Today’s Zaman, Turkey
May 17 2009

GYV Chairman YeÅ?il decodes the Gülen movement

Mustafa YeÅ?il, the chairman of the Journalists and Writers
Foundation’s (GYV) executive board, a Turkish NGO undertaking projects
that emphasize mutual understanding and tolerance to establish global
peace, described the movement named after the GYV’s honorary
president, Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, as being
faith based, pacifist, pluralist, colorful and pro-democratic.

Gülen is perhaps the only scholar in history whose ideas
have been discussed at international conferences while he is still
alive. As academia convened in the US, the UK and the Netherlands and
is set to convene in Germany before the end of this month, again with
the same purpose, it is then true that this movement has long been the
subject of many discussions, not only in Turkey but abroad as well.

YeÅ?il, in an interview with Sunday’s Zaman, commented on a wide
array of issues related to the movement, from its very definition to
its followers’ approach to recent political developments, and from the
underlying principles motivating them to how they finance their
activities. He said the volunteers in this movement see service to
people as service to God and aim to establish dialogue with all
regardless of religious or ethnic affiliation.

Can we introduce the GYV as being a representative of the Gülen
movement, considering the fact that your honorary president is
Mr. Gülen himself?

To answer your question, we must first understand what kind of a place
Mr. Gülen has in the movement. First, this movement is not a
religious sect. The most fundamental attribute of the movement is that
it has been inspired by and benefited from Fethullah Gülen’s
world of ideas. So he is a source of inspiration, an intellectual
leader and an example with his life, ideas and devotion. Similarly,
while our foundation was being established in 1994, Mr. Gülen
intellectually led us with his ideas and also took part in all the
activities we organized afterwards.

It is one of the fundamental characteristics of human beings to
replicate the best practices they see in one place somewhere
else. This is how our civilization has developed. Mr. Gülen, as
you know, was delivering sermons in mosques in Ä°zmir in the
early 1970s, and he was also taking care of some secondary school
students and teaching them about universal values in dormitories he
and a couple of his friends financed from their own pockets. And some
other people who were coming to listen to Gülen’s sermons from
other districts and provinces were also witnessing the excellent
character of those students. So they just replicated what they saw in
Ä°zmir where they lived, and it started to spread from a single
spot, first to the western region and then to the entire country from
there. Outsiders, however, are making a fundamental mistake here when
examining the movement. This movement is actually a unity of ideas,
but it happens to have many differences within itself as to the
structure and operations of those institutions as well as to the
people who are employed in them.

`It is a faith-based social movement’

I stated these important details to come to your question of whether
we are a representative of the movement or not. In fact, we have 40
years behind us. and the movement has grown to conduct its activities
primarily in five areas; education, businessmen’s associations,
intercultural dialogue, humanitarian aid and healthcare. Now, a
movement that is equal to the combination of such a diversified array
of activities, carried on in many countries worldwide with a very
colorful group of people in terms of differences among them, cannot
specify and have a single representative. This is because no piece of
this whole can claim to be a representative of it. So in that regard
it is not possible to have one. But if you consider someone or some
institution that knows and reads Gülen well and who is also
sharing something about his world of ideas with others to be a
representative of this movement, I can say that the GYV is the most
active institution doing this in Turkey.

OK, how do you define the movement, then? How should we understand it?

It is a faith-based social movement. But it is not religious nor does
it have religious objectives. People from different faiths also
started to support this initiative after some time had elapsed, yet it
is true that its reference point is Islam and the Islamic faith. It is
the principle that `he who is helping people the most is the best of
you’ and the perception that `the Creator’s consent is a much better
blessing than all the blessings in the universe,’ which are placed in
the hearts of people, that made this movement real.

However, this does not necessarily mean they are trying to convert
people to Islam or act in line with pan-Turkism. The universal values
that are well established in Islam are common ground between people of
different races, ethnicities, religions and cultures. Honesty,
goodness, generosity, mutual respect, accepting people as they are and
love are the values on which all communities can agree. And, agreeing
on them is enough for the realization of Gülen’s projects to
establish and maintain global peace. So we say it is not a religious
movement. Moreover, the issue of religion is so sensitive in many
countries in which the movement is active. Therefore, if the element
of religion was as dominant as is asserted by some, the movement’s
activities in those countries would already have been suspended, but
they have clearly not been.

Would you please also talk about why, in the first place, you set sail
in this direction?

There was a justified interpretation in the West that the Muslim world
has not contributed much to either the development of humankind or to
the establishment of global peace in the last two to three
centuries. I think the sons and daughters of this country were very
upset at this interpretation and just wanted to do something to change
it and prove otherwise. So the movement was a solution and an answer
to this feeling of burden and responsibility.

This movement is now offering the world a peaceful environment for all
since its followers figured out the importance of the human factor for
realizing this long ago. It is true that if you want to establish
global peace, you must invest in human beings. That is exactly what
the Gülen movement has been doing for more than 40 years
now. Take Bosnia, for example. I am sure everybody’s memories are
still fresh about the atrocities and the bloodshed that took place
between 1992 and 1995. Today, Serb, Croat and Bosnian students are
receiving the same education in same classrooms in the school opened
by the movement. They are growing up all together while being taught
that their religious or ethnic or whatever differences do not preclude
the possibility for them to peacefully coexist and live side by
side. Adapt this now to India and even to the West and to the
developed countries.

Schools in West represent tolerance

One of the academics who attended the Gülen conference in
London in 2007 asked why we are opening schools in the West, too,
where countries are famous for their quality of education. And I asked
this directly to Mr. Gülen. He said: `We, as representatives of
an understanding based on the friendship of civilizations rather than
their clash and on unity against separation, and on love and tolerance
rather than struggle, are saying dialogue with all today. But dialogue
cannot be reduced to organizing conferences and seminars only. If you
want dialogue to be durable for ages, then you can only do this by the
generations you brought up. Our schools in the West are serving this
end.’

If we come to the issue of financial support, how do you finance all
those activities in all those countries?

Today all institutions of this movement are open to everybody’s visit
and even to their inspection if they like. While saying this is a
social movement, we have to underline one thing: that the followers of
this movement do not have any worldly expectations in exchange for
what they do. This is valid for the teachers working in the movement’s
schools and also for those businessmen financially supporting
them. Thus, the personnel of those institutions are working with the
most minimal salaries possible to live in the country in which they
operate. You can personally see and experience this wherever you
go. Besides, because local people want to see those institutions,
those islands of peace, swiftly flourish in their countries, too, and
are helping them accordingly, the cost of these activities goes down
even further. So first, not that much money is necessary or used to
carry on these activities of the movement. People don’t understand
this because they calculate the cost side, taking market value as a
reference, but we are operating much below market value. And along
with this, I must say that some institutions are also making a profit
and are using their earnings to finance other institutions of the
movement, and the movement expands in this way, too. There is one
last detail on the issue of finance. Many businessmen, owners of small
and medium-sized enterprises, have also moved abroad voluntarily with
those teachers going out to work in a school of the movement. Now most
activities in many countries are also being supported from such local
resources. But other than this, no outside source has been used so
far. No contribution from any state was received or even expected. In
the years Mr. Gülen was being tried before the court, the
finances of the movement were also carefully examined down to the
smallest detail by the relevant bodies. And, other than those
aforementioned sources, no aid or donation or any kind of contribution
was documented. In sum, there is no centralized mechanism for
finance. This is only the pennies earned with difficulty and the
honesty of great-hearted people.

But, from time to time, we see some accusatory media coverage about
the movement. What do you think about your activities being perceived
like this by some people?

The media should be a body responsible for disclosing the truth. We
understand not the accusations but the questions in people’s minds. We
see ourselves as responsible for the better promotion of our
activities and for remedying those misunderstandings and
misperceptions. But it is also true that there are people acting on
their prejudices without even willing to really understand what the
movement is. It is not a big surprise that those people sometimes come
to the wrong conclusions. Honestly, we haven’t encountered a single
problem with any journalist who is trying to understand the movement
without looking from the lenses of prejudice.

Again relevant here, we have heard the words of the terrorist
Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) leader Murat Karayılan
concerning the Gülen movement. He said it is being used by the
US and is infiltrating the Turkish state, also getting close to ruling
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and is a risk not for today
but for tomorrow. What can you say to that?

First, I am leaving it to people’s conscience to decide how reliable
the words of the leader of a terrorist group are. When we say PKK, we
are talking about a terrorist organization that killed thousands of
civilians, the very people they claim to be fighting for, in the
course of time during which they attacked villages, planted mines
under roads open to public use and exploded bombs among civilians. Now
I am leaving it to people’s conscience to decide on the criticism of a
terrorist organization slaughtering people about a movement derived
from the goodwill of this nation. His words defining us as a risk
should well be questioned.

Offering quality education to all

The movement, carrying out its activities for more than 40 years, has
not harmed a single individual and has never made mothers and fathers
weep. Now imagine a movement that brought its people, the people of
the Southeast included, to a brilliant level by offering quality
education to them, and then imagine a terrorist organization even
lacking a clear target. A simple comparison tells us a lot. Just
compare the fruits of both. An academic on the one hand, and a
terrorist on the other.

I also want to hear you comment on recent political devel
opments. Let’s start with March 29 local elections. How do you
interpret the outcome?

Democracy is a great opportunity for our country. I wish it did not
have its present shortfalls, either, which caused everybody a lot of
trouble, but Turkey is on its way of further democratization, and this
is promising. The last elections have proved that democracy is a must
for people. It is the regime through which the electorate exercises
civilian control over the country’s administration. In the past, some
groups have even been part of anti-democratic endeavors with the fear
that democracy serves only one party’s (the AK Party) interest. But
our nation proved otherwise and sent a message to both the ruling and
the opposition parties, and that is lovely. Democracy is the only type
of governance in which our people can exercise this right.

Professor Binnaz Toprak conducted a study with the Open Society
Institute and found that Turkey is increasingly becoming more
conservative and that this is a threat for other lifestyles. They
talked about this `neighborhood pressure,’ specifying this `threat.’
What do you think about this?

First, if Turkey is becoming more conservative, it cannot be explained
only by domestic transformations. Today, the world has become a global
village, so much so that a social formation can easily take on a
universal identity in a short period of time. Presently in the entire
world, particularly after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the
tragic 9/11 incidents, there is this increasing interest of people in
religion. It is a reality that people are now talking about religion
more than they used to. Turkey, as part of this whole, is not immune
from this global trend. Yet, it is natural for a country like Turkey,
whose people have always been sensitive to religion, to develop a
similar interest. However, Toprak’s research is flawed because of its
sampling methodology. She herself confessed that they only interviewed
a limited number of people having a particular way of life. In proper
research that is supposed to be saying something about a country’s
realities, the sample needs also to be as diverse as the country’s
population. Imagine a survey of economic wellbeing that used only
unemployed people as respondents, then you would have a picture as if
the entire country is crumbling upon itself. And, imagine the same
questions asked only to millionaires of the country, and then the
picture you get will be very different from the former one. But one
thing remains valid for the two: They are distorted images of the
reality. Toprak’s research is one of them.

Turkey should be a part of the EU

What about the ongoing rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia?

All efforts to normalize relations with Armenia are good, and we
appreciate them for the sake of establishing peace in the region,
too. The Armenian diaspora, in particular that in the US, has
exploited the strained relations between the two for their own
purposes. This rapprochement will take this argument from their hands,
too, and that is a very good thing. Although the border opening and
the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis need more time, all
those efforts are so nice. We, as a nation, do not have any prejudices
against Armenians, nor does the movement. That is very clear.

Do you support Turkish accession to the EU?

Yes, absolutely. Turkey should be a part of the EU. It is no longer
possible for any country to isolate itself from the world, from its
neighbors. Such a country can neither achieve a good trade volume nor
can it maintain its security. The EU should be our country’s primary
target. Achieving European standards is a necessity to compete with
today’s world. But I also want to state that Turkey is not begging for
membership from anybody. Yes it is true that Turkey will gain a lot
from the accession, but it also has a lot to offer to the EU. Today
Turkey is a factor of balance in the region in which it is situated,
in the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Mediterranean, and the Middle
East. With its rich natural resources and huge young population, it is
now standing in a very strategic spot for the entire world. So,
whereas so many more reasons can be shown necessitating our accession
to the EU, not a single reason can be uttered justifying a scenario of
our country’s isolation. We are firm supporters of this accession
process.

Before my last question, I want to ask you why Mr. Gülen is
staying in the US and not returning to Turkey.

In order to understand this, Mr. Gülen’s approach to life needs
to be well understood. However, I must say that his doctors are not
allowing him to return due to health problems. Leaving this aside,
Mr. Gülen is particularly concerned about the possibility that
this movement and this group of volunteers might suffer harm because
of some groups’ determined hostility to him. That is why he prefers a
kind of a hermitic life away from the eyes and attention by which he
is personally disturbed. Thus, despite his great love for his country
and people, he says, `Self-sacrifice and patience are my duties,’ and
he is staying in the US.

Lastly, what are the objectives of the Gülen movement for the
coming years? And, also what is its ultimate goal?

We hope educational services are going to expand. Several universities
have already been opened, but their numbers are planned to be
increased in the future. Besides, we would like to open some research
centers dealing with studies in certain fields, particularly the
social sciences, to offer projects and solutions to the world’s
problems. I believe they will realize important services to people,
too. As long as this movement has no room for personal and worldly
benefits within itself, it will continue to direct all its energy to
respond to humankind’s needs.

17 May 2009, Sunday
MUSTAFA EDÄ°B YILMAZ Ä°STANBUL