Fethullah Gülen and the philosophy of happiness

Serdar Turgut

After I saw the schools founded by the Gülen community abroad, I thought about the major mistakes that have occurred in the history of our republic once again.

A person can’t help but wonder if the republican regime or secular civil society organizations could have done what the community has done when they had the chance to. People keep talking about the Gülen community’s financial resources. Didn’t the republican regime and secular forces have any money? Couldn’t big businessmen who were devoted to the republic and the secular system have been encouraged to lead these kinds of educational activities? Didn’t it occur to the state, government or political parties at all? Now that the community is doing this as a voluntary civil movement, they are getting upset. The main issue that is hardest to grasp is why this kind of system, which is so beneficial for Turkey, was not thought of and carried out by another group during the republican period. If one community has the means to do this, then most likely the Turkish state does, too. But undertaking this kind of tremendous task was not thought of or desired. The problem isn’t money; it’s the mentality.

Published on Today's Zaman, "Turkish Press Review" AKŞAM, 3/26/2010