Setting the facts straight on the Gülen movement

James C. Harrington

In response to an article by Dan Bilefsky and Şebnem Arsu in the International Herald Tribune, titled “Shadow Force Grows in Turkey” Professor and human rights lawyer, James Harrington wrote an article in Today’s Zaman.

Prof. Harrington says that much of what the article “describes about Fethullah Gülen and Turkey’s recent history is accurate, but the authors cast a shadow of innuendo and loose conclusions, apparently more driven by personal predispositions than reality.”

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Mr. Gülen is concerned with the world of thoughts, not individuals, institutions, or political ambitions

Fethullah Gulen


In response to an article titled “Shadow force grows in Turkey” by Dan Bilefsky and Sebnem Arsu which appeared in the International Herald Tribune on April 18, 2012, Mr. Fethullah Gulen’s representative released a statement.

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“The problem is not political Islam but authoritarian Islam," says Mustafa Akyol

Mustafa Akyol (Photo: Today's Zaman)

Speaking to the Washington Times’ Luke Montgomery, columnist Mustafa Akyol said:

In Islamic history, we have a tradition of pluralism. At times, pluralism was attacked and those were bad times for Islamic civilization, so I think we need to have more pluralism. In order to have that, you need neutral states without an official doctrine. I’m not advocating a strong separation between religion and politics, but I’m an advocate of the secular state in the sense that it is neutral towards different religious communities. In other words, the problem is not political Islam but authoritarian Islam.

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Hizmet a civilian movement, has no political ambitions

The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), whose honorary chairman is well-respected Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, released a statement on its website on Thursday explaining the stance of the Hizmet [service] movement inspired by Gülen as a civilian one with no political ambitions. The full story from Today’s Zaman can be found here.

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The Rise and Fall of Military Tutelage in Turkey: Fears of Islamism, Kurdism, and Communism

Dr. Ahmet T. Kuru writes in the most recent issue of Insight Turkey (Vol. 14, No.2, 2012, pp. 37-57) about “The Rise and Fall of Military Tutelage in Turkey: Fears of Islamism, Kurdism, and Communism.”

The abstract of the article is as follows:

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