PM's chief adviser: Fethullah Gulen's support for peace talks of vital importance

Yalçın Akdoğan

The prime minister's chief adviser, Yalçın Akdoğan, said on a television show broadcast on Thursday that he deems Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen's remarks supporting the government's ongoing peace talks with a terrorist leader to be exceedingly critical as he represents quite a large part of the society. Because social and political support for the talks is quite important in the process, he attaches great significance to Gülen's endorsement, he commented.

Turks most honest donors to Somalia, says minister

Turkish civil society organizations active in Somalia show marked differences with their Western counterparts, as the former donate directly to Somalia rather than through international bodies and have a presence in the country for no other purpose than helping “their brothers and sisters in Somalia,” the country's minister for human development and public services, Maryan Qasim, has said.

Who wants peace?

Orhan Miroğlu

Currently in Turkey, the horizon holds what appears to be the possibility of peace. Of course, there are those who do not wish to see peace and, in fact, if we look at what has been written and said in the past two weeks, we see lists of the “official views” held by those terrified by the prospect of such peace. I will leave for another day my thoughts on who does not want peace and why they don't want it. Today, I want to write about those who do want peace.

Top AK Party official likens Fethullah Gülen's stance on peace talks to that of Mandela

Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman Hüseyin Çelik has expressed appreciation for Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen's support for ongoing talks with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), likening Gülen's remarks to those of South African politician Nelson Mandela.

We have many reasons to be hopeful

Yasin Doğan, Yeni Şafak

Political parties are slowly revealing their stance on the government's talks with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) head Abdullah Öcalan.

Pro-Kurdish deputy welcomes Fethullah Gülen’s support for peace talks

Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy Ahmet Türk has welcomed support of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen for the peace talks between the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the government.

Reactions to peace talks

Talks between the government and terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan to hopefully end the country’s terrorism problem has become a number one topic on Turkey’s political agenda, with many political and social figures making statements about the issue.

Practicing Muslims and negotiating with the Kurdists

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government’s recent decision to negotiate a peace process must be strongly encouraged by parties, groups and so on that are eager for peaceful coexistence in Turkey.

But which PKK?

Direct and open talks with the terrorist organization, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), have secured the backing of all social groups, both in the Turkish and Kurdish communities.

Fethullah Gülen backs peace talks between government and PKK

Yet another show of support for ongoing peace talks between the Turkish government and the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has been voiced, this time from Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who said every necessary step needs to be taken, even if some of these steps might seem unnerving at first, to maintain peace in the country.

TUSKON offers Brazilian investors cooperation in tourism

Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) President Rızanur Meral on Thursday called on investors from Brazil to enhance cooperation with their Turkish counterparts in tourism projects.

Witnessing Fethullah Gülen…

Mehmet Gündem, Yeni Şafak

I was in the US last week and upon finding an opportunity, I visited Fethullah Gülen in Pennsylvania. Gülen is not just thinking deeply and living deeply, he also deeply influences others to choose to live and think in the same way as he does.

Documents reveal how military carried out Internet campaign

Documents retrieved from computers of the Information and Support Unit of the General Staff clearly reveal how a pro-coup junta nested within the Turkish military, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), has engaged in propaganda to discredit the government and faith-based groups in the eyes of the people.

Turkish schools building peace in Africa

The Young Kastamonu Businessmen Association members visited Mehmet Akif High School, one of the eleven Turkish schools in Morocco and had meetings with the members of the Turkish-Moroccan Businessmen Association.

Needs of Turkey's Syrian refugees met by sister families

Some of the urgent needs of Syrian refugees who have being sheltering in the southeastern region of Turkey since they fled from the intensifying violence in Syria are being met by the “sister family” project organized by the Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) charity foundation.

Yabancı Yayınlar begins selling translated works online

Yabancı Yayınlar, a sub-branch of the Kaynak Kültür Yayın Grubu, which is among the major publishing companies of Turkey, has launched a website to sell its publications in many languages online.

Aid campaign under way for Syrians

Aid campaign, Bread and Blanket for Syria, is continuing full stream in Turkey for the Syrians in desperate need.

Is Fethullah Gülen a political figure?

Mehmet Gündem, Yeni Şafak

Fethullah Gülen is neither the Calvin of Islam nor a political figure. He is neither an alternative to politics nor the state, but he is the hundreds-of-years-old interpretation of Islam that originated in Anatolia.

A Different Approach to Personal Development

Himmet Özcan

20th Century was the heyday of exalting the ego with an overemphasis on individual potential and self-development. The roots of this go back to 19th Century positivism and continue in our modern times as well. Acknowledging that this had positive spillovers in strengthening the rights granted to masses in political and economic terms by placing the humankind at the center of the picture, it nevertheless also led to inflated egos. From a creation point of view that means forgetting the reason for man’s existence on the earth by indulging in materialism.

Kyrgyz-Turkish schools alumni build a girls' dormitory

Students who have graduated from Kyrgyz-Turkish schools in Kyrgyzstan, exemplifying great faith, have built a girls' dormitory. Currently working in business, the Kyrgyz-Turkish school alumni have come together to build a girls' dormitory in Talas, a city in Kyrgyzstan, famous for its mention in the Manas Legends.

Cameroonian Governor Thanked Turkish Nation for the Turkish Schools

Abakar Ahmat, the Governor of Ngaundere state, Republic of Cameroon, paid a visit to Sahabettin Harput, the Governor of Bursa, Turkey. Mr. Ahmat thanked Mr. Harput for the Turkish schools in Cameroon on behalf of the Turkish nation.

PM's aide: Unjust to suggest Hizmet eavesdropped on Erdogan

A political aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday that it would be “unjust” and “wrong” to associate the Hizmet movement with wiretapping devices found in Erdoğan's office.

How to topple the gov’t in four steps

Sedat Laçiner, Star

Efforts to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government have been continuing since 2002.

Conspiracy to link Fethullah Gulen to OdaTV probe

Only a few days following his release from prison pending trial, journalist Soner Yalçın, the owner of the ultranationalist OdaTV news portal, has launched a propaganda campaign to allege that the faith-based Gülen movement is the driving force behind some ongoing trials in Turkey that aim to cleanse the country of anti-democratic formations.

Hey guys, take it easy

Ekrem Dumanlı

Is there tension between the Community and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)?

This issue has been discussed for a long time. Both those who know the truth and those who do not comment on this issue. And some of those who speak or write on this issue are confident in neither the political groundwork that the AK Party stands for nor the social reality that the Community is rooted in. They just repeat the same old clichés. Even worse, some groups are doing their best to escalate this so-called tension into a conflict.

Consultation and Human Rights as Key Directions of Political Reforms in Fethullah Gulen’s thought

Leonid R. Sykiainen*

Explaining the meaning of this principle for the modern Muslim world, Fethullah Gülen states that for the Muslims of today, consultation (shura) is a vital attribute and an essential rule, just as it was for the first Islamic generations. According to the Qur’an, it is the clearest sign of a believing community. The consultation is mentioned in the Qur’an together with salat (prescribed prayers) and infaq (giving to maintain the religion and people for the sake of God):

Ergenekon is a lie; a ‘piece of paper’ is genuine!

Abdülhamit Bilici

With little conscience, there is no need for millions of pages of documents in order to see that the Ergenekon suspects, including Veli Küçük, Şener Eruygur, Tuncay Özkan, Çetin Doğan and İlker Başbuğ, have been involved in illegal affairs not reconcilable with the contemporary civilization criteria referred to by Atatürk. To see this, a mere four-page-long anti-reactionaryism action plan is enough.

Alaton: Fethullah Gulen the ultimate 'other'

The AK Party government, which seems to be without an alternative and lacks an equally dominant opposition to check and balance it, is in big trouble, which they are not fully aware of, says Alarko Holding Chairman İshak Alaton.

Final Declaration of International Conference on 'Coexistence in Islamic Civilizations and Contemporary Reviews'

In this century when “Alienation” has become a global and local syndrome of every society and the problems of “inability to coexist” have gained momentum, The Journalists and Writers Foundation Inter Cultural Dialogue Platform (IDP) and the Fatih University Civilizations Research and Application Center (CRAC) co-organized the "Coexistence in Islamic Civilization and Contemporary Reviews” International Conference on 7 to 8 December 2012 in Istanbul. The conference participants included 50 speakers from 15 different countries. The conference concluded with a final declaration made up of very important items.

Samanyolu TV celebrates 20th year with concert

Samanyolu TV celebrated the 20th anniversary of its foundation with a ceremony featuring a concert and several activities at the İstanbul Congress Center as hundreds of guests from the media, political world and business world thronged the hall to witness the night.

Turkish Schools in Afghanistan organize the 8th Annual Science Competition

Turkish schools in Afghanistan organized a Science Project Competition with in cooperation with TIKA, Turkish Collaboration and Coordination Agency, a government organization. Afghan-Turkish Schools were opened in 1995 and the competition has been organized 8 times organized since 2004. The awards ceremony was held at the Afghan-Turkish School for Girls in Kabul.

Turkey's top Muslim cleric visits Turkish school in Cameroon

Religious Affairs Directorate President Mehmet Görmez visited a Turkish school in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde on Monday, where he praised the contribution of Turkish schools in Africa.

Turkish charity launches large-scale aid campaign for Syrian refugees

Turkish aid organizations have launched a joint large-scale aid campaign to provide food and shelter from the cold to Syrian refugees who fled to Turkey to escape from the intensifying violence in their country.

Shadow of Military Removed, Turkey Seeks a Spiritual Leader’s Remains

Susanne Güsten

On the night of July 12, 1960, tanks rumbled into Urfa, the military imposed a curfew on the town, and armed troops cordoned off the shrine of Abraham at the heart of the city.

As the town in southeast Turkey held its breath, soldiers forced their way into the shrine, smashed open a marble tomb with sledgehammers and removed a shrouded body. The body was lifted onto an army truck, driven along heavily guarded streets to an airfield outside town, loaded onto a military plane and never seen again.

Romanian Minister of Education gives Turkish Schools Teachers a Standing Ovation

In Romania, students and teachers that ranked highly at the 2011-2012 International Olympiads were awarded during an official ceremony attended by Prime Minister Victor Ponta and Minister of Education, Ecaterina Andronescu.

A Fidelity Evening Organized for Hekimoglu Ismail - A Man of Fidelity

Fans of the author Hekimoglu Ismail flocked to the ‘Fidelity Evening’ organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (JWF) and the Horizon Dialogue Association (HDA).

Turkish schools abroad: A global phenomenon

Seyfettin Gürsel

Two weeks ago, I was in northern Iraq, the region controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), with my colleagues from Zaman.

Kimse Yok Mu officials extend helping hand to Syrian refugees

The Şanlıurfa office of Kimse Yok Mu, a Turkish charity, in cooperation with the Şanlıurfa Governor's Office, provided food, clothing, blankets and cleaning supplies to 200 Syrian families living in the town of Akçakale on Dec. 21.

Documents contain plans to prevent works of Hizmet movement

Documents retrieved from the General Staff hard disks also feature plans to prevent the works of the Hizmet movement, inspired by the renowned Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

In the Aftermath of Sandy Hook

Margaret A. Johnson, Ph.D.

I imagine that most of you, like me, are still stumbling with unrelenting grief for the Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre of this past Friday. We lived through too many of these events these past years, but it feels different this time. I think a lot of that has to do with the sad fact, that twenty young children—children the same age as my own—were mowed down, mowed down at a school, much like the one in which my children are sitting in as I write this. But it is more than that. It seems like not just me personally, but as a nation, and even as a world, we have reached a tipping point. We can no longer console ourselves with mere words, with soul searching that turns back to carrying on the same as before.

Thousands in India ready ‘The Infinite Light' contest

Approximately 110,000 people in India are preparing to enter a contest in which they will be asked questions about “The Infinite Light,” one of the most popular books authored by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Tajik president urges Turkish firms to make mining investments

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon called on Turkish businessmen on Monday to take advantage of Tajikistan's rich mining resources and to increase economic relations between the two countries.

Religion and Nationalism

Jack Miles

On December 8, 2012, Jack Miles, Professor of English and Religious Studies at the University of California, Irvine gave a lecture on the reflections on religion and nationalism in the series of interfaith dialogue at Pacifica Institute, Orange County.

An untold African story - 2

Emre Celik

Following on my recent piece on travels in Africa.

During my visit in Tanzania, I met with the former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi. He commended the Hizmet schools highly for their successes and contributions to Dar EsSalaam and the wider region. He was a genuine advocate of the schools, and he dedicated his time to sharing the virtues of the schools to his fellow countrymen. And as such he took on the role of Honorary President of the Ishik Medical and Education Foundation.

Students of Turkish schools in Iraq learn four languages

In Turkey, education in one's mother tongue other than the official language, Turkish, has long been an issue of hot debate, but in the Kurdish region of Iraq, students have been graduating from Turkish schools having learned four languages.

Funding Gulen-Inspired Good Works

Money behind the Gulen movement is provided by millions of people the world over who are committed to the ideas and ideals promoted by Fethullah Gülen. The basic money-raising strategy in the movement consists in the establishment of local circles of businessmen, teachers, principals, professionals, and students who meet together regularly to discuss the works of Gülen and consider how his ideals can be applied in their local communities.

Fethullah Gulen expressed his deep sorrow for the tragic shooting incident in Connecticut

Turkish-Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen expressed his deep sorrow caused by the tragic shooting incident which took lives of 26 civilians, mostly children, at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut:

Turkish Cultural Center, Peace Islands Institute co-organize awards ceremony

The Rev. Joseph L. Levesque, Niagara University president, was recently presented a service award from the Turkish Cultural Center in Buffalo and the Peace Islands Institute.

Book Review: The Statue of Our Souls: Revival in Islamic Thought and Activism

Ruth Woodhall

Those who have followed Fethullah Gülen's world of ideas closely will see that what he wrote or preached 15-20 years ago and the ideas he puts forward today are in no way different nor do they conflict in essence; on the contrary, all of his works and speeches interpret one another and gradually lead toward a main idea.

Book Review: Pearls of Wisdom

Michael Starzinski

This work by M. Fethullah Gülen is a continuation of a long tradition of books and articles promoting the cause of serving society through the advancement of universal education. Fethullah Gülen is a widely known and respected Turkish scholar, religious leader, educator, and social reformer, whose values stem from his Islamic faith, and whose overriding interest is in the well-being of Muslims as well as all of mankind.

Fethullah Gulen's latest book among best sellers

Fethullah Gulen's latest book [written in Turkish] "The Struggle for Renewal," the last of Broken Pot series published by Nil Publications, surpassed 200.000 in 20 days in Turkey.

Scholar: Hizmet efforts to build schools will not stop

Supporters of a civic movement inspired by Fethullah Gulen, one of the most important Muslim figures in Turkey, will not cease their efforts to build schools as long as there is a demand for such service around the world, according to a Turkish scholar dedicated to the movement.

Democracy and Islam: Are They Opponents or Allies?

Leonid R. Sykiainen*

Fethullah Gülen stressed that when comparing Islam with democracy, we must remember that democracy is a system that is being continually developed and revised, on the one hand. It also varies according to the places and circumstances where it is practiced. On the other hand, religion has established immutable principles related to faith, worship, and morality. Thus, only Islam’s worldly aspects should be compared with democracy.

Book Review: The Messenger of God

Dr. Vitaliy Sheremet*

This introduction by me as a professor of Oriental Studies might be seen as an incentive to attract attention, but I hope that the reader will welcome this book by Muhammed Fethullah Gülen from the very first pages.

Book Review: Essentials of the Islamic Faith

Jay Willoughby

The author [Fethullah Gulen], one of Turkey's most respected Islamic scholars, discusses Islam's core beliefs. After giving brief summaries of traditional arguments for God's Existence and Unity, Gülen analyzes modern theories related to nature, natural laws, and causes, as well as matter and chance. Supporting his arguments with accounts of scientific experiments, he also appeals to common sense by asking if any person or thing can be created without an author or by itself.