Today’s Zaman columnist and academician Dr. Ihsan Yilmaz talked about a recently published report on Turkey by the US-based think tank Stratfor. According to Yilmaz the reports “shows once again that it is not easy to comprehend and analyze the complex, sophisticated and multilayered transformations taking place in Turkey.”

Australia's education system is considered to have some of the highest standards in the world and enjoys international recognition.

Over the past decades, Australia has emerged as one of the top five providers of international education services, after the US, the UK, Germany and France.

Turkish intellectual and scholar Fethullah Gulen, who recently called for Turkish public to vote to approve a constitutional amendment package, said that the reform package has changes critical for the future of Turkey and that his call is not related to any political party.

What is now referred to as the Gulen movement (Hizmet to it's adherents) has long been a part of Turkey's social landscape. But in recent years, interest in the movement has gone far beyond Turkey's borders, with discussions of Fethullah Gulen and his ideas in forums and platforms including the Arab League, the Russian Parliament, the European Parliament and the British House of Lords.

Sociologist Helen Rose Ebaugh whose book on Gulen movement was published recently, has said those criticizing the movement have no evidence to back up their claims.

M. Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Muslim scholar, educator and peace activist, has been awarded an honorary doctorate of education by Leeds Metropolitan University for his contribution to education, peace making and intercultural dialogue.

“What our nation should do is avoid being antagonized by those who use the saddening and ugly occurrences for their dirty purposes. Our nation should not support thoughts and movements that will cause us to lose our gains in the fields of human rights and democracy” cautioned M. Fethullah Gulen

Brian Knowlton of the New York Times interviewed with M. Fethullah Gulen and the article was published in both New York Times and International Herald Tribune last week. Recalling that Mr. Gulen was the first Muslim scholar who condemned the 9/11 attacks days after the incident, there is no doubt that the article is worth perusing.