Brief updates
Some of these brief notes will be integrated into other pages later. The updates here relate to the Gulen Movement in general; brief updates specifically on the Gulen charter schools can be found on this page of our companion site.
#3 Mar 18, 2011: Intelligence Online report
The Turkish newspaper BirGun ran a piece on how Fethullah Gulen's relationship with the American government has evolved over time. The article is sourced from a report from Intelligence Online (dated Jan 6, 2011; subscription needed to view full report) carrying the title "Gulen, the CIA's favorite imam." It is mentioned that in 2003 five teachers in a Gulen school in Malawi were shipped to Guantanamo because of links to "international jihad." In 2004 the same is said to have happened to a staff member in a Gulen organization in Botswana. It is said that after this, the FBI became suspicious of the Gulen Movement.
#2: Feb 15, 2011: More repression of Gulen's critics in Turkey
A Feb 15, 2011 Hurriyet Daily News story about a raid on ODATV, a Turkish media outlet, mentions that ODATV is strongly critical of the government. ODATV is also strongly critical of Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen Movement. For example, the article on this webpage came from the ODATV website. The Hurriyet article also mentions the ongoing detention of journalists Mustafa Balbay and Tuncay Ozkan, also critics of both the AKP and Gulen. All these developments are signs that freedom of the press in Turkey is in serious jeopardy, and call into question Gulen's claimed commitment to human rights. For more on this, see the page on "Repression in the Name of Tolerance."
#1 Feb 11, 2011: Dani Rodrik's article in The National Interest: "Turkish Democracy"
Click here to read the full article.
Harvard Professor Dani Rodrik says that Zaman, the Gulen Movement's main newspaper, was the leader in attempts to discredit him and his wife during their recent trip to Turkey, which occurred during the trial of Rodrik's father-in-law. He mentions the Gulenists' infiltration into the police, judiciary and military, and their use of dirty tricks. The glaring inconsistency between the actions of the Gulenists and the purported lofty ideals of Fethullah Gulen is also noted. Among the most noteworthy lines: "But in our contacts with other segments of the mainstream media, we encountered another worrying leitmotif: fear. We heard story after story about self-censorship and refusal to engage with subjects that might offend the Gulen movement or the government." Rodrik expresses frustration at the inability of so many members of the intelligentsia to see the true nature of the Gulen Movement, a frustration that will resonate strongly with some US readers.