Brooklyn Amity School crowned karate champion

Brooklyn Amity School has been crowned champion receiving 30 medals in 2013 Asckhar’s Kyodai Invitational Karate Championship held in New York. 320 competitors in total from four different countries participated the sport event. Brooklyn Amity School distinguished itself winning 13 golden, 5 silver and 12 bronze medals and thus ranking first in the total number of medals won.

Peaceful Muslim–Non-Muslim Coexistence in a Secular Context

Farhod Alimuhamedov*

This paper is about the conditions of inter-ethnic, inter-religious and inter-class relations in Gülen[-inspired] schools and looks into their operation in non-Turkish and non-Muslim settings. It aims to examine the relations among young people coming from different groups.

Science Fair at PakTurk school

Islamabad—In a festive ambiance, young students of Pak-Turk School delightfully illustrated how science and art interconnect in real life offering valuable life lessons. The well-demonstrated 3D models showcased at the Third Eye Science and Art Exhibition on Saturday at Fatima Jinnah Park offered the visitors a unique chance to see, hear and relate with the works of art that depicted human values while enjoying Turkish cuisine.

The Gulen Movement: An Islamic Response to Terror as a Global Challenge (2)

Ibrahim A. el-Hussari*

Gulen’s Islamic Discourse

…An Islamic response to human rights issues have been constantly communicated by Gulen and his followers as part of the Islamic message that ennobles the status of human beings, irrespective of race, color and gender. Gulen’s immediate source in this regard is the word of God as revealed in Al-Qur’an:

O mankind, We have created you male and female, and appointed you races and tribes, that you may know one another; surely the noblest among you in the sight of God is the most God-fearing of you; God is All-knowing, All-aware (Al-Hojorat, XLIX: 13)

Parents dream of their children being admitted to Turkish schools in Senegal

Senegal is a predominantly Muslim country (99 percent of its 15 million people are Muslim). This developing African nation, which has a long coastline along the Atlantic Ocean, was a French colony for many years; the official language in the country is still French. Senegal has a strong influence over all other African nations.

The Gulen Movement: An Islamic Response to Terror as a Global Challenge (1)

Ibrahim A. el-Hussari*

The Gulen Movement: An Islamic Response to Global Challenges

Inspired by the Turkish Nursi Movement, M. Fethullah Gulen was among the few Muslim leaders, across the world, whose response to the challenges posed by global instability had been presented prior to the 9/11 attacks against New York and Washington. In fact, Gulen had already placed his movement in the context of accepting to meet the local and global challenges in a world defined, if not actually controlled, by the worldviews of secularists and their strong hold of the state and its functions in almost all the fields of human activity including: free trade, human rights, democratic institutions, international law (etc). In short, if a state is to be accepted as a sovereign equal, it must ape the Western model of the state or else it potentially faces being labeled ‘rogue.’

Hizmet (Gulen) Movement contributes to world peace

Following the international Hizmet Symposium in Washington D.C., Rumi Forum held its second day of the conference with academics from more than twenty countries.

Reflections On My First Trip to Türkiye

Brendan Dowd*

“What do you think of my decision to send my son to boarding school? Am I being a good father?” Wow. That’s a heavy question. Serkan, our tour guide in Izmir, translated this heartfelt question, explaining that our host, and father of four, would be sending his third son to America for his secondary schooling. I sat at the table sipping on my cool glass of the traditional yogurt drink, ayran, and could not help but feel warmed by the genuine sincerity of the question. Here was a man humble enough to ask a group of strangers whether or not they thought he was a good father. The group of Chicagoans circled around the table smiled in awe.

Ethiopian President receives Ethio-Turkish schools delegation

Board members of Nejashi Ethio-Turkish International Schools recently paid a courtesy visit to the newly elected Ethiopian President, Dr. Mulatu Teshome, in his presidential office.

Niagara Foundation brings together the three Abrahamic religions

Niagara Foundation Missouri chapter’s Abrahamic Traditions Dinner hosted by Archdiocese of St. Louis this year attracted a great deal of attention. In attendance of the dinner held on October 24th were over two hundred members from the three Abrahamic religions.

International “Evolution of Teacher Training Conference” took place in Minsk

The "Evolution of Teacher Training: International Cooperation and Integration" conference, the fourth in the traditional conferences series, jointly organized by Belarusian State Pedagogical University and the Dialogue Eurasia Association, was held in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

Gülen hails Marmaray rail link

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has praised world’s first underwater rail link that connects Europe and Asia and said good things should be applauded and encouraged.

Over 50 thousand Filipino families benefit Eid al-Adha meat aid

In order to mark Eid al-Adha with annual aid initiatives in the Philippines, Kimse Yok Mu Foundation, the Turkish schools in the Philippines, the Philippines’ Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Pacific Dialog Foundation have long been jointly organizing meat aid distributions across the country.

Love Is A Verb - Forthcoming Documentary on the Gulen Movement

Love Is A Verb is an examination of a social movement of Sufi-inspired Sunni Muslims that began in Turkey in the 1960s and now spans across the globe. The group is called Hizmet, the Turkish word for “service” or The Gülen Movement after its inspiration and teacher, Fethullah Gülen, a man TIME magazine named as one of the most influential leaders in the world in 2013 for “…preaching a message of tolerance.”

Bridges of love extending from Konya to Kenya

Kimse Yok Mu volunteers have taken action to heal Kenya where 68 people lost their lives in a terrorist attack last month. Thanks to the Anatolian philanthropists and volunteers, thousands of African families were able to enjoy Eid al-Adha spirit fully, as it should be.

Gulen's book ‘Love and Tolerance' translated into Greek

The book “Love in Human Essence” by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, known as the pioneer of the Hizmet movement, has been translated into Greek with the title “Agapi ke Anektikotita,” Greek for “love and tolerance.”

Kimse Yok Mu establishes 16 water wells in Cameroon

Kimse Yok Mu Bursa Chapter’s efforts launched four months ago in order to establish water wells in African countries have started to bear fruits. With the money from fundraisings and several drives, 16 water wells have been made available to the locals in N'Gaundere region of Cameroon.

Academics praise Gülen's contribution to world peace

Speaking at a conference titled “The Hizmet Movement and Peacebuilding” in Washington, D.C., at the weekend, prominent professors praised peace initiatives inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen as a great contribution to world peace.

(Ant Nest) from Turkish fashion designers to Bangladeshi orphans

Eleven designers came together at a recent charity event coordinated by fashion designer Esra Seziş and actor Taylan Güner.

Medialog calls for law against hate speech and crime

In a two-day conference on hate speech and hate crime organized by Medialog in İstanbul, leading journalists and academics urged the government to draft a law against defamation, blasphemy and discrimination while protecting the freedom of expression.

Global Dignity Day marked in Turkey

The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) organized a number of activities in Turkey to mark the Annual Global Dignity Day, which is celebrated with Global Dignity-led events around the world with the participation of 350.000 young people across 50 countries.

Romanian-Turkish Schools gear up for flood survivors

Romanian-Turkish Schools’ students donated their pocket money for the past month’s flood survivors in the eastern Romania. Moreover, the students delivered the aid in person to those living in trailer houses. The aid recipients who lamented desolation more than the sufferings the flood caused were in tears upon receiving the supplies.

Gülen gives thanks for recovery wishes

Turkish religious scholar Fethullah Gülen published two messages on Oct. 24 addressed to politicians, including the president, the prime minister, business people, journalists, academics and religious leaders, thanking for their recovery wishes due to his recent hospital treatment in the United States.

Rumi Forum bestows Peace and Dialogue awards

The Rumi Forum, an international organization promoting interfaith dialogue and peace, honored its 2013 RUMI Peace and Dialogue Award recipients on Thursday evening at the National Press Club Ballroom in Washington, D.C.

TUSKON brings together businesswomen from Turkey, Russia

The Confederation of Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) organized a meeting in Moscow on Thursday that brought together businesswomen from Russia and Turkey as part of its attempts to establish closer economic ties between the two countries.

Int'l symposium in Washington to discuss contribution of Hizmet to world peace

An international symposium under the name “The Hizmet Movement and PeaceBuilding” will be held on Oct. 25-26 in Washington, preceded by the RUMI Peace and Dialogue Awards Ceremony, taking place on Thursday.

Medialog Platform hosts digital media experts from Europe and Asia

Media representatives and academics from some 20 European and Asian countries have come to Istanbul to discuss the status of the digital media in the new era in the conference, “Understanding Communications in the New Media Era”. Participants called for cooperation and dialogue in the process.

KADIP hosts Armenian Patriarchate Archbishop Ateshian

Journalists and Writers Foundation’s Intercultural Dialogue Platform (KADIP) has established the tradition of meeting with yet another culture or faith’s members monthly by bringing together their opinion leaders and officials around “Abraham’s Table.” The platform’s latest guests in October were from Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul.

Gulen on Turkey’s accession to European Union

This is a part of an interview with Fethullah Gulen by Mehmet Gundem of Milliyet Daily in January 2005.

How do you interpret the start of a negotiation process between the EU and a Muslim country, in terms of Europe's identity and vision?

Fethullah Gulen: To date, how Turkey will benefit from this process has been discussed, generally speaking. I am not sure whether European countries are aware, but what Turkey will bring in is much more important. If they are aware of this and still resist, that means their obstinacy has dominated over sound thinking. As a matter of fact, there are many benefits out of this relationship for the reputation and future of Europe.

Turkish Schools in Niger

The positive approaches of the Ottomans and their contemporary descendants to the continent have earned Turks a high appeal among Africans. For instance, a shopkeeper just chalked it up for some time later when we didn’t have the money on us for our purchase. It was because he knew we were Turks.

A new Turkish cultural center launched in Kiev

A new Turkish cultural center has been launched under the umbrella of Ukraine’s nearly two-century-old National Pedagogical Dragomanov University.

The center has been brought to life with the cooperation of International Meridian Educational Institutions and National Pedagogical Dragomanov University, under the auspices of Turkey’s Embassy to Kiev, Consultancy to Ministry of Culture and the company, Anex Tour.

Fethullah Gülen fine after hospital stay for arrhythmia

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen is back in good health after being under medical observation for 12 hours on Sunday, herkul.org -- a website that usually publishes Gülen's speeches -- announced on its Twitter account.

Embracing the World: Rumi and Fethullah Gulen

This new book focuses on Fethullah Gülen’s understanding of Sufism in particular as found in the writings of Rumi, a Sufi thinker and poet who lived in 13th century Turkey, as well as with other earlier thinkers, from Socrates to Ibn ‘Arabi. Soltes demonstrates that, as a practitioner of Sufism, Gülen is in part inspired by legendary mystics like Rumi and Muhammad ibn Ali al-‘Arabi, but offers his own distinctive understanding of mysticism’s role in the world.

Thousands attend Turkish Festival in Johannesburg

Thousands of people have attended the fourth Turkish Culture and Food Festival at the Zoo Lake, a popular lake and public park in Johannesburg.

President Fischer receives Turkish Language Olympiads Austria team

The students and teachers, who represented Austria in 11th Turkish Language Olympiads organized by International Turkish Language Education Association (TURKCEDER) were received by the Austrian President Heinz Fischer at the presidential palace.

PM Erdoğan makes get-well-soon call to Fethullah Gülen

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen on Sunday to express his best wishes after he was hospitalized on Saturday.

Eid al-Adha in Rio

Sahin Alpay

I spent the second week of October in Brazil. What took me there was an invitation from a foundation founded by the former Brazilian President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, for me to give a talk on Turkey’s domestic and foreign politics, in Sao Paulo.

Beginnings and Endings: Fethullah Gülen's Vision for Today's World

Wagner's book explores the way that Fethullah Gülen, in his extensive writings, lays out a vision for humanity to make the most of its time on earth as the end times near. Wagner shows how Gülen uses his deep understanding of both Islamic faith and our modern times to lay out a path for humans to co-exist and live peacefully during their brief lifetimes. In this way, not only can humanity create a better world "here and now," fulfilling their destiny as "viceregents on earth," but they can best prepare for life in the hereafter. Instead of taking an apocalyptic view of the world, where religions and ideologies clash, Gülen believes that people of faith and good intentions can work together to make a more peaceful, prosperous world.

Samples from Kimse Yok Mu Eid al-Adha Aid Efforts (2)

Malian ministers join Kimse Yok Mu’s Eid al-Adha aid event

Malian Ministers attended the Eid al-Adha aid event co-organized by Kimse Yok Mu Foundation and the local Malian-Turkish Horizon Schools. Minister of Religious Affairs, Thierno Oumar Hasse Diallo; minister of Work and Social Welfare, Hamadoun Konate; minister of Culture Bruno Maiga; Turkey’s ambassador to Bamako, Kemal Kaygisiz, along with a large number of guests and volunteers were present during the event.

Samples from Kimse Yok Mu Eid al-Adha Aid Efforts (1)

Afghan-Turk Schools and Kimse Yok Mu jointly distribute sacrifice meat to 10 thousand Afghani families

The Afghan-Turkish Schools, in cooperation with Kimse Yok Mu Foundation (KYM) distributed Eid al-Adha meat to locals in 20 different provinces across Afghanistan. President of Afghan-Turk Cag Educational Institutions, Numan Erdogan spoke to Cihan News Agency: “As of today, we’ve been slaughtering sacrifice animals to be distributed in 20 different provinces across the country. Kimse Yok Mu foundation’s contributions alongside Turkish and Afghan businessmen’s made this possible.”

Fethullah Gülen: "Democracy Should Also Have a Metaphysical Dimension"

This is a part of an interview with Fethullah Gulen by Mehmet Gundem of Milliyet Daily in January 2005.

A notable award for Mongolian-Turkish schools

The Turkish schools operating in Mongolia have been awarded “Most Effective Institution Award”, in recognition of their contributions to Mongolia in the field of education.

Dying for a Cause: Youth, Violence, and the Gulen Movement--Beyond Tolerance and Dialogue

Jon Pahl*

A Love for Jihad?

In the expanding, concentric circles of social practices through which young people might be invited to live for a cause, the broadest circle in the Gülen movement belongs to the spiritual or social practice of jihad. This Qur’anic term has been hijacked by militants and militaries (Bonner). Together, both militants and militaries have associated jihad with violence and force--with physical destruction. Yet Fethullah Gülen’s teaching about jihad makes clear a very different meaning. Jihad “means using all one’s strength, as well as moving toward an objective with all one’s power… and resisting every difficulty.”(2006d, p. 62) Far from being only a physical war, this “greater jihad” is an internal, spiritual process--striving in the path of God. Gülen defines it as “the effort to attain one’s essence.” The objective of jihad is never dominance, but peace. Jihad is about “overcoming obstacles between oneself and his or her essence, and the soul’s reaching knowledge and eventually divine knowledge, divine love, and spiritual bliss”.

Scott Alexander: Hizmet is a social movement for peace

Associate Professor of Islam and Director of Catholic-Muslim Studies Program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Scott C. Alexander recently delivered a lecture entitled “A Global Movement for Spiritual Transformation and Societal Peace”, at an event organized by Mersin’s Foundation of Intercultural Dialogue Center (MEKADIM). Referring to Hizmet as “a social movement for peace”, which means, as Alexander further underscored, a movement of those who not only fulfill their responsibilities to themselves or to those in their circle but set out to extend a hand to “others” as well so that they can benefit prosperity, spirituality and transformation.

What is the dershane issue and how can it be solved?

Ekrem Dumanlı

As our regular readers have already noticed, we have adopted a calm attitude toward the possible closure of dershanes (private institutes that offer test-prep classes). And we continue to maintain our calm position.

Countering Al Qaeda’s Message

Ed Husain*

While world leaders gathered in New York last month to talk about moderation and peace, terrorist attacks claimed innocent lives in Kenya, Pakistan, Iraq and Syria. Iran’s leader and the American president were right to underscore diplomacy to avoid further bloodshed, but many of the killers in these conflicts are non-state actors. How can we stop their inspiration and prevent their embrace of martyrdom?

Medialog debates new media challenges at İstanbul conference

The Medialog Platform, which operates under the umbrella of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), brought together communication academics and media experts to discuss new challenges that the media is facing in the digital age, at the International Communication Faculties Conference in İstanbul on Friday.

Multilingual singer Julie Slim breathes life into songs

…there are a few exceptional people who can really make a song a living being by becoming one with it, as music is an irreplaceable part of their lives. Lebanese-American singer-songwriter Julie Slim, who visited İstanbul this week and performed Turkish songs in the city, is one of those people.

Fethullah Gülen on Turkey's Position in the World

Mehmet Gündem: How much do you think Turkey belongs to the Islamic world, to the Turkic world, and to Europe, particularly now that we find ourselves in this process (of EU membership)? Within the framework of a search for "A Nation in the World Balance," which is a title of one of your articles, where do you think Turkey belongs to?

Kutahya Physicians heal Somali sufferers

The civil war-stricken Somalia receives yet another helping hand extending from Turkey’s Kutahya province. A volunteer group of medical specialists recently went to the troubled African country to provide medical assistance particularly to pediatric patients.

Kimse Yok Mu Foundation introduced in Dayton

Turkey-based relief and aid foundation Kimse Yok Mu was publicized at a joint event held by Niagara Foundation and Turkish American Society of Ohio. Having Kimse Yok Mu Vice-President Metin Cetiner as the keynote speaker, the presentation attracted much attention of the audience.

Lawyer rejects Gülen's alleged remarks published by leftist daily

Lawyer of renowned Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has denied his client's alleged remarks against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) that were published by a leftist daily on Oct. 9.

Ethio-Turkish Schools receive “Certificate of Appreciation’ from African Union

African Union Political Affairs Department has honored Nejashi Ethio-Turkish Schools in Ethiopia with a certificate of appreciation in recognition of their contribution to mutual understanding and peace in Africa.

Istanbul Summit and Peace Projects presented in New York

A reception was held by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) on September 30, 2013 in New York to promote its two international projects, Istanbul Summit and Peace Projects. Numerous representatives to the United Nations (UN) who came to New York to attend the 68th UN General Assembly meeting as well as journalists, academics and foreign diplomats were hosted at the GYV office on the 5th Avenue. Chief of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO) Branch of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Adrei Abramov, Permanent Observer to the UN Narinder Kakar, Press Counselor of the Permanent Representation of Spain to the UN Florentino Sotomayor Basabe and Adviser to the Permanent Representation of Saudi Arabia to the UN Maisah Sobaihi attended the reception.

Two additional Turkish schools to open in Casablanca

Two additional Turkish schools, one of which will provide education in English in Morocco for the very first time, will be set up in Casablanca, Morocco Turkish Schools General Director İbrahim Aktaş announced on Tuesday.