Cengiz Candar, Taraf Newspaper columnist, has emphasized the the power, influence and the importance of Gulen Movement for both Turkey and the U.S. in his column that he wrote on Wednesday, October 12th. Candar compares Turkey's recognizability in California in 1985 and today, and reaches the conclusion that Turkey's growing influence in U.S. is because of the altruistic work Gulen Movement volunteers.

A report on the Islamophobia network in the United States released by the Washington-based Center for American Progress (CAP) has highlighted that although the sources that spread anti-Islam sentiments based on false information in the country are but a handful of people, their influence on American politics and public opinion reach beyond the US borders and reach distant corners of the world as well as extremists, including the Norwegian assailant who murdered 76 people in a matter of hours to underscore his claim that Islam is a threat to the world.

The three days following and marking the end of Ramadan are celebrated by Muslims and are called Eid Al Fitr. Eid is a time of celebration and festivities as well as an occasion to reinforce unity. Muslims take that opportunity to make peace with everyone they conflicted in the past. Mr. Fethullah Gulen encouraged Muslims and non-muslims to engage in a sincere dialogue anew, in the spirit of Eid al-Fitr.

There was a time when Turkish politicians wouldn’t even have a cup of coffee unless their counterpart adhered to the same ideology. It is after Fethullah Gulen started the dialogue initiative that we saw a normalization of relations among the participants of different political, religious and cultural perspectives. Journalists an Writers Foundation’s traditional annual iftar dinners are the embodiment of this normalization and change in Turkish society. For many years country suffered from the tyranny of non-dialogue, now it’s time to reap the fruits of this friendly atmosphere in every aspect.

Mr. Fethullah Gulen had initiated the much needed “dialogue” process between Turkey’s different faith communities in early 1990s. One of the first organizations to bring people together was an iftar (fast breaking) dinner during the month of Ramadan where people, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, were invited to participate. It was a peculiar scene for the Turkish people as they never felt the need to try to understand the “other” and empathize with the “other” before. The iftar dinner was organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation in Istanbul and the foundation has been keeping the tradition since. Over nearly two decades, the interest for the interfaith dialogue dinner grown along with a deeper awareness of the necessity of dialogue.

The Economist assessed the degree to which Mr. Fethullah Gulen contributed to Turkey’s current rise in the Middle Eastern countries. It is a fact that Turks discovered their potential to be more than a satellite state and decided to realize that potential in the last 2 decades. Contrary to what they’ve been told and taught in schools, they did not have to shed their religious and cultural identity to rise to the level of “Contemporary Civilizations.” Gulen played a pivotal role in boosting the Turkish people’s self confidence and belief with his teachings and global activities. Turkey went from being a third world country to one of the fastest growing nations in the world. There must be something other countries in the region can learn from that experience.

Those who leave their prejudices aside when analyzing the Gulen Movement come to the same conclusion; that is the movement inspired by Fethullah Gulen does nothing but promote peace and prosperity everywhere possible. The biggest and most powerful example of the Gulen Movement’s impact is seen in Turkey. The movement set in motion the wheels of change in Turkey by inspiring its members to do more and more charity to overcome their country’s problems that plagued the nation for so long. Nebraska state senator Ms. Amanda McGill has traveled to Turkey recently and experienced the change first hand.

If you don’t have a convincing case, there is always manipulation. If one is caught red-handed and there is no way to hide what he/she was doing, what’s the person got to do to get off the hook? Manipulate the crowds, cry wolf, and blame it on the “almighty religion baron.” That would be the easiest way out maybe 25 years ago, but not anymore. We’re trying to point to poor journalist Ahmet Sik and his “enlightening” unfinished book of whatever. Mr. Sik was putting together a ton of unfounded many-times-refuted claims against Fethullah Gulen at some dark powers’ request and under the same powers’ supervision (even redaction). His latest best-seller-wannabe constituted some sort of evidence between Mr. Sik and the Ergenekon saga and he was arrested as a result. While he was being escorted to the public prosecutor’s office he fearlessly yelled “Anyone who touches Fethullah Gulen burns” or something to that effect. He was trying to make a case where he wanted to depict himself as the heroic journalist who, while trying to help people know the “truth”, fell victim to some conspiracy.