The dark side of Gülenism: Enes Kanter and anti-Semitism
Oklahoma City Thunder's Enes Kanter calls Fethullah Gülen's critics 'secret Jews' and offers to sacrifice his entire family for the cult. We're almost glad that he wasn't groomed to be a military officer
Having orchestrated a failed coup attempt in Turkey, Pennsylvania-based cult leader Fethullah Gülen and his followers are adapting to their new normal. Since July 15, millions of people have joined street protests against the putsch. It was not just supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the government either, as on Aug. 7, close to 5 million people from across the political spectrum gathered in Istanbul to send a message to Gülenists, with main opposition leaders in attendance with Erdoğan, the prime minister and the Parliament speaker to voice their support for democracy.
A quick look at Turkey's opposition media would suffice to understand what the Turkish people think about Gülen. The neo-Kemalist Aydınlık daily airs the Gülenist cult's dirty laundry every day. Sözcü, a top-selling opposition daily, adopted a similar editorial policy toward the man who gave the orders to kill 240 innocent people during the putsch. The mainstream media is no different.
Even though American news organizations carefully avoid talking about the new political atmosphere in Turkey, an entire country has united around the one idea that Gülen's cult perpetrated the July 15 coup attempt and he must be brought to justice.
Last week, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) made headlines in the United States after Daily Sabah broke the story of Oklahoma City Thunder player Enes Kanter, a self-proclaimed Gülen follower, being disowned by his family. Unhappy with his son's involvement with terrorists, Kanter's father told Daily Sabah that he had decided to disown him. Enraged by his father's comments, Enes announced that he would change his last name to Gülen: "I would sacrifice my mother, my father and all my relatives for him. May Allah give every second of my life on Earth to Gülen."
"It's not like we found this Hizmet [Gülenist Terror Cult] on the streets," he added. "So we won't leave it because a handful of Bagratunis so desire." In other words, Kanter accused Gülen's critics of being Bagratuni converts.
It is an interesting choice of words because the Armenian Bagratuni dynasty is not a popular point of reference. The Bagratunis were possibly a group of Jews who concealed their true identity and pretended to be Armenians in medieval times. At some point, they even ruled the Kingdom of Armenia.
Having paid lip service to interfaith dialogue for years, Gülen's disciples finally reveal their true face. In an effort to discredit his adopted father's critics, Enes Kanter went to no great lengths to conceal his blatant anti-Semitism. The fact, that there is room for an anti-Semite in the United States, let alone in the NBA, should be seriously questioned.Here is another fun fact: It was Gülen, the man who likes to present himself as a peace-loving imam, who used the term Bagratuni to insult his rivals.
Even though Gülen's spin doctors would like us to believe he is a harmless old man, the Pennsylvania-based cult leader, sensing he might stand trial in Turkey soon, has already started to lose control and lash out at anyone who disagrees with him. At this rate, Americans will soon figure out that Gülenists are not a bunch of moderate Muslims. They are wolves in sheep's clothing.
A quick look at Turkey's opposition media would suffice to understand what the Turkish people think about Gülen. The neo-Kemalist Aydınlık daily airs the Gülenist cult's dirty laundry every day. Sözcü, a top-selling opposition daily, adopted a similar editorial policy toward the man who gave the orders to kill 240 innocent people during the putsch. The mainstream media is no different.
Even though American news organizations carefully avoid talking about the new political atmosphere in Turkey, an entire country has united around the one idea that Gülen's cult perpetrated the July 15 coup attempt and he must be brought to justice.
Last week, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) made headlines in the United States after Daily Sabah broke the story of Oklahoma City Thunder player Enes Kanter, a self-proclaimed Gülen follower, being disowned by his family. Unhappy with his son's involvement with terrorists, Kanter's father told Daily Sabah that he had decided to disown him. Enraged by his father's comments, Enes announced that he would change his last name to Gülen: "I would sacrifice my mother, my father and all my relatives for him. May Allah give every second of my life on Earth to Gülen."
"It's not like we found this Hizmet [Gülenist Terror Cult] on the streets," he added. "So we won't leave it because a handful of Bagratunis so desire." In other words, Kanter accused Gülen's critics of being Bagratuni converts.
It is an interesting choice of words because the Armenian Bagratuni dynasty is not a popular point of reference. The Bagratunis were possibly a group of Jews who concealed their true identity and pretended to be Armenians in medieval times. At some point, they even ruled the Kingdom of Armenia.
Having paid lip service to interfaith dialogue for years, Gülen's disciples finally reveal their true face. In an effort to discredit his adopted father's critics, Enes Kanter went to no great lengths to conceal his blatant anti-Semitism. The fact, that there is room for an anti-Semite in the United States, let alone in the NBA, should be seriously questioned.Here is another fun fact: It was Gülen, the man who likes to present himself as a peace-loving imam, who used the term Bagratuni to insult his rivals.
Even though Gülen's spin doctors would like us to believe he is a harmless old man, the Pennsylvania-based cult leader, sensing he might stand trial in Turkey soon, has already started to lose control and lash out at anyone who disagrees with him. At this rate, Americans will soon figure out that Gülenists are not a bunch of moderate Muslims. They are wolves in sheep's clothing.