{"id":54283,"date":"2012-06-18T21:33:31","date_gmt":"2012-06-18T18:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/?p=54283"},"modified":"2023-04-15T18:02:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-15T15:02:17","slug":"worlds-most-powerful-imam-to-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2012\/06\/18\/worlds-most-powerful-imam-to-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"World’s most powerful imam to rise?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Middle East invites Islamist billionaire to return from exile<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n

In a stunning move, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan has called for Fethullah G\u00fclen, the reclusive imam of arguably the most powerful Islamist movement in the world, to return home to Turkey from his self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

Erdo\u011fan\u2019s appeal to G\u00fclen came after he received an award during the closing ceremony of the Turkish Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want this yearning to come to an end,\u201d the prime minister said. \u201cWe want to see those who are abroad and longing for the homeland to be among us. \u2026 Absence from home is loneliness. We have no tolerance for loneliness. We are saying that this absence from home [of G\u00fclen] should end. To be honest, I understand that this is also what you all expect. So, let\u2019s say the absence should be ended. As the child of an ancient civilization, I am extending my thanks to the ones who call on us and the entire world tonight in Turkish, the language of a rich culture. This is what I am saying, let\u2019s put absence from home and longing for the homeland to one side.\u201d<\/div>\n

Although Erdo\u011fan did not use G\u00fclen\u2019s name, his comments were widely understood by the Turkish audience and media to refer to Fethullah G\u00fclen. This invitation represents the first time that Erdo\u011fan has ever publicly reached out to the man that many consider to be Erdo\u011fan\u2019s spiritual mentor and the most dangerous Islamist in the world.<\/p>\n

But according to the Turkish media, Erdo\u011fan\u2019s comments \u201creceived a lengthy standing ovation from the huge crowd that had jam-packed the over 50,000-seat T\u00fcrk Telekom Arena.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others prominent Turkish leader\u2019s joined in Erdo\u011fan\u2019s calls.<\/p>\n

B\u00fclent Ar\u0131n\u00e7, a deputy prime minister, said, \u201cI am one of the many people in Turkey who know that G\u00fclen misses his country. I hope it is finally time for him to return. \u2026 At least G\u00fclen may visit Turkey from some time to time. We want him to return to his country after over 10 years and reunite with people who love him. I hope our prime minister\u2019s wish [for G\u00fclen to return to Turkey] will come true soon. We will be happy to see G\u00fclen in Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n

G\u00fclen\u2019s response was almost immediate. With tear-filled eyes, G\u00fclen praised both the rise of Islamism and the vibrant economy of Turkey, while indicating that for now, he may prefer to stay in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf [my return] halts positive developments in Turkey, [I prefer] staying here, if my lifespan allows, and I will not return not to damage my country, my nation and those [positive] things in my country,\u201d G\u00fclen said.<\/p>\n

G\u00fclen also added that he wishes to be buried in Turkey near his mother, a sign that he may not plan on staying in the U.S. indefinitely.<\/p>\n

Fethullah G\u00fclen is the highly controversial leader of a global Islamist movement, which oversees a vast network of over 1,000 schools in over 140 countries, with nearly 150 in the United States alone. While the schools\u2019 official claims are that their goals are to merely help youth in poorer countries, a mountain of evidence has accrued over the years suggesting that their underlying secret agenda is the spread of G\u00fclen\u2019s unique brand of Turkish Islamism.<\/p>\n

Read Joel Richardson\u2019s \u201cMideast Beast: The Scriptural Case for an Islamic Antichrist,\u201d from WND Books!<\/em><\/p>\n

According to analysts, unlike the Islamism of al-Qaeda, the Turkish Islamism of G\u00fclen, as well as his Islamist predecessor, Said Al-Nursi, uses a veneer of moderation along with the Western concepts of democracy, interfaith dialogue and tolerance as a cover while it works to achieve its goals of Turkish Islamic dominance and a return to the glories of the Ottoman Empire.<\/p>\n

After fleeing to the United States in March of 1999, G\u00fclen was put on trial and prosecuted in absentia for attempting to overthrow the Turkish government and Constitution. Turkish television broadcast footage of G\u00fclen telling his followers to spread his Islamist ideas secretly in order to conquer the Turkish secular state from within. The footage was eminently damning.<\/p>\n

Yet in 2008, after receiving 29 letters of support from prominent American political and educational figures, including Graham E. Fuller, the former Station Chief for the CIA in Afghanistan, former Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman and former Ambassador to Turkey Morton Abramowitz, G\u00fclen won on appeal and was acquitted of all charges by the ruling Islamist AK party of Prime Minister Erdo\u011fan.<\/p>\n

Since that time, G\u00fclen has remained in Pennsylvania, accruing numerous awards and endless accolades from American and other Western educational and religious entities.<\/p>\n

Imam G\u00fclen and his movement are also reported to be wildly wealthy. According to the testimony of Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator, the G\u00fclen movement receives much of its funding directly from the CIA. According to Edmonds, for years, the U.S. has allowed the free-flow of money from the Afghanistan opium and heroin trade to reach the G\u00fclenists. According to some accounts, G\u00fclen is worth more than $25 billion.<\/p>\n

According to investigative journalist Paul Williams, \u201cThis scenario serves to explain why U.S.-led coalition troops in Afghanistan are forbidden to firebomb the fields or fumigate the poppies with a chemical herbicide, such as glyphosate.\u201d<\/p>\n

G\u00fclen and his movement also own the Today\u2019s Zaman, one of Turkey\u2019s largest newspapers, as well as numerous television networks, banks, universities, construction and manufacturing companies throughout the country.<\/p>\n

The G\u00fclen movement has allegedly even used its vast fortunes and influence to virtually create the ruling Islamist AK Party and protect its continued successes in Turkey.<\/p>\n

But despite the fact that G\u00fclen has been filmed encouraging the spread of Islamism through deception, numerous American politicians, educators and universities vehemently defend him as a paragon of virtue, a modernist scholar dedicated only to peace, charity and tolerance.<\/p>\n

According to Mustafa Yesil, a leading figure within the Gulen movement and chairman of the Journalists and Writers Foundation in Istanbul, the movement is \u201cfaith-based, pacifist, pluralist, colorful and pro-democratic.\u201d<\/p>\n

G\u00fclen was most recently honored with the EastWest Institute\u2019s 2011 EWI Peace Building Award for his contribution to world peace. Such superlative awards and accolades are not uncommon for G\u00fclen.<\/p>\n

Critics of G\u00fclen and his movement however, including Ahmet Sik, the Turkish author of the book \u201cThe Imam\u2019s Army\u201d (\u201cImamin Ordusu\u201d), claim that the group has thoroughly infiltrated every arena of Turkish government, including the police force. Sik\u2019s book was banned by Turkish prosecutors, and Sik was arrested and charged with involvement in a secret coup plot. After 13 months in jail, Sik was only recently released, with a trial still pending.<\/p>\n

Sik\u2019s case is far from unique. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York, despite its claims to represent an open, free and democratic nation, Turkey now leads the world in the number of journalists in prison. While China has 27 journalists in prison, Iran has 42 and Turkey presently has 94.<\/p>\n

For years, many secular Turks have claimed the G\u00fclen movement has so infiltrated Turkish government that it effectively now represents a type of Islamist shadow government, whose spidery fingers reach into every arena of Turkish government. The present imprisonment of so many journalists opposed to the G\u00fclen movement is but one example of the movement\u2019s power.<\/p>\n

There is also a mountain of evidence that the ruling Turkish government shares the Turkish nationalism and expansionist goals of Imam G\u00fclen. Only a few weeks ago, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto\u011flu made the following grandiose statement:<\/p>\n

We will manage the wave of change in the Middle East. Just as the ideal we have in our minds about Turkey, we have an ideal of a new Middle East. We will be the leader and the spokesperson of a new peaceful order, no matter what they say.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But despite the clear and present danger represented by Turkey\u2019s ruling Islamist party, the Obama administration has openly pursued a partnership with Prime Minister Erdo\u011fan.<\/p>\n

At a fund raising event for the Obama reelection campaign, Vice President Joe Biden recently addressed a group of roughly 200 influential members of the Turkish-American community.<\/p>\n

In speaking of the Obama administration\u2019s view of Turkey\u2019s reassertion of power in the region, Biden said, \u201cWe\u2019re looking for Turkish leadership in the rest of that entire region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden continued to speak of what a wonderful \u201cmodel\u201d Turkey is for other Islamic nations: \u201cIt\u2019s a model as to how you can have an Islamic population, an Islamic state and a democracy, something the rest of the region is groping to figure out how to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

And speaking of American cooperation with Turkey in the region, Biden said, \u201cThere\u2019s nothing we do that we don\u2019t coordinate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Middle East invites Islamist billionaire to return from exile In a stunning move, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan has called for Fethullah G\u00fclen, the reclusive imam of arguably the most powerful Islamist movement in the world, to return home to Turkey from his self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania. Erdo\u011fan\u2019s appeal to G\u00fclen came after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[120],"class_list":["post-54283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-turkey","tag-gulen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54283\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}