A global community: Gulen Movement

Kadri Gursel

I spent the week before the Kurban Bayram, or “Feast of the Sacrifice,” holiday in Chicago to follow a conference on the Gülen movement.

Today the community has reached the status of a transnational movement. Though it is not possible to identify the Gülen movement as a “political organization,” the movement is imbedded in politics today and is an unelected coalition partner of single-party rule in Turkey. This partnership renders the movement the natural partner of the suspicion and distrust some feel toward the party currently in power.

In addition, the movement has actively participated in civilian struggle for power, which has increased especially since 2008, and has been the driving force in the struggle on many occasions because of its influence over state power.

One of the unavoidable results of this struggle is that polarization within the country has become more distinct. It should be mentioned that the Gülen movement, regardless of its intentions, has played a polarizing role in this struggle.

The things I witnessed and heard in Chicago have confirmed once again how a movement that can polarize those who are not and may never be members in Turkey can be so successfully engaged on a “global scale” with the segments that have the same characteristics.

The capability of the engagement of the movement which is expressed on the global scale through both its discourse and its activities, displays a striking contrast with the perception it has produced over an important segment in Turkey.

The Niagara Foundation is the focus organization of the promotional activities of the Gülen movement in the mid-western United States. It was founded in 2003 and its honorary president is Fethullah Gülen. Its mission is briefly stated on its web site as serving “societal peace, love, and friendship wisely and compassionately in support of human dignity and the common good by striving to bring forth the common values of humanity; values such as understanding, tolerance, respect, and compassion.”

We had a conversation with the administrators of the foundation in downtown Chicago. “Transparency is highly important in the U.S. Everything must be transparent. Foundations are under strict legal control. The access of any U.S. citizen to the budget of the foundation is under legal guarantee," Director General Şerif Soydan said.

Deputy Director General Hakan Berberoğlu confirmed Soydan remarks. “Americans have a notion which I admire the most: they say “Whoever you are don’t fool me, show yourself to me as you are.” They attach utmost importance to transparency.”

We can see that “transparency” is a value glorified by Gülen followers in the U.S. So, good.

Noah’s pudding

What about in Turkey? I mean the “local aspect.” Doesn’t the Gülen movement have a transparency problem here?

It has, and it is a very big problem. In fact, one of the main reasons for the opposing pole's negative attitude toward the Gülen movement is this problem of transparency. A very large segment of society believes followers of Gülen do not show their real faces.

Berberoğlu told me about an activity of the foundation which I found interesting. They distributed Noah’s pudding, a kind of Turkish dessert, in Chicago.

While they were distributing the pudding the Gülen community members were also relating the story of the origin of the sweet. Chickpeas, beans, wheat, dried figs and dried apricots are boiled in the same pan but preserve their own flavors. Noah’s pudding is thus the perfect metaphor for a successful collective.
“The U.S. is the nation version of Noah’s pudding,” Berberoğlu said.

What about Turkey, where Noah’s pudding originally comes from? Probably anything but Noah’s pudding, because in Turkey Noah’s pudding disintegrates as the chickpea regards the dried fig as “other.” However Noah’s pudding cannot be complete without the dried fig, nor without the chickpea.

Furthermore, nobody in Turkey distributes Noah’s pudding.

The global attraction of the Gülen movement

It is easy to “become” Noah’s pudding in the U.S. because common values contribute to a common taste. On the other hand, because values in Turkey are often in conflict it is not easy make Noah’s pudding with the chickpea and the dried fig cooking in the same pan.

Berberoğlu said the community had distributed Noah’s pudding to FBI headquarters, universities and churches in Chicago. We already know Gülen supporters want to build close and good relations with the settled order in every country they operate in. If they explain their giving Noah’s pudding to the FBI through this rationale then I would respect them. It is estimated that around 100,000 Muslims reside in Chicago and one of the FBI’s main duties in that city is to find and “pacify” terrorists among this group. We can assume that their heads are always occupied by images of “Muslim terrorists.”

The Gülen community in Chicago, and anywhere they live in the U.S., present themselves not only to the FBI but also to the whole U.S. settled order as, citing an expression from Berberoğlu, “Non-terrorist, beardless, tie and suit wearing Muslims living as an open community.”

While the “Muslim terrorist” image in the minds of FBI staff in Chicago is negative, the “Gülen supporter” image is gaining positive content.

It should be assumed this positive image is beginning to appear on the local “radar” of the FBI in Chicago and is instantly reflected at the “grand monitor” in Washington D.C. and spreading to the whole world.
This is the global chain effect of a bowl of Noah’s pudding served at FBI headquarters in Chicago.

Dilemmas of the community

While those looking at a global perspective expect great benefits from the community, do they really care about the polarization circled around the community as it is experienced in Turkey?

Suppose the illegal role of the community’s power within the state forces in cases like illegal wiretappings, Ergenekon, Kurdish Communities Union, or KCK, “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer), Support for Contemporary Living Association, or ÇYDD, and that of Hanefi Avcı is proved with evidence. Would they prefer to consider these, or their global benefits?

It is quite obvious the negative aspects associated with the community in Turkey are merely details for those who focus on the unique and unparalleled global role expected from the Gülen movement. They can well be ignored.

This is the truth.

On the other hand, the issue has a local aspect in which the global argument of the Gülen movement, that is its indisputable success in setting up schools throughout the world, has no persuasive value for an important section of Turkish society. This situation originates from the polarization experienced among Turkey’s essence and identity axis. The Gülen movement unavoidably occupies a political position in this equation.

The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, politically benefits from this polarization and therefore does not complain about the disintegration in the country, because it has a fairly big share the process of the disintegration of the socio-political commitment of the community, which is further reflected on the regional level.

The Gülen movement is the practical partner of this AKP power. The community politicizes with this polarization equation and thus benefits from the polarization in the end.

Therefore it is over-optimistic to say that the opposing pole which regards the community as a threat cares about the positive arguments like more than thousand schools established throughout the world by the Gülen movement are secular institutions, the community promotes Turkish culture globally, and it consults Turkey’s diplomatic missions in some of its activities.

On one hand, polarization is an important factor for sustaining the partnership of the community with political power. On the other hand, the community also shows it is not content with this polarization. And this is their dilemma...

The remedy for decreasing polarization is local, rather than global, transparency in the community – they should become ideologically transparent in Turkey.

* This piece is an abridged version of a recent series by Kadri Gürsel, a columnist of daily Milliyet. It was translated into English by the Daily News staff.

Published on hurriyetdailynews, 07 December 2010, Tuesday