimity of the decision, Cingöz said the court verdict shows there is nothing wrong with the functioning of Kimse Yok Mu.

The organization's bank accounts -- which were frozen following an order from the İstanbul Governor's Office -- are expected to be unblocked. Cingöz also said he had spoken to the three largest cellphone network operators in Turkey and says they will once again make available the option to donate to Kimse Yok Mu campaigns via SMS.

The embassies of the countries where Kimse Yok Mu organizes charitable works, the United States, European Union delegations and other diplomatic missions all wanted to be informed about the legal developments during the smear campaign against the charity, Cingöz said. He added that although it has been inspected by three different groups of inspectors since last year who spent months searching through their documents, the charity has not been fined for engagement in illegal activities or the misuse of funds.

Kimse Yok Mu will apply to all domestic and international courts to defend its rights and will file complaints against Interior Minister Efkan Ala, officials from the Interior Ministry, the İstanbul Governor's Office and media figures who violated the law during the smear campaign against the charity, Cingöz added.

The 10th Chamber of the Council of State announced on Tuesday its decision regarding an appeal by the charity against the decision by the Cabinet in October that removed Kimse Yok Mu's right to collect donations, saying the decision is against the law.

According to the Council of State, Kimse Yok Mu does not have any deficiency which should result in the removal of its public interest status. Indicating that the Cabinet argued the charity was involved in irregularities through the collection of donations when justifying its decision, the court said it found no irregularity that should cause the charity to lose its status as an organization that exhibits “accountability, transparency, institutionalization and reliability.”

Kimse Yok Mu is active in 113 countries around the world. The charity distributes food, constructs hospitals, schools and orphanages, and digs wells, among other activities, to extend a helping hand to those in need. The Council of State's decision effectively allows the charity to continue the flow of aid to many areas both in Turkey and abroad, including to Gaza.

Kimse Yok Mu is Turkey's only aid organization that holds UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) “special consultative status.” It developed internationally recognized relief programs in partnership with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) in 2013 and was also granted the Turkish Parliament's Outstanding Service Award in 2013, with the approval of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) administration.

However, the organization had many of its rights as a charity revoked by the ruling AK Party since a major corruption scandal was brought to public attention in December 2013, due to the charity's affiliation with the Hizmet movement. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan holds the Hizmet movement -- a grassroots social initiative known for its educational and cultural programs -- responsible for the corruption investigations, which implicated some of his inner circle and family members.

Published on Today's Zaman, 26 November 2014, Tuesday

'Hizmet Movement is teaching “habits of the heart”, without any request for payback'

November 28, 2014, 12:28 am

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Fikir Atlasi*, Episode 19 (Full text)

My name is Robert Spitzer**. I am a retired lawyer and trial court judge living here in southern California.

I first became aware of and learned about the Hizmet Movement in 2008 when I was invited to visit Turkey by a group of Turkish graduate students who were studying at the University of California Riverside.

Alexis de Tocqueville, a nineteenth-century French observer of American culture, had a phrase, in describing America, of “habits of the heart.” And perhaps one of the greatest contributions that the Hizmet Movement can make in the world, or is making in the world, is teaching these habits of the heart, associated with generosity of spirit, of giving, and they do this without any request for payback. It's an unrequited gift, one that is not expecting anything in return; an example of true love.

Most Americans know very little about Turkey, and the little that they know about Islam makes them fearful. The individuals in the Hizmet Movement present to Americans a life of Islam which is not frightening, which, where the values and concerns relate primarily to those of family and faith; and in watching them, around dinner tables and breakfast tables and in groups, they appear just like us. They bridge the gap that fear has created between the Muslim world and, if you will, white America.

A different religion from the one that you acquired from your parents will often raise questions, but it will also arouse fear. In my experience, interfaith dialog between Muslims and non-Muslims translates to experiences which are shared within a group, where people discover that they have more in common, in faith, than what they believe they had coming in. People learn that Father Abraham was the father and prophet of all three monotheistic religions. They learned that Jesus and the Virgin Mary are discussed in the Koran. People learn that the prophet conversed with Jesus and Moses, during the night journey to Jerusalem. All of these educational experiences, as with all education, brings people together, lessens fear, and makes them more like brothers and sisters in a world of faith.

It has also been my experience, with regard to interfaith dialog, that this exposes individuals to opportunities to share their cultural heritage. The opportunity to share food, music, art, dance, in a family context, again, brings people together.

In my experience, the Hizmet Movement has been very involved with interfaith dialog as a dynamic in bringing people together. When I was in Turkey, the Movement guides took me to churches, mosques, as well as synagogues, and were open to discuss the various differences and similarities between the faiths. In southern California, we have an Anatolian Festival every year or two, where communities from Turkey come, including the Armenian community, which has a church, and the Jewish community, and there are opportunities to discuss religion with people of other faiths. Also, the Pacifica Institute, which operates within California and most of the western United States, sponsors occasional or regular, I should say, interfaith dialog groups, where individuals who are interested in discussing matters of faith can come and discuss particular topics. Again, a lot of their interfaith work deals primarily with talking about customs and traditions and holidays, which are the surface of faith, and have the effect of communicating how similar we all are, as opposed to how different the various religions may want to characterize us.

We talk about “playing politics,” and historically speaking, the current conflict between the ruling party and the Hizmet Movement and Mr. Gülen appears like the kind of partisan politics that exist in this country from time to time, and, I would suggest, has always existed between the power of government, or the political power in any given state, and those individuals who would criticize the way that government treats its people, or operates. It has, with regard to the Hizmet Movement, a slightly religious cast to it, but otherwise it's no different than the same kind of criticism that is often imposed on individuals or groups by their political opponents, or people who see themselves as political opponents within their country.

As a social justice and civil society movement, Hizmet is like the communities of first-century Christians. Democracy in America is 225 years old. And we are still struggling with issues of economic equality, civil rights … We fought a civil war after we had been in existence for 100 years, and then it took another 100 years in order to establish the rights of certain minorities in the country, including Blacks and Latinos. And those struggles have continued, so we have a longer view. Turkey and, or should I say democracy and Turkey, and the Hizmet Movement are only a couple generations old. 225 years is about ten generations. So I would want to give more time to see how all of these conflicts—which are natural when people are living together—how they are going to work themselves out, how the people in Turkey will learn to live with each other, and with people who have different ideas than they have. I think it takes about five generations and now you're only two generations old, so I think it will be my children and my grandchildren who will see where Turkey is, and where it will lead. And, in many ways, because they occupy a particular place in the world, geographically; Turkey is in a position to act as an example and model for all of its neighbors, better than the United States, which is pretty far away.

**Profile: Retired Judge Robert Spitzer was a public prosecutor in the Office of the District Attorney, Riverside County, California, 1977-1990. He served as a judge of the Superior Court of the State of California, 1990-2008, where he presided over criminal and civil jury trials. He retired in 2008.

*Produced by Spectra Media exclusively for Irmak TV, Atlas of Thoughts (Fikir Atlasi) connects the scholars, politicians, jurists, religious figures, journalists, and academics reflecting on Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet Movement with the audience. Each episode features a person from a different segment of the society with diverse experiences regarding the Hizmet activities and its volunteers. If you are interested to hear about the Hizmet and Mr. Gulen from these people’s perspectives, do not miss this show!

Source: Fikir Atlasi (Episode 19), © Spectra Media, 23 April 2014, Tuesday

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Gülen loses 72-year-old brother

November 29, 2014, 5:43 am

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Seyfullah Gülen, the brother of leading Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, died at the age of 72 on Friday morning at the private Şifa Hospital in Erzurum, where he had been receiving treatment after a heart attack.

Seyfullah Gülen, who was also the father of Samanyolu TV anchor Kemal Gülen, had been in the hospital due to heart and respiratory problems since suffering a heart attack four months ago. He was admitted to the intensive care unit a month ago after he was struck by partial paralysis. He had been on life support but failed to respond to treatment and passed away on Friday.

Known as Sibgatullah by his family, he was a retiree who had formerly worked at Atatürk University. He was married and a father of nine.

Şifa Hospital's head physician, Dr. Sebahattin Dalga, told Toady's Zaman that Gülen died at 7:30 a.m. on Friday. Following a funeral at Lala Paşa Mustafa Mosque in Erzurum on Sunday, Gülen will be buried in the village of Korucuk in Erzurum's Pasinler district, where he was born.

Dr. Fesih Kara, who was Seyfullah Gülen's consulting physician, said he had been in intensive care for a month. Expressing his condolences to the Gülen family, Kara said he was dependent on machines for his heart and lungs.

Seyfullah Gülen's younger brother Mesih Gülen said they had spoken with Fethullah Gülen but that they did not expect him to attend his brother's funeral. Unable to hold back tears, Mesih Gülen told Today's Zaman that his children had been expecting him to recover.

Another brother of Fethullah Gülen, Hasbi Nida Gülen, died at the age of 66 in October 2012 at a hospital in Ankara, where he was receiving treatment for lung cancer.

The oldest of eight children, Fethullah Gülen has five brothers, the late Seyfullah (Sıbgatullah), Mesih, the late Hasbi (Nida), Salih and Kutbettin. He also has two sisters, Nurhayat and Fazilet.

Published on Today's Zaman, 28 November 2014, Friday

UN takes Turkish school as model in Mali

November 29, 2014, 5:50 am

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The UN Women’s Mali branch has taken Horizon Turkish School’s Mathematics Olympiad as a model to determine successful primary school students in the country.

The Olympiad covered the subject of mathematics under the name of “Mathlogique” held across Mali. This year approximately 3,000 students attended the competition.

Speaking about the competition, the head of UN Women’s Mali branch Coumba Bah expressed how the Olympiad was taken as such an example.

“We want to reward successful children studying in primary school in Mali. It is need to be safe competition. There was no examination system set by the state for sixth graders. We met with Turkish schools' management and decided to reward children accordingly to the Turkish schools award system. I thank Turkish schools for their successful activities and contributing to our education system,” Bah said.

Erdal Karadeniz, the education coordinator of the Turkish schools in Mali, attended the UN’s award ceremony as an honored guest and said that the UN's taking Turkish schools as a model is an honor.

Published on BGNNews, 29 November 2014, Saturday

Kimse Yok Mu continues relief efforts in Gaza

November 30, 2014, 12:00 am

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The nonprofit Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) continues its relief efforts in Gaza which recently were affected by a recent flood.

The United Nations had declared a state of emergency in the Gaza Strip on November 28, after two days of heavy rain led to severe flooding. No casualties have been reported but hundreds of people have been evacuated and 63 schools are closed for the day in Gaza City.

While Gaza residents struggle to find shelter and materials to survive from flood disaster, the nonprofit Kimse Yok Mu’s arrived to the disaster area bringing 10,000 blankets and winter clothes for 1,000 children and 2,000 food packages for the flood victims as first party of aid. Turkey’s Boydak Holding CEO Mahmud Boydak also sent three thousand blankets to Gaza residents.

Aids will continue

Yusuf Yıldırım, who is in charge of foreign aid at Kimse Yok Mu, stated that the organization will continue to deliver more helps in coming days after identifying the main needs in area.

Kimse Yok Mu's coordinator of health aid Veysel Kayabaş said that they continue to make significant assistance in the health field in Gaza. Kayabaşı informed that the organization help treatment, make an operation to 335 Gazan children who have ear nose and throat (ENT) problems.

Published on BGNNews, 30 November 2014, Sunday

Motivation Driving the Financial Contributions to the Gülen movement

November 30, 2014, 12:01 am

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Helen Rose Ebaugh

When asked why they give $1 million or more dollars each year to movement projects, the group of businessmen in Istanbul gave the following reasons: to make better human beings as Mr. Fethullah Gülen encourages; to educate our youth; to please God; to earn a reward in the next life; to be part of a bigger movement to better the world; to provide hope to our people in Turkey and around the world. Two of the businessmen [interviewed] were among the first members in the movement who had heard Mr. Gülen preaching in the 1970s and were very impressed with his ideas and came together with other local businessmen to see what they could do to carry out his vision. The president of a large textile manufacturing company said he is motivated by Mr. Gülen’s ideas of service.

“We get associated with the movement people and this motivates us to get involved with the projects. What are my favorite projects? What is dear to my heart is that I can see these students who graduate and pick up posts in government and become righteous people in government and other offices. When I see these former students in these positions, I am so glad. I see that my society and government is improving in terms of righteousness and free of corruption.”

A wealthy businessman in Istanbul who is a major contributor relayed a story of the first fund raising meeting to build the very first Gülen-inspired school, an event at which Mr. Gülen gave a motivational speech. He said it was important to help needy students and then gave historical examples from the life of the Prophet and his companions. At that event I saw people writing checks, giving cash and some offering gold rings and bracelets.

“I was deeply impacted by that scene that I saw, giving so immediately and generously. From this first impact, I thought this is something I wanted to be part of. I then saw the successes of the projects and I became part of the movement.”

He went on to elaborate on other examples of giving that influenced him. He saw blue collar workers with families who were making very little every month but dedicating 20% of their income to support, perhaps, half or one-fourth of a scholarship for a needy student. He realized that these people might be taking public transportation but giving to help students. Later he got involved in fund raising meetings and saw what people were doing to raise money for Gülen-inspired projects, some donating keys to their cars, giving their gold watches and women offering their jewelry to support students. A person in Izmir baked pizzas and sold them from a cart to raise money to build a small dorm in a neighboring small town. The more he witnessed these examples of giving, the stronger was his motivation to do his part to support the worthwhile projects. He made a commitment to donate one third of his income to furthering his business, one third to supporting his family and the remaining one third to Gülen projects. An engineer, when asked why he gives 10% of his yearly income to the movement, said,

“There is no reason other than the pleasure of God. The opposite is it is just working for yourself, greed.”

And we in the Gülen movement, he continued, are devoted to the spirit of service to humanity, which Mr. Gülen taught us. The blue collar workers were inspired by the fact that Mr. Gülen seemed authentic and, as one worker said,

“I was impressed when I heard him that he did not preach one thing that he did not practice himself.”

Another worker said that he saw fighting and blame on the part of other groups in society but with Gülen he saw love and positive things. He also liked the fact that Mr. Fethullah Gülen did not have a beard like most imams and taught that Turkey and the Islamic countries must embrace modernity, science and globalization. Another worker expressed the fact the he wanted to get educated but did not have the opportunity. He feels he is now doing something to help someone else be educated. In several of the local circles, I heard people express the fact that whatever God has given is meant to be shared and that God wants people to be vehicles for the sharing. As one worker said,

“We have seen others in the past who are altruistic and share with others as God’s vehicle, – so we only feel humble of what we can do.”

There is a Turkish tradition that promotes the separation of the donor from the recipient so that a sense of obligation is not created in the one being helped. Also, the giver is seen as a transfer agent from God rather than as a beneficent provider. A businessman in Bursa who donated land for a school building did not send his own children to the school so that he would not mix personal motivation with doing good works. Another person commented,

“We do not want too many details about what we are supporting such as which students get scholarships because it gets too personal. Rather, we donate to a pool that helps needy students but nobody knows who is supporting which ones.”

However, some of us are in touch with the students receiving help so we know in general how our money is being used. The 48 year old businessman in Istanbul had this to say,

“People in the Gülen movement turn their ideas into projects, they tell how they accomplished their success. People trust them, if they ask for a project, they expect it from the Creator, not from creatures, and that’s why I believe they reach success. If anybody from the movement comes to my city and asks for help, I try my best to help them and I encourage my friends around me to do the same.”

He went on to say that such giving is done in a spirit of serving the Creator by serving his people and that often a result of such giving is that strong ties are developed among the givers. As Cetin maintains,

“Participation in services takes relatively permanent forms of networks. Individuals come and go and replace one another but the projects are always there and continue. Individual needs and collective goals are not mutually exclusive; they are one and the same thing. These two and the action of the Gülen Movement coincide and interweave closely with one another in daily life… The participation in services around a specific goal and the tangibility of the products yield and strengthen solidarity.” (1)

An engineer said that people make an investment in their lives with their money and then get a reward in the afterlife if it is invested well. Students, he feels, make a big investment for their lives and he wants to help them make that investment so that they can live productive lives, earn eternal rewards and help others to make that investment once they are educated. While personal monetary success is not an overt motivation for giving, a number of interviewees at all socio-economic levels commented that often giving to worth-while projects brings material rewards to the giver: businesses make even greater profits and workers see salary increases or job advancements. These successes are seen as God’s blessings on those who give. As one worker said,

“When someone gives they see abundance in their incomes; God gives them abundance.”

Source: Ebaugh, Helen R. 2010. “The Gulen Movement A Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam.” New York: Springer. Pages 59-61.”

Published on http://www.gulenmovement.us/motivation-driving-the-financial-contributions-to-the-gulen-movement.html, 24 October 2014,

Sareshwala: Agitation and confrontation doesn’t get Muslims anywhere

November 30, 2014, 12:00 am

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Zafar Yunus Sareshwala, CEO of the Mumbai-based Parsoli Corporation Ltd. and a close associate of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, says it is important for the Muslims of the world, particularly Indian Muslims, to leave agitation and confrontation behind as miscommunication creates false impressions, resulting in their alienation and isolation.

Sareshwala was a victim of the 2002 Gujarat riots, a three-day period of inter-communal Hindu-Muslim violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat followed by further outbreaks of mass killings against the minority Muslim population for three months. He explained how he became a supporter of Prime Minister Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat, during an interview with Today's Zaman.

Kimse Yok Mu charity gives dignity to the poor

Impressed by the works of Kimse Yok Mu, a charity inspired by the views of the Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen which holds official UN consultative status, Sareshwala says the way Kimse Yok Mu conveys aid to people in need gives dignity back to the poor. That is what Muslims need to follow, even when they give zakah (alms) to the poor, Sareshwala added.

Sareshwala says Kimse Yok Mu plays an important role in social harmony by involving small, medium and large-sized corporations in charity work and bringing all sections of the community together to help each other.

After visiting the Kimse Yok Mu headquarters and Fatih University in İstanbul, Sareshwala noted that Fethullah Gülen, being one of the most important Islamic scholars not only in Turkey but also in the world, is important to Muslims by his example in educating youth and engaging in dialogue with people from different communities all over the world.

Excerpted from the article published on Sunday's Zaman, 30 November 2014, Sunday