Fethullah Gulen offers condolences, faith and community leaders pay last tributes to Vatican official

Cihan News Agency

Msgr. Georges Marovitch

A former Vatican diplomatic official in Turkey, Msgr. Georges Marovitch who lost his life in a hospital at the age of 81 were buried after funeral ceremony held in İstanbul's St. Esprit Church on Saturday. Msgr. Marovitch passed away the other day as he suffered from a multiple organ failure caused by sepsis and heart rhythm disorders and he was receiving treatment at the intensive care unit of the Istanbul Private Sema Hospital.

The PKK, piety and the Gülen movement

Adem Palabıyık *


Zaman France office after the attack

A Chinese proverb notes that if you kill somebody, you intimidate thousands of others. To this end, the assaults against the Zaman offices in Europe by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) supporters in recent times appear to be relevant to this proverb. Intimidation… But why the Gülen movement? The reason for this could be summarized as follows.

The Hizmet [Gulen] movement and politics

İhsan Yılmaz

There has recently been criticism directed against the Hizmet movement that it has been or is becoming a political movement. Its adversaries keep making these accusations, and nothing can be done to convince them. But for anyone sincerely interested in what the movement is actually up to, some clarification needs to be made. This cannot be done without understanding the Gülenian conception of Islam-state-politics relations.

Fethullah Gülen: I am in favor of freedom of expression and the press

Today's Zaman

Fethullah Gülen (Photo: Cihan)

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has said he advocates broader rights specifically in the arenas of freedom of expression and freedom of the press for journalists, including those who “unjustly” accuse him of conspiring against them.

Fethullah Gülen's lawyer comments on his freedom of expression remarks

fgulen.com

Fethullah Gülen

Commenting on Gülen's remarks, his lawyer, Orhan Erdemli, explained that his client has many times in the past said he is a strong defender of freedom of the press. Stating that Gülen also takes criticism of his person within the scope of freedom of expression, he added, however, that this freedom is being misused against Gülen as serious insults are leveled against his client.

Below is the full text of remarks by Orhan Erdemli on Fethullah Gülen’s expressions:

Qualifying rounds for the 10th International Turkish Olympiads around the globe

Today's Zaman


A national competition was held on Monday in Washington, D.C. to determine finalists for the International Turkish Olympiads that will start on May 30 in Turkey. (Photo: AA)

 
International private Turkish schools in the US chose their finalists for the 10th Turkish Olympiads, which will take place between May 30 and June 14 in Turkey, at a national competition in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

The International Turkish Olympiad, which is organized by the International Turkish Education Association (TÜRKÇEDER), brings together hundreds of foreign students each year from Turkish schools established throughout the world. Students from various countries compete in singing and poetry contests, entertaining audiences with their outstanding performances of popular Turkish songs and well-known Turkish poems.

Fethullah Gulen and February 28 [Postmodern coup]

Nazlı Ilıcak

While February 28th is debated these days, a notion has been created as if Gulen was collaborating with "post-modern coup." In fact, Gulen in his interview on Channel-D on April 17,1997 asked Refahyol government to resign. However, these words were spoken in order to reduce the tension in the country. His opinion could have been faulty at the time, but one cannot make a conclusion about his position in general based on this statement.

Gulen's position cannot be assessed along the same lines with the central media (that encouraged and supported the coup). He made his statement to protect the Hizmet movement. Gulen was not a collaborator of the military. On the contrary, he was a target to them. According to the second article of February 28 resolutions, the transfer of Gulen schools to The Ministry of Education was demanded. This article states, "all schools and dorms that are affiliated with tariqahs (religious sects) should be transferred to the Ministry of Education as required by the law of Unity of Education."

Gulen’s model brings heart and mind together

Zeynep Haşlak

An Algerian author, Professor Mohammed Babaammi, said the biggest problem that the Muslim world faces in today’s world is that there are significant mismatches between the thoughts and actions of Muslims.

“Muslims do not act upon their thoughts,” says the Algerian professor.

Speaking to Sunday’s Zaman at a visit to Zaman headquarters in İstanbul, Babaammi expressed his views on the problems of the Muslim world and the Arab Spring as well as Arab views of Turkey.