It has been quite a while since the cold “February winds” blew in Turkey. A lot of people have participated in an unprecedented smear campaign against Fethullah Gulen and Gulen movement in 1997. One group of people was journalists who received memos and orders from military officers to publish opinion pieces that supported military’s point of view. Mehmet Ali Birand is one of those journalists who experienced the cold atmosphere of Feburary 1997 and started clearing his conscience in his column.

Trying to accuse Mr. Gulen of “wrongdoing” after every single incident turned into a fed in Turkey. Turkey’s “Deep” police chief Hanefi Avci filed a lawsuit against Mr. Gulen to label him as a person “who undermines the Turkish state;” however, the request was overturned by the public prosecutor on the ground that Avci’s claims were unfounded and irrelevant. This seems to be an effort on Avci’s side to get out of a very bad situation he is in for breaking the law.

It looks like the Gulen Movement and Mr. Fethullah Gulen himself will be the center of attention in some circles for a while. BBC’s Edward Stourton ran a story on the movement on BBC’s website. In this well-rounded article he touched on all major points for and against the movement. At the end, we believe that common sense will prevail and Mr. Gulen will be accepted as the great man he is by the whole word. Now 70 year old scholar has dedicated his life to humanity and service to the common good through education; he sure will be recognized for this great work.

Even the most sophisticated mind struggles when the possessor of that mind tries to write about a subject without due research. Fethullah Gulen is a figure about whom much has been said and written. Some of that material is based on hearsay and carries identifying expressions such as “been said to be, been described as, is feared to, etc…” One would expect an article to be well researched and full of facts if it is about a global phenomenon like Mr. Gulen. We are not suggesting that everything that is put out there should be in favor of Mr. Gulen’s ideas or praise his work, but to be held up to more adequate standards. Editors of publications are supposed to be watch-dogs not to let pieces find places of their media unchecked.

Mehmet Kalyoncu points out such allegations and their inconsistent discourse. Mr. Kalyoncu analyzes the perception (rather misperception) of Fethullah Gulen in the English-Language media by examining some obvious misrepresentations.

While some groups try to wrongly and ruthlessly defame the work of Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen Movement, others with common sense and a conscience look at things differently. The East West Institute recognized Mr. Gulen’s contributions to peace and prosperity with its Annual Peace Building Award. The EastWest Institute is a global think-and-do tank that devises innovative solutions to pressing security concerns and mobilizes networks of individuals, institutions and nations to implement these solutions.

Fethullah Gulen warned the public opinion of a defamation campaign against the righteous work of Turkish volunteers around the world. This smear propaganda consists of a vicious circle of lies as Kerim Balci of Today’s Zaman put it in his recent article. It appears that some groups believe they have a monopoly over doing “good” so no one else can act righteously without their permission; and if you try to do your part to help humanity in any way you can, then they’ll show you who the boss is. They don’t have to have proof or any sort of evidence against your work, they can just accuse you of “infiltrating” or “undermining” and wait for masses to believe their lies. You, meanwhile, have to proof that you are innocent.

Turkey is undergoing a tremendous change and democratization process. In this continuum, those who would love to keep the status quo do everything they can to stop Turkey becoming a more open society with a much more transparent government. Latest of such demonic efforts was an ambush attack on Turkish Prime Minister’s campaign convoy; and below is the details of the incident along with Mr. Fethullah Gulen’s condolence message.

By Hadi Uluengin (Hurriyet Daily)

To analyze the Gulen Movement, first we must agree on definitions.

Such an agreement will set the discussion on a healthier and a more objective ground. That is because many accusations – rightly or wrongly, made against the same movement require an agreed upon lexicon.

Do the masses, who gather around the spiritual and philosophical persona of the opinion leader in Pennsylvania, carry the characteristics of a “cemaat” as has been called? Or, on the contrary, would using the word “camia” (society) be more suitable? I believe the latter definition to be more accurate: let me get to my reasons.