'Hizmet Movement is crucial in contemporary Islam'

Fikir Atlasi*, Episode 3 (Full text)

Prof. Dr. Amir Hussain

My name is Amir Hussain**.

I’m a professor at Loyola Marymount University, which is the Jesuit, the Catholic University in Los Angeles.

And I teach courses there about Islam.

Kimse Yok Mu reaches out to refugee families in Afghanistan

International charity association Kimse Yok Mu delivered food packages to the Afghan people living in a refugee camp in Afghanistan capital Kabul during the holy month of Ramadan.

Ceremony canceled after Gülen's relative wins short film contest

The award ceremony of a short film contest organized by the Ministry of Education has been canceled after the contest was won by Seleme Gülen, a relative of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, whose ideas inspired the faith-based Hizmet movement.

CHP: Will Fatih College's seized land be given to TÜRGEV?

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) asked the government on Tuesday about the veracity of rumors claiming that land formerly belonging to Fatih College will be handed over to the Foundation of Youth and Education in Turkey (TÜRGEV), which was involved in a corruption scandal that became public on Dec. 17.

Prosecution against Hizmet movement (4)

Gültekin Avcı, Bugün

In this piece, I continue to list illegal practices by the prosecution that aims to portray the faith-based Hizmet movement as a terrorist organization.

Union allegedly helps with profiling of civil servants

The Civil Servants' Trade Union (Memur-Sen), the largest civil servants' union in Turkey, has been involved in an alleged government plan to profile employees in public offices, Turkish media has reported.

Ugandan ambassador calls for Turkish investment in his country

Uganda’s ambassador to Turkey, Agara Olwa, encouraged the Konya businessmen to invest in Uganda. Konya’s Active Businessmen and Industrialists (AKTISAD) hosted the ambassador at a meeting. “Come invest in our country. We have petroleum, tourism, mines, agricultural lands and natural resources. And you have financing. Let us bring these together,” the ambassador said. Olwa went on to say, “Uganda is located in central Africa. With its 35 million population, our country is a member of the East Africa Union. We can therefore access all over the African continent. So we offer many trade opportunities. The Ugandan government offers considerable incentives for private enterprises as well. Uganda is a politically and economically stable country. We are ready to support whoever would like to engage in trade in every way. We hold the raw material needed. Let us bring this raw material with the entrepreneurship and funds Turkey owns. We can provide you any information needed regarding investing.”

Yet another ‘terrorist organization' delusion

Orhan Erdemli*

One of the main topics of the country's agenda last week was an order sent by the Bureau of Crimes against the Constitutional Order at the Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office to the police departments of 30 provinces.

CHP deputy asks interior minister about profiling of companies

A member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has submitted a written parliamentary question demanding to know if 100,000 companies have been profiled by the National Police Department on the grounds that they are close to the Hizmet movement.

BBP leader speaks out against plot targeting Hizmet movement

Grand Unity Party (BBP) Chairman Mustafa Destici spoke out against a government-sponsored plan to illegally investigate the faith-based Hizmet movement, saying his party has always opposed “dirty plots” targeting civil society groups and will continue to do so.

Who should be fearful?

Ekrem Dumanlı

The claim is terrifying: A secretive unit, reportedly named the Cosmic Study Group (KÇG) -- within the National Police Department -- has held a meeting and profiled businessmen and some 100,000 Hizmet-related companies all across Turkey.

Somali students meet their families

The Somali students, who were sponsored by Kimse Yok Mu Foundation in their high school and university educations in Turkey following a scholarship exam in 2011, have now gone back their homes in Somalia for summer vacation. Their families cheered at the airport to see their children arrive in the country. The students will return to Turkey to continue their studies after the 2-month vacation.

Yamanlar College student becomes world math champion

Osman Akar, a student from the private Yamanlar College in İzmir, has won a gold medal at the 55th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), which was held in Cape Town.

Erdoğan's witch hunt goes crazy

Şahin Alpay

The Radikal daily reported last Sunday that the chief of the Anti-Terrorism Department of the National Police Department had sent a secret directive to 30 provincial police departments ordering them to find out whether the Fethullah Gülen community had an armed force.

Erdoğmuş: The coup was staged by AK Party itself

Abdülbaki Erdoğmuş, spokesman for the Civil Policy Platform, has described the developments following a Dec. 17, 2013 anti-corruption operation in Turkey as “really a coup by the AK Party [Justice and Development Party] government” and pointed out that the effects of the unjust action taken by the government against the faith-based Hizmet movement are more severe than those of the aftermath of the Feb. 28, 1997 postmodern coup process.

Some FEM branches remove signs after municipality sets 3-day deadline

Several branches of the Fem prep school and one branch of the Anafen prep school on the Anatolian side of İstanbul have removed their signboards after the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality sent a notice telling the institutions to remove their adverts within three days.

Anti-Hizmet plot no more innocent than practices of coup periods

A government-sponsored plan to accuse the faith-based Hizmet movement of terrorism and working to overthrow the government, without providing any evidence, and a police order to initiate a probe into members of the movement as part of this plan have caused widespread outrage, with critics describing the plan as no more innocent than the wicked practices of coup periods.

New Turkey: A republic of fabricated crimes

This is not the first time Turkey is watching this movie. The people have seen it many times before. Five decades ago, many false reports alleging that students were murdered and cut into many pieces were made.

Minorities not buying plot to blame Christian murders on Hizmet

Representatives of Turkey's non-Muslim minorities say there is nothing credible about a recent attempt to blame the Hizmet movement for bloody acts committed targeting the country's religious minorities over the past decade.

Whose side is the president on?

Orhan Oğuz Gürbüz

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says: “If elected, I will not be an impartial president. There are two sides: The nation and the state. I will be a president who is on the side of the nation.”

‘Transparency doesn't have a place in Turkish political culture'

Transparency is not a concept which is accepted in Turkish political ethics. That is part of the reason why society has remained largely indifferent to the serious corruption allegations brought against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, according to İştar Gözaydın, a professor of law and politics from İstanbul University's faculty of science and literature.

On Hizmet

Ali Bulaç

Hizmet has obviously come to the fore on Turkey’s agenda. It has been accused of plotting against the government in the name of external powers, building a parallel state within the state, leaking documents, taping and distributing videos in illegal -and immoral at the same time- ways and then blackmailing people with them.

Kimse Yok Mu holds friendship dinner at Somali family’s home

Kimse Yok Mu (KYM) Balikesir chapter sponsored a friendship dinner at a Somali family’s home that emigrated to the city one and a half year ago due to the drought in their native country. The KYM’s little volunteers and the Somali students that the foundation brought to Turkey for study were also present at the gathering. The children thanked the foundation for the traditional Somali food they had longed for.

Bolu Municipality seals Hizmet-affiliated schools

The Bolu Municipality sealed two schools belonging to businessmen affiliated with the faith-based Hizmet movement on Friday.

Government creates enemies to survive

Lale Kemal

Turkey has never had the fully independent and impartial judiciary necessary in any democratic state for justice to largely be done. The justice system, on the contrary, has been used and is still being used by state actors, individuals or the mafia as a legal tool to cover up illegal acts that would normally constitute a crime. Only the actors in Turkey have been changed, largely, and they abuse the judicial system to promote their own interests.

Apartheid-like persecution against Hizmet intensifies

A story in the Taraf daily on Wednesday reporting that a secretive unit in the National Police Department has profiled businessmen and some 100,000 Hizmet-related companies all across Turkey has stirred a massive public reaction.

İpek lashes out at government media for recycling the same lies

Businessman Akın İpek has issued a strong rebuke to the Sabah and Takvim dailies, the two flagship government media outlets, who repeated in their Tuesday editions allegations that İpek is expanding his villa in Ankara to make it spacious enough to host Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen when he returns from the US to live in Turkey.

Erdoğan files another lawsuit against Today's Zaman editor-in-chief

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed a legal complaint against the editor-in-chief of Today's Zaman, Bülent Keneş, over messages on the microblogging site Twitter, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday.

Kimse Yok Mu holds iftar dinner for Bosnian orphans

Kimse Yok Mu Foundation (KYM) recently held an exclusive event for the Bosnian orphans. Some 150 orphans from SOS village and Byelave Dormitory were received at Burch University in Sarajevo, where a special mime performance and iftar dinner were held in their honor. Director of the foundation Izvor Nade, KYM affiliate in Bosnia, Harun Tursan noted the event aimed to get the Bosnian orphans experience a special night. “We wanted to make a surprise for our children from SOS village and Byelave Dormitory. Tonight has been a follow-up to our past events. We intend to hold more charity events for our children. In addition to tonight’s gathering, we aim to serve iftar dinners for 10 thousand throughout the month of Ramadan.”

İhsanoğlu says he is ‘against any kind of witch hunt'

The joint presidential hopeful of an alliance of opposition parties, Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu has said that he is against any kind of witch hunt based on political or ideological accusations in the absence of evidence.

‘Hizmet conspiracy' theories rejected at iftar hosted by Alevis

Participants of an iftar held by the Federation of Alevi-Bektaşi Associations under the theme “Solidarity in the light of the Qur'an” at the Renaissance Polat Hotel in İstanbul on Wednesday evening expressed their disbelief in the existence of any conspiracy prepared by the Hizmet movement.

Erdoğan's smear campaign against Zaman draws ire

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged people to boycott the Zaman media group while speaking in a rally in the Black Sea city of Tokat on Wednesday, a move which comes as a major blow to media freedoms and people's right to obtain information.

Experts call for legal action against unlawful anti-Hizmet plot

Protests against an unlawful order for a police probe targeting the faith-based Hizmet movement over fictitious and unsubstantiated accusations continue to snowball, with several legal experts calling for legal action against the officials behind the order.

Critics compare anti-Hizmet plot to Feb. 28 period

Politicians and legal experts have continued to raise their voices against an unlawful order for a police probe targeting the faith-based Hizmet movement over unsubstantiated accusations, with some comparing the directive with the practices of the Feb. 28, 1997 postmodern coup period.

Alevi figures slam Star daily over inaccurate report on mass wiretaps

Alevi opinion leaders who were allegedly among the thousands of people whose phone conversations were wiretapped by the so-called “parallel state” as was claimed by Star daily have criticized the daily for its manipulative coverage.

İhsanoğlu says he has received threats since presidential nomination

Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, the joint presidential candidate of an alliance of opposition parties, has said that he has been receiving threats since he was nominated last month but is undeterred by the threats and slander campaign against him.

Hizmet turns theories of Millennium Development Goals into practice

The Hizmet movement has been mentioned as an organization making a major contribution toward the Millennium Development Goals of the UN through education, at an international panel at the United Nation's headquarters in New York on Tuesday organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) and the Peace Islands Institute (PII).

Can the Gülen Community be finished off by force?

Emre Uslu

The world has seen numerous trials which were attempts to finish off certain social groups by force. In the US, Joseph McCarthy spurred the FBI into action to wipe out Communists from the country. He now sits on display in humanity's gallery of shame.

Gülen’s lawyer files criminal complaint over anti-Hizmet plot

Nurullah Albayrak, lawyer of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, filed a criminal complaint against officials who gave orders to carry out unlawful investigation against Hizmet Movement inspired by Gülen.

Scores of companies profiled in anti-Hizmet witch hunt by covert EGM unit

A secretive unit operating under the National Police Department has identified all companies and businessmen affiliated with the Hizmet movement in the 81 provinces of Turkey, profiling some 100,000 firms, the Taraf daily reported on Wednesday.

CHP submits parliamentary question on anti-Hizmet plot

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) submitted a parliamentary question on Tuesday concerning an order for a police probe targeting the faith-based Hizmet movement.

Order for Hizmet probe is political, not legal, say rights activists

A human rights expert has drawn attention to the possibility that evidence may have been fabricated against the Hizmet movement as a result of the police order for a probe into the movement, while another activist has called it a political order.

Opposition highly critical of scandalous anti-Hizmet order

Members of the opposition parties have spoken out against an order for a police probe targeting the Hizmet movement that is to include leveling a number of fictitious accusations such as linking members of the movement with several infamous assassinations committed in Turkey in the recent past.

Court orders prove gov't media's anti-Hizmet smear campaign

Numerous court decisions issued over the past few months have shown that government-controlled media in Turkey have consistently manufactured lies about the Hizmet movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen following allegations made by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) that the movement is behind a corruption investigation that is part of an effort to overthrow the government.

Minister silent over anti-Hizmet plot despite parliamentary question

Despite parliamentary bylaws requiring responses to questions within 15 days, Interior Minister Efkan Ala is yet to respond to a parliamentary question from his predecessor, İdris Naim Şahin, asking if there is a secret plot against the faith-based Hizmet movement and if the ruling party has mobilized its resources to fabricate evidence and initiate an operation against the movement.

Criticism rains down on police order to unlawfully probe Hizmet

Criticism has been raining down on a written order sent by the National Police Department to police departments in 30 provinces in which the former accused the faith-based Hizmet movement of working to overthrow the government with no evidence and asked the police to inquire if the movement is an armed group.

Can civil servants commit crimes?

Ekrem Dumanlı

If a man goes to a prosecutor and says, "Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the leader of the parallel structure and I have serious documents about him," what is the prosecutor supposed to do?

State institution turns intern away due to links with Hizmet

The Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) witch hunt against the Hizmet movement has reached interns in state institutions after one student was turned away after his links to the movement were discovered.

Turkey no longer a model for Islamic world, expert says

Turkey has moved far away from its former position as a model country for the Islamic world and the Arab states, a professor from Zagazig University in Egypt has said.

Police unlawfully order probe into Hizmet on fictitious accusations

The National Police Department has recently sent a written order to police departments in 30 provinces and in which it accused the faith-based Hizmet movement of working to overthrow the government with no shred of evidence and asked the police to inquire if the movement is an armed group.

Municipal order to halt construction sparks reactions

The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) recently has stopped the construction of an education complex on privately owned land in the Gaziosmanpaşa district on the pretext that the land will be used as a green area and a gathering spot in the event of an earthquake, triggering public reaction to the decision.

Erdoğan’s presidency

Fatma Dişli Zıbak

In order to fulfill his dream of becoming Turkey’s 12th president, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan -- who announced his candidacy for the top state post earlier this month -- began his campaign in the Black Sea city of Samsun. Samsun has symbolic importance as it is the place where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk launched Turkey’s War of Independence in 1919. Columnists have discussed symbols in Erdoğan’s campaign and how, being a leader who has become increasingly authoritarian and willing to disregard the rule of law, his presidency will drag the country into chaos.

The Value of Time in Fethullah Gulen’s Teachings

"By the Time! Verily! Man is in loss, Except those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth and recommend one another to patience. [1]"

New center-right party aims at Erdoğan’s AKP

Murat Yetkin

A new party is expected to announce its establishment under the name of the “Center Party” on July 7. It claims the “center,” but despite some of the individuals expected to be among its founders being of center-left origin, the majority of those with grassroots links are of right wing origin.

The Dialogue Eurasia Platform serves world peace for 15 years

A reception was held to commemorate the 15th anniversary of establishment of the Dialogue Eurasia Platform (DAP). Speaking during the ceremony, Co-Chair Harun Tokak said: "There are three forms of human relations: speaking, being indifferent and fighting. The DAP opted for speaking. Going from one country to the other, it called on people to establish dialogue."