'Fethullah Gulen Might Return to Turkey on This Condition'

Will Fethullah Gulen, who currently resides in the US, return to Turkey? One active figure of the Hizmet movement, Cemal Usak, who serves as the Vice President of the Journalists and Writers Foundation, answered this highly speculated question.

Vice President of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (JWF), Cemal Usak, stated that Gulen may return to Turkey in the event that a democratic constitution be adopted and applied in the country.

Usak spoke to Hazal Ozvaris from the T24 news portal. He thinks that the schools of the movement are ready for education in Kurdish.

The Writers and Journalists Foundation is known as the corporate aspect of the Gulen movement. Vice President Cemal Usak made quite striking statements regarding the process.

Here are some headings from that conversation:

Religious Nationalists and Neo-Nationalists Should Be Overlooked During The Process

They can, without a doubt, be overlooked, and they should be. This nationalist mindset is a banal, disrespectful point of view that does not pay the necessary respect to the identity of another.

The Paranoia of Disintegration Is Not Realistic

We must listen to them so long as they express their concerns in a civilized manner; however, I believe that underneath the packaging of concern lie their own political ambitions. I do not think that they truly believe the country is being subject to fragmentation either. In the words of Huseyin Yayman, “We have been struggling through a battle between brothers for 30 years and we haven’t been separated, and now, in the middle of a process for peace, we’re going to be separated?!” The official opinion used to say, “Armed separatist organization” when defining the PKK. This description was suitable in the beginning, yet now Abdullah Ocalan, the most inclusive leader of the organization, is saying, “The period of weapons is over,” and is speaking about the integrity of Turkey. Now where is the part about an armed and separatist organization? As we stand at the point we have reached today, the paranoia of segmentation does not seem very realistic.

Two Groups that are fervently in Support of the Process

Failing to acknowledge all that is being achieved today would be ruthlessness. The Justice and Development Party government is taking steps to resolve the Kurdish issue. If only they had started taking steps a bit sooner, if only they had been able to. The possibility of entering a third term of power with more strength than ever, is in question. This is an opportunity that has not come for any other government before it. According to a research on the public opinion, there are two social groups that are fervently in support of the resolution process: 1- The Kurds 2- Sincere devout religious people.

Are Gulen Movement Schools Ready for Education in Kurdish?

I think they are ready; private schools are always ready before everyone else. According to my observations, most of the educational staff in the schools of that area is already made up of young Kurdish teachers. Also, there is a TV channel founded by those inspired by the vision of Gulen called Dunya TV. According to some, that channel is currently providing the best and most systematic education on Kurdish.

PKK Vineyards in Konya are More Powerful than Diyarbakir

As far as I have seen, I can say that it is more powerful than the center of Diyarbakir. A striking and saddening reality is the fact that despite the fact that these people are keeping their Kurdish relation alive among themselves and that their population reaches a percentage of 60, even 80, in the towns which they live, they have still not been able to merge with their environment. You see that non-Kurdish residents are still having trouble in accepting them. When asked about the situation you hear things like, “We have given our daughters as brides, we’ve taken their daughters as our own brides, we have no problem with them,” yet this statement serves as a kind of shawl, covering up the reality of discrimination. They even take refuge in interesting defenses such as, “I am a building contractor and most of my workers are Kurdish.” The gentleman does the favor, so to speak, of offering manual labor by saying, “Let them come and work at my construction.”

The Condition of a Democratic Constitution in order for Gulen to Return

In one meeting, Gulen had virtually tied his return to Turkey to a certain condition. He had used words that came to mean, “I will only come if there comes a point where my coming will not harm the general harmony present there.” That is, whenever the time comes when there will be no mention of certain political speculations related to his return, I believe that will be the time that Gulen will return.

Will His Return Truly Bring About Speculation?

If you ask me, of course, there is always the possibility that there will be no speculation. I personally believe that the prerequisite for this is the acceptance of a civil and democratic constitution. In my humble opinion, this is a necessary condition but it is not sufficient. Its digestion, acceptance and application are also matters to consider.

Published [in Turkish] on Haber 7, 29 April 2013, Monday