Hurriyet, Turkey
May 14 2010
The Gülen movement plays big in Washington
Friday, May 14, 2010
Ä°LHAN TANIR
It was one of the lavish lounges of the Willard Hotel in Washington
where hundreds of Turkic people from all across America with plain
name tags gathered to mark the creation of a new umbrella Turkic
Assembly last Wednesday. Six Turkish-American federations, which have
close proximity to Mr. Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish cleric and the
exiled leader of the Turkey-based religious Gülen Movement joined to
form the Assembly of Turkic American Federations, or ATAF, a
non-profit organization.
Half a dozen U.S. Senators and a few dozens of U.S. Representatives
made a strong showing at the reception and the Gülen Movement hinted
that its new assembly has some muscles to flex in Washington already.
One would think bringing that many U.S. Senators and Representatives
should require loads of money for campaign donations. "No," said,
Mahmut Yeter, president of one of the six federations that formed the
ATAF, "this strong turnout owes its success to their members who
worked voluntarily, often visited these lawmakers in their local
offices and finally convinced them with their persistence that they
have to be at the reception."
I had a chance to talk with some of the congressmen and senators who
participated at the reception. I asked Ms. Gabrielle Giffords,
representative from Arizona’s 8th. District, why she chose to come to
a Turkic community gathering, considering that there is a very tiny
Turkic community in her district. Gifford turned and pointed out a
young Turkish man who was standing next to her. According to the
congresswoman, that young Turkish man had visited Gifford’s district
office several times recently and finally persuaded her to show up for
the reception "even though I do not like to go such events," Gifford
said, before responding my question and telling me that she never
heard of Fethullah Gülen.
The Gülen Movement accelerated its activities in U.S., especially
since the leader of the Movement, Fethullah Gülen settled in
Pennsylvania about a decade ago. During the mid ’90s, after almost
three decades in the making, it was still operating very much under
the radar in Turkey.
The unexpected and sudden decision to combine all of their 180
organizations under one umbrella assembly was a surprising move, at
any rate, for those who follow the Gülen movement closely and are
aware about its cautious strategies and steps.
Mr. Gülen first decided to go public with a wide ranging interview in
early 1995, and in the following years the movement attracted
ever-increasing attention. The postmodern-military coup of Feb. 28,
1997 pushed Gülen out of Turkey to find refuge in the U.S. Only more
than a decade later, the Gülen Movement gathered enough manpower,
recognition and credit to bring dozens of members of Congress to its
half-official Washington debut night. The Turkish ambassador to the
U.S., Mr. Namık Tan, came to the reception and stayed there almost the
entire night, having conversations with the members of the U.S.
Congress – alhough not everyone was as joyful about the new kid in
town. The Assembly of Turkish-American Associations, or ATAA’s,
president, Günay Evinç, was pretty upset about the name of this new
assembly because of its similar word selection with their own
assembly. Evinç argued that this name similarity has created a big
administrative disaster for their organization to explain the
difference.
Evinç, who has had good relationships with the Gülen Movement’s
organizations so far, did not seem as thrilled with the idea of this
alternative Turkish assembly. "ATAA," Evinç said while describing the
difference, "promotes an inter-Turks dialogue, not interfaith." Evinç
pleaded that he wanted "a dialogue and to stay on good terms with
everyone, including this new organization.’ However, this name
confusion is such a huge issue, he said, adding that they would even
consider finishing `the whole partnerships and dialogue with them.’
Another Gülen Movement member in Washington said when told about this
complaint, "for 30 years, ATAA has been the leading voice to represent
Turkish people in the U.S. Now rapidly increasing numbers of
Gülen-tied assemblies are taking the market, and ATAA’s and others’
maneuvering room is shrinking."
Decision from Gülen
This decision of "combining all Gülen-related Turkic or Turkish
associations and federations under one assembly,’ was decided by
Fethullah Gülen, another active member of the movement who came to the
reception from a long distance said. "This decision was too big to let
other leading members of the Gülen Movement to take on. Gülen took the
initiative," said the well-connected member while listening to
speakers at the reception.
It is the "Turkic American Federations," not Turkish, because this
umbrella organization represents not only those Turks who are from
Turkey, but those "citizens from Central Asia, Anatolia and the
Balkans… as part of [America’s] cultural mosaic" the website of the
ATAF notes.
The Gülen Movement also sent an important signal to the political
leadership in Ankara by fetching this many U.S. Congress members. The
movement made a psychological statement in Washington that they should
be also taken into consideration in terms of multi-leveled relations
between Turkey and America by demonstrating that they have a few
strings to play in Washington.
Mr. Gülen motivates his followers in the U.S. to contribute and visit
their local representatives. Gülen, according to another active member
of the movement at the reception, asks those who want to visit his
compound in Pennsylvania "to donate to their local representatives
first,’ before they show up at his door.
"This is just a beginning," another participant told me during the
night, while pointing out a group of senators and representatives
along with the Turkish ambassador having a conversation.
The Gülen Movement last week made it official that its members are
here in America to stay and expand at an even faster pace in coming
years.
This looming scenario would have two possible upshots for
Turkish-American relationships. One is: increasing the presence of the
movement in Washington will help Turkey during some of the threatening
developments for its interests, such as the Armenian genocide
resolution discussions. The Gülen Movement proved with this year’s
`genocide’ fights in Washington and other states that the movement
will be another influential venue to advance Turkey’s interests in
Washington on many matters.
The second upshot is the strong possibility for the Gülen Movement to
become a leading voice among the Turkish groups in Washington to reach
the U.S. Congress and other Washington decision makers to narrate the
contemporary domestic issues of Turkey and relate them to U.S.
politicians. In that sense, members of the U.S. Congress, most of whom
do not have much international affairs on their resume, might be just
happy while swallowing concentrated education pills on Turkey through
Gülen Movement recipe.
The Gülenists deserved a big round of applause with being able to pull
off such an impressive gathering at the heart of Washington this week
at the end of the day.
The Gülen Movement members are disciplined, loyal and they complete
their assignments as they are told. The movement is able to mobilize
its members to fulfill its leader’s vision even in America.
It is a tough competitor for any other movement.
That is why we hear more often greetings to Pennsylvania these days
from unexpected places.