Islamic scholar Gülen urges followers to stick to path despite attacks
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen called on his followers on Monday to “just keep walking and not stop” in the face of controversial government plans to abolish privately-funded educational...
View Article'African wave' makes splash at İstanbul summit
The second day of a global trade and investment summit in İstanbul saw increased interest from African companies in Turkish markets, with some major deals in the works. Organized by the Turkish...
View ArticleQuestions for the government
Bülent Keneş What we have concluded after discussing the government's plan to shut down prep schools for the past 12 days is that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is resolved to proceed with the...
View ArticleRuling AKP lawmakers voice objection to prep schools closure
Although Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has already voiced his resolve to close private examination prep schools, known as “dershanes,” some lawmakers from his Justice and Development Party (AKP)...
View ArticleForeign journalists baffled by gov't decision to shut down prep schools
Representatives of foreign media outlets in İstanbul had a difficult time on Tuesday understanding the rationale behind the government's decision to close private prep schools across Turkey. The...
View ArticleWill the AKP lose votes?
Emre Uslu For the last two weeks, Turkey has focused on the prep school issue. As you all know, the government has made a controversial decision to close privately run prep schools in the name of...
View ArticleErdoğan has to respect civil society
Şahin Alpay Colleagues and friends ask me, “What is the reason for the feud between the government and the Gülen movement and between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Fethullah Gülen?” This is,...
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BBC: Turkish Twitter war over education
Plans to abolish "prep schools" in Turkey have sparked a huge feud between two of the country's most powerful forces on the micro-blogging website Twitter. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan...
View ArticleWSJ: Turkey's Dominant Political Coalition Shows Signs of Fraying*
Series of Initiatives by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Provoke Backlash Ahead of 2014 Elections Intensifying rivalries between Turkey's prime minister and segments of his Islamist-rooted ruling...
View ArticleNY Times: The Shadow Politics of Shadow Education*
Andrew Finkel**“Shadow education” is academic jargon for the way ordinary people bypass the failings of the formal school system by enlisting their children in special programs on the side. In Turkey,...
View ArticleTurkey’s plans to abolish private study centers arrest free enterprise
The Alliance for Shared Values (AFSV) noted in a press statement released on Nov. 25 that it considers the Turkish government’s proposal to abolish fee-based private preparatory courses for admission...
View ArticleTurkey’s press bodies slam government for ‘discrimination’
Both of Turkey’s most authoritative press bodies have condemned the government and Education Ministry over their “biased accreditation practice,” which was the basis used for invitations issued to a...
View ArticleThe recent fight between Kemalo-Islamism and Civil Islam
İhsan Yılmaz As I have written here before, Islamists imagine Islam as a complete and ready-to-use divine system, with concrete political, cultural, legal and economic blueprints. Their ideology is...
View ArticleIslamic scholar Gülen calls for ‘reasonability’ in test prep school row
Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has called on the government to act “reasonably” in its plan to close test prep schools, adding that they were the ones receiving a “slap,” in a veiled reference to a...
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‘Gülen wants to be an altruistic servant of others’
Professor Ori Z. Soltes, author of ‘Embracing the World: Fethullah Gülen’s Thought and Its Relationship to Jalaluddin Rumi and Others,’ explains how Gülen’s perception of Sufism is grounded...
View ArticleGülen urges Hizmet members to defend prep schools in civilized way
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has urged followers of the Hizmet movement to insist on the “right and logical” and defend prep schools, which the Turkish government has said it will shut down...
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Gov't-endorsed MGK plot against Gülen exposed by daily
A secret national security document recently discovered by a Turkish daily has revealed that Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government signed on to a planned crackdown on the...
View ArticleShould I not respond to those who want to strangle me?
Hüseyin Gülerce The move to close down prep schools is getting complicated. Things are going out of hand, and the discussions over this serious education issue are becoming less serious and more...
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Turkish doctors save lives in the Philippines
The Turkish medical team keeps healing the wounds of Haiyan victims. Serving an average of 600 Filipinos daily, the Kimse Yok Mu team recently performed a surgery and saved a newborn inflicted with...
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Food Security Summit convenes in Thailand
Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) held Food Security Summit at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 26-27. The summit -intended as a contribution to the...
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