“And it’s a kind of movement that one would like to see more of in society rather than see them diminished or in any way curtailed. The Hizmet related groups that I’ve met with in Turkey were educational, were social services for refugees, media outlets. And just my impression, again I’m not an expert on Hizmet and the people who are followers of Gülen, is it this is much more of a social network than it is any kind of centrally organized organization. There seems to be a great deal of individual creativity and organizational opportunities for people within, who are part of the followers. And so I think of it, rather than an organization or group, I think of it more like a movement or social network of people who are trying to think differently about how to engage in society and create a vision for the future,” noted Juergensmeyer.
‘I was so impressed with generosity that I saw in Turkey’
The famous sociologist Juergensmeyer, “I think what was most moving for me was to see the refugee center in Istanbul where the Hizmet Movement has taken a very progressive social role and trying to provide a place to reintegrate the refugees into society to help provide training, provide basic material support, you know food, clothing things of that nature. And so I was impressed in this kind of both a generosity but also the sense that these are people who need not just material things but need dignity, need a role, need a place in society and I was very impressed with that,” also added in his statement.
Published on Cihan, 5 December 2015, Saturday
