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Fethullah Gulen

 
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 5:55 am    Post subject: Fethullah Gulen Reply with quote

This strange character seems to be an "un-person" in Saudi Arabia. I have NEVER seen his name mentioned in the press or heard any mention of him.

Maybe the leadership (?) in KSA do not approve because he has chosen Pennsylvania as his base for the re-Islamicization of the former Ottoman Empire ?
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 2:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have never seen his name mentioned anywhere. Even after googling, I had still never encountered anything of him before. Probably to those who have spent a lot of time in Turkey, he is familiar...

VS
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johnslat



Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A controversial figure, he was featured on a "60 Minutes'" segment a little while back; he's opened up charter schools in the USA.

"Over the past decade, followers of the mysterious Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen have opened scores of charter schools in the U.S., inspired by a man who is as powerful as he is reclusive. Lesley Stahl reports.

"Fetullah Gulen story by Lesley Stahl. The Harmony School in Houston, Texas is the first school covered by Stahl. A hovercraft made of leaf blowers. Julie Norton is an administator. She said they have 20,000 students, and 30,000 on a waiting list. Many of the teachers are Turkish. There are 130 schools in 26 states. Gulen says: they should not build mosques, they should build schools. Al Aguandowon. In the late 1960s, Gulen urged students to learn from the West. TV stations, a major bank, trade association, and a newspaper. Andrew Finkle comments on Gulen. Gulen lives in a gated Pocono community in Pennsylvania. Gulen came to the US in 1999. Issue of immigration fraud. David Dunn of Texas Charter School Assocication denies this. Horizon Academy. Allegation: Every pay period, give back of 40% of salary."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4OtHpUCqy0
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had only heard of him through my esoteric interest in Modern Turkey and regret that the ideals of Ataturk are going down the tubes.
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dutchman



Joined: 10 Mar 2010
Posts: 84

PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is a Saudi sheikh praising him in an international conference, but it's in Arabic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCIVGSTLBOI
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

But what does the Grand Mufti make of him ? is he halal ?
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deessell2



Joined: 11 Jun 2005
Posts: 132
Location: Under the sun

PostPosted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 3:23 pm    Post subject: Re: Fethullah Gulen Reply with quote

scot47 wrote:
This strange character seems to be an "un-person" in Saudi Arabia. I have NEVER seen his name mentioned in the press or heard any mention of him.

Maybe the leadership (?) in KSA do not approve because he has chosen Pennsylvania as his base for the re-Islamicization of the former Ottoman Empire ?


Re-Islamicization is an appropriate word to define their agenda.

I inadvertently came across some of their 'missionaries' or cult members while working in South-east Asia. They have many schools and universities around the world and on the surface they seem benign.

Turkish "businessmen" like to set-up non-profit schools in developing countries, teaching English and Turkish.

Quite disturbing really how children are being caught up in geo-politics.

The schools have been shut down in several central-Asian countries for promoting Islam.

Quote:

Turkey's Fethullah Gulen Community (FGC), also known as the Gulen movement after its founder and leader Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Muslim preacher, often escapes scholarly attention. Yet no analysis of Turkey is complete without due attention paid to the FGC; a highly co-ordinated and centralised movement with many well-positioned followers, known as Gulenists. Some Turks deridingly refer to the movement as 'F-type' or 'Fethullahci' (followers of Fethullah).


According to FGC members, the organisation controls millions of dollars and has many organisations, including a network of high schools across the world that serve as signpost FGC institutions. In addition, the FGC owns universities, banks, non-governmental organisations and television networks in Turkey, as well as other countries.


What is more, the FGC appears to have influence over the Turkish National Police (Emniyet), including the police's powerful domestic intelligence wing. The FGC's political power renders it a taboo topic in Turkey where many people shy away from discussing the group publicly.


The Turks have a polarised view of Gulen: some see him as a political leader such as Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, while others view him as the face of modern, non-violent, even reformed Islam. This and the FGC's political power makes the organisation worthy of closer scrutiny in an effort to map out its structure, global reach, message, political influence and future in Turkey.

http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Islamic-Affairs-Analyst-2009/Gulen-movement-Turkey-s-third-power.html


Jeff Stein in the Washington Post had this to say:

Quote:
A memoir by a top former Turkish intelligence official claims that a worldwide moderate Islamic movement based in Pennsylvania has been providing cover for the CIA since the mid-1990s.

The memoir, roughly rendered in English as �Witness to Revolution and Near Anarchy,� by retired Turkish intelligence official Osman Nuri Gundes, says the religious-tolerance movement, led by an influential former Turkish imam by the name of Fethullah Gulen, has 600 schools and 4 million followers around the world.



In the 1990s, Gundes alleges, the movement "sheltered 130 CIA agents" at its schools in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan alone, according to a report on his memoir Wednesday by the Paris-based Intelligence Online newsletter.



http://voices.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2011/01/islamic_group_is_cia_front_ex-.html
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dutchman



Joined: 10 Mar 2010
Posts: 84

PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:41 am    Post subject: Re: Fethullah Gulen Reply with quote

deessell2 wrote:


Turkish "businessmen" like to set-up non-profit schools in developing countries, teaching English and Turkish.



It's not just the developing countries. They have established a couple of schools in the Netherlands too. And they receive quite a bit of funding from the state. The Dutch cabinet had an investigation about the movement. Politicians often tend to speak highly of their interfaith dialogue and other activities though.
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 2:49 am    Post subject: Re: Fethullah Gulen Reply with quote

deessell2 wrote:

Jeff Stein in the Washington Post had this to say:

Quote:
A memoir by a top former Turkish intelligence official claims that a worldwide moderate Islamic movement based in Pennsylvania has been providing cover for the CIA since the mid-1990s.

I rather get a chuckle about how they always try to shoehorn the CIA into everything when it comes to conspiracy theories. Laughing

VS
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deessell2



Joined: 11 Jun 2005
Posts: 132
Location: Under the sun

PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

VS, I don't think it was a conspiracy theory. The agents were based at Gulen movement schools.

The British Council used to serve as a cover for British agents.

For me, it's very believable.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"used to " ?????????????

As for the spooks from Langley, it would be extraordinary if they were not closely involved with Fethullah.
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 2:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If the CIA weren't so totally inept, I might buy it.

But then in the Middle East, every American teacher tends to get accused of CIA ties... it really got ridiculous after awhile. Just as how every farmer in Iran/Egypt/etc whose donkey dies blames it on the CIA. Rolling Eyes

VS
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johnslat



Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 4:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear VS,

I take it you are unfamiliar with the "Donkeys: Termination with Extreme Prejudice" division at Langley.

It's a controversial department since asses are so ubiquitous, and a number of cases of misidentified targets have been reported.

Regards,
John
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trapezius



Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 1670
Location: Land of Culture of Death & Destruction

PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

^ Especially so since asses have to be covered with a lose covering in the Gulf Arab countries, and that tends to mask the identity of so many asses.
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