Gülen lawyer dismisses claims in IHT report, says allegations unfounded

Today's Zaman


Fethullah Gulen

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen's lawyer has dismissed claims in a report by the International Herald Tribune and said his client has no hidden agenda.

Orhan Erdemli said in a statement on Friday that claims in the article, which accused Gülen supporters of infiltrating into police and judiciary, are unfounded and baseless.

He said it has become necessary to issue a statement due to the reappearance of the same false claims against Gülen—claims which have originated from Turkey and which have indeed been repeatedly published in the Turkish media.

Students captivate audience in Moscow at Turkish Olympiads

Faruk Akkan, Yaşar Niyazbayev

The International Turkish Language Olympiads attracted great interest in their eighth edition on Monday in Moscow, where 215 students competed to win prizes in various categories, including song and poetry, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press attaché was awarded for his contributions to Turkish-Russian relations.

Altruistic service policy in Turkey

Yalçın Akdoğan, Star

Previously I wrote some articles that argued that Hizmet (the altruistic service promoted by Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen) was a spiritually oriented socio-cultural movement with important functions.

Hizmet movement and military coups

İhsan Yılmaz

With the democratization of Turkey and the new mentality of the judiciary it has created, prosecutors can now tackle past coup attempts and successful coups, the most recent being the Feb. 28, 1997 coup process.

I call it a “process” since the toppling of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan's government was not a result of a sudden abrupt direct military takeover. Instead it was a long period of psychological warfare. There was a consent manufacturing campaign coupled with direct coup threats.

A few days ago, the most prominent leader of the Feb 28 coup, retired General Çevik Bir, was arrested. This has resulted in a panic among the coup's supporters. In order to hide what they did in the past, they argue that the Hizmet Movement also supported the coup and sided with the generals against the Erbakan government. This is a distortion. It is not the first time, nor will it be the last time these media personalities resort to such distortions as they know very well that sometimes these distortions may be swallowed by some sections of society.

Gulen Movement discussed in Malaysia seminar

DunyaTimes

University of Technology Malaysia (UTM) hosted a seminar to discuss the educational development model of the Hizmet Movement – a movement inspired by prominent Islamic scholar M. Fethullah Gülen from Turkey. The seminar, under the theme of “Religion Inspired Private Foundations and Educational Development: The Case of Hizmet Movement of Turkey”, focused on understanding the underlying values, philosophy and dynamics of the Movement alongside Fethullah Gülen’s personality and ideas.

Seminar underscores the need for Gulen movement

Today's Zaman


Fethullah Gulen

A seminar in Malaysia on religion-inspired private foundations and educational development held earlier this week discussed the influence and positive impact of the teachings of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

The Center for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilization (CASIS), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and the Malaysian Turkish Dialogue Society (MTDS) organized a seminar in Kuala Lumpur that centered around the ideas on education of well-respected Islamic Turkish scholar Gülen and the worldwide movement he has inspired.

Halal secularism

İhsan Yılmaz

MADISON -- I am in the US to chair a panel and also present a paper at the Third International Conference on Islam at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This year’s theme is Islam and democracy.

My paper reflects my recent studies on Islam-secularism-democracy issues that I have also touched upon in this column from time to time. I have been trying to analyze if and to what extent an Islamic secularism or “halal secularism,” as it were, is possible. The issue does not, of course, concern Turkey, and given the fact that the Middle Eastern Islamic nations are hopefully entering a phase of democracy, it is crucial to understand how Islam will accommodate different ethnicities and, more importantly, religions.

Turkey abroad that I (we) admire

Ekrem Dumanlı

Korea, Iran and China: These are the three countries that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has visited recently. I had the opportunity to closely follow these trips. The participant journalists have all said something. And there were also remarks and anecdotes that were not published or aired on TV. Let me describe some of these untouched moments from the trip because they suggest that there is a whole other Turkey abroad.

Water wells bring relief to two more villages in Darfur

Kimse Yok Mu

Sudanese people, who had been struggling with water shortages, have started to benefit from water wells in two towns of Nyala city. The water wells were completed in two weeks.

Sewing course in Darfur had its first graduates

Kimse Yok Mu

KYM opened a sewing course in South Darfur in Sudan and gave its first graduation to trainees. After 4 months, 20 trainees successfully completed the course and received their sewing certificates. Now they have the opportunity to make their own children's clothes.