US as the 'homeland' of FETÖ
Journalists and activists are required to endeavor to explain the true color of Gülenist terrorists through the channels of civil society, media and think tanks
The Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ) has more than 150 charter schools and almost 10,000 active cult members. Considering the fact that the cult leader, Fetullah Gülen, lives comfortably in his mansion Poconos, Pennsylvania, it would not be wrong to call the United States the ‘homeland' of FETÖ.
Last week, as a group of Daily Sabah writers, we were in Washington to give an account of FETÖ's influence on the July 15 coup attempt. In my presentation, I explained the different strategies FETÖ employed throughout its history and how it infiltrated the Turkish state.
I emphasized during my presentation that FETÖ gained space by building student dormitories and directing its disciples, who were students of Islamic studies, to become teachers or infiltrate the Presidency of Religious Affairs during the 1970s. As of the 1990s, FETÖ expanded its network and received support from various major political figures from different political spectrums including Turgut Özal, Süleyman Demirel, Bülent Ecevit and Tansu Çiller. I showed with figures that they provided the copies of the public personnel selection exams and military school entrance exams to their disciples, which becomes even more obvious when the exam results are compared. And of course, I talked about how they established their own bureaucratic tutelage by overstating the coup threat posed by the Kemalist bureaucracy and filing lawsuits with false evidence during the period of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) governments.
James Jeffrey, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey who is known for his fair comments on Turkey-U.S. relations despite his dissident stance and his telegraphs informing the U.S. authorities that FETÖ infiltrated the Turkish state, also attended the panel. Jeffrey wrote this pithy message in 2005, which effectively summarizes all we have been trying to say about FETÖ:
"Deep and widespread doubts remain, however, about his [Gülen] movement's ultimate intentions. We have anecdotal evidence of the pressure that the various circles of his movement put on people they have drawn in... These facts, when coupled with the Gülenists' penetration of state institutions, hint that a much harder line, a sense of world-wide Islamist proselytizing mission, lies just under the surface."
On July 15, we witnessed how this movement formed a state within the state after a decade from this message and how fatal the outcomes could be. However, this process, which Turkey passed through at an unprecedented pace, was not experienced by our Western friends.
Consequently, as Jeffrey put it at the panel, it is not difficult to understand why the U.S. media outlets and think tanks did not code Gülen as a terrorist leader all of a sudden as Turkish Foreign Minister paid a visit to him only three years ago. However, this does not encompass the relation between the states. Considering that the U.S. once hosted Taliban members at the White House and expressed its thanks to Bin Laden for the support he gave against the Soviets, the U.S. still found a positive answer to its request for help from Turkey when the conjuncture of the struggle in Afghanistan changed. Parallel to this, the U.S. has to comprehend the importance of the requests of the Turkish state and people as soon as possible.
However, as I mentioned before, we are required to endeavor to explain the true color of FETÖ through the channels of civil society, media and think tanks as journalists and activists since FETÖ has a network of schools, social connections and lobbying activities in the U.S. for years.
Last week, as a group of Daily Sabah writers, we were in Washington to give an account of FETÖ's influence on the July 15 coup attempt. In my presentation, I explained the different strategies FETÖ employed throughout its history and how it infiltrated the Turkish state.
I emphasized during my presentation that FETÖ gained space by building student dormitories and directing its disciples, who were students of Islamic studies, to become teachers or infiltrate the Presidency of Religious Affairs during the 1970s. As of the 1990s, FETÖ expanded its network and received support from various major political figures from different political spectrums including Turgut Özal, Süleyman Demirel, Bülent Ecevit and Tansu Çiller. I showed with figures that they provided the copies of the public personnel selection exams and military school entrance exams to their disciples, which becomes even more obvious when the exam results are compared. And of course, I talked about how they established their own bureaucratic tutelage by overstating the coup threat posed by the Kemalist bureaucracy and filing lawsuits with false evidence during the period of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) governments.
James Jeffrey, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey who is known for his fair comments on Turkey-U.S. relations despite his dissident stance and his telegraphs informing the U.S. authorities that FETÖ infiltrated the Turkish state, also attended the panel. Jeffrey wrote this pithy message in 2005, which effectively summarizes all we have been trying to say about FETÖ:
"Deep and widespread doubts remain, however, about his [Gülen] movement's ultimate intentions. We have anecdotal evidence of the pressure that the various circles of his movement put on people they have drawn in... These facts, when coupled with the Gülenists' penetration of state institutions, hint that a much harder line, a sense of world-wide Islamist proselytizing mission, lies just under the surface."
On July 15, we witnessed how this movement formed a state within the state after a decade from this message and how fatal the outcomes could be. However, this process, which Turkey passed through at an unprecedented pace, was not experienced by our Western friends.
Consequently, as Jeffrey put it at the panel, it is not difficult to understand why the U.S. media outlets and think tanks did not code Gülen as a terrorist leader all of a sudden as Turkish Foreign Minister paid a visit to him only three years ago. However, this does not encompass the relation between the states. Considering that the U.S. once hosted Taliban members at the White House and expressed its thanks to Bin Laden for the support he gave against the Soviets, the U.S. still found a positive answer to its request for help from Turkey when the conjuncture of the struggle in Afghanistan changed. Parallel to this, the U.S. has to comprehend the importance of the requests of the Turkish state and people as soon as possible.
However, as I mentioned before, we are required to endeavor to explain the true color of FETÖ through the channels of civil society, media and think tanks as journalists and activists since FETÖ has a network of schools, social connections and lobbying activities in the U.S. for years.