The other face of Islam: The Gulen Movement

Sandy Wollschalger

In mid-July I left for Turkey for a week with a group sponsored by the largest civic organization in the country, led by Fethullah Gulen.

Their purpose is to show Americans that Islam has a peaceful, tolerant face. The Gulen movement does a lot of good, much like Catholic Charities, plus starting schools and universities.

Our hosts tried to outdo one another with very generous food helpings, and there was even some regional rivalry when it came to who made the best baklava. For the record, baklava originated in Turkey, not Greece. My favorite treat, however, came from older ladies who had a food stand near a tourist site, and it looked a lot like lefse, served hot off the griddle and rolled with a sweeter tasting cheese and some chopped greens.

It was an educational trip, with some tourism. Our host families were eager to tell us what it's like to live at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East. Turkey is the size of Texas and has 73 million inhabitants, 14 million living in Istanbul.

Turks are roughly 90 percent Sunni, 10 percent Shiite, and nearly all are Muslim. They are not Arab, but there is some tradition of living together as a part of the Ottoman Empire. One young man told me, "In Turkey, where groups live together, children are marrying one another. For example, Arabs are marrying Turks. Kurds are marrying Turks. Arabs are marrying Kurds. Who's unhappy? The grandparents are unhappy. But, religion is more important than nationality."

Turkey wants to join the European Union. They are a country on the move with an economic engine second only to China in terms of growth. Everywhere we went the cities seemed full of cranes building more and more apartment buildings. The median age is 27 years old, and so they are a growing population, too.

In the city of Gaziantep, we visited a rug factory that turns out 3,000 carpets a day, and is one of 640 factories in the city. City leaders are building a university too, complete with light rail transit. It was a clear reminder that America has lost much of its manufacturing base, and our middle class is in decline.

I asked, "Why bother joining the EU? It doesn't look like you really need them." One of our hosts acknowledged that joining won't help their economy so much, but the hope is that it helps democracy and human rights.

Just as America is often defined by Hollywood, and people outside the U.S. think everyone has a gun - Turkey, too, has the perception of running some of the worst prisons in the world, courtesy of the movie, "Midnight Express." In fact, our original itinerary included meeting with members of Parliament, but they were called into a special session to address several issues, and one was to address harsh prison sentences for boys, now men, who were caught throwing rocks at soldiers during a civil riot. Prime Minister Erdogan, a charismatic leader who isn't afraid to take some political risk, held a rally one day while we were there, to help build support for release of these young men.

Our trip began in Istanbul, visiting several sites, along with 15,000 other tourists. It didn't seem all that crowded because the size of the structures dwarfs the number of people. At the Blue Mosque I became distracted by the young boys dressed as princes. They were part of circumcision parties, like wedding parties, and a blast to the past and an upward trend. The boys are three to eight-years-old. In the old days, the operation was performed by elders and then the boy was paraded around the village, often riding a donkey, surrounded by a band playing. The difference between then and now is that today the boys' procedure is done at a clinic and a week prior, presumably so the boys can better enjoy the party. The boys receive gifts and the family has a day out on the town and dinner at a restaurant.

The upward trend of circumcision parties prompted another discussion among the women about the increasing trend of young women covering up with a peçe, a Turkish word that describes a long, black dress, with face veil. Our host tried her best to state that the point of dressing up is in the Koran. Religious text states a woman should only try to attract her own husband; therefore, a woman covers up in public so that she doesn't attract other men.

"Okay," we countered, "but in some ways, by only exposing the eyes, the women actually look a bit mystical." (Picture the eyes of Elizabeth Taylor in 1963 as star of the movie "Cleopatra.") And some of the young women were downright sexy, jangling beautiful 22 carat gold bracelets, walking in a way where others could see their exotic leather beaded sandals and carrying colorful fashionable purses.

Finally, our host sighed, and said, "Islam says you should be moderate, but being a woman changes that." We agreed that it's the same for all women: women mostly dress for other women. If only the eyes are showing, a woman will differentiate with makeup. And in the company of all women, the PEÇEs come off, and the women can be dressed to the hilt as in the movie, "Sex and the City 2," depicted in one fashionable scene.

The area of Cappadocia was a favorite of mine. There was an open air museum that was once home to Christians in the second century A.D. and then again in the 11th and 12th centuries. The soft stone allowed them to build churches into the hillsides, and essentially the dark caves protected the frescoes. Our interpretation of a dragon is a flying serpent, but here St. George is depicted slaying a snake. The Church of the Snake also depicted St. Theodore standing with St. George as a team, along with St. Barbara and St. Katherine.

Visiting the area was like stepping back into time in more than one way. Area farmers were collecting straw bales, working the fields using small tractors I have seen only displayed as antiques at the Cannon Valley Fair. Small plots of land lay heavy with ripe tomatoes and watermelons where women, men and children were handpicking the produce bound for city markets. I saw cart and horse, too, and one man insisted I taste a long thin curly cucumber which reminded me of a seedless variety grown here.

On the way to Sanliurfa, we were told we're going to see Abraham's cave. This is also the place where Abraham was catapulted from two pillars on a hill and thrown down into a fire. The fire turns into water and the burning sticks become fish, thus saving him. Our guide had been told we were from Minnesota, a land of 10,000 lakes, and so he emphasized we were going to Fish Lake. The Christians and Jews on the trip got caught up in the details of the story, some claiming they had never heard it, and so the Muslims were challenged and became a bit defensive. In the end, we concluded, "this is their story, and they are sticking to it." The conversation highlighted three religions stemming from one man, and two women/families.

Sanliurfa is about an hour from Syria and a real polyglot. Borders created 75 years ago don't mean too much as people have been running through here for ages. Turkish citizens include 35 percent who are Kurdish and another 25 percent who are Arabs. This city claims to be 15,000 years young, and the oldest archaeological site in the world. There is a standing bell tower dating from 200 B.C. It is a religious site, especially sought out by Muslims. It was here that I became the attraction.

We had been at the religious site no more than 10 minutes when there was a ruckus. Later, our guide told us they were Iranians, as the women were dressed in black burkas, minus the face veil, and their upper lips were tattooed. The men wore head scarves, and all were speaking Persian. I was singled out, apparently because I may have been the largest Caucasian woman they had seen.

They didn't have cameras, and so they seemed bound and determined to remember the sight by touching me - touch me they did. One woman pulled my arm slightly away from my body, and ran her fingers slowly - from the top of my shoulder down all the way to the tip of my fingers. She gently squeezed my upper arm, laughing when I made a muscle for her. As we shared a laugh, another woman peered into my mouth as though she was counting my teeth. They giggled, and proceeded to reach up, pulling my face down so they could kiss my cheeks. I don't know how long this would have gone on, but our guide finally pushed them away and off they went.

I now know more about Turkey, and highly encourage others to travel there as well to enjoy the rich cultural heritage of that region.

Published on The Cannon Falls Beacon