Fethullah Gulen-inspired schools, that have appeared in many different countries of the world, are well-known for their superior quality of education, talented students and successful graduates. In recently published article, which provides an insider view on Gulen-inspired schools, the author discusses the importance of ‘the teacher factor’ as one of the main reasons for the worldwide success of these educational establishments.

In the past five years, through my involvement with the Rumi Forum of Old Dominion University, I've become intimately familiar with the work and faith perspective of the movement which emerged from the life of Fethullah Gulen. As both an ordained Baptist minister in the Christian tradition and as an adjunct professor who teaches sociology, I am tremendously impressed as well as have become an ardent supporter of the Gulen Movement. In it I have seen strong evidence of a passion for peace, justice, mutual understanding and compassion for all humanity.

Some say they are the best schools around, and some say they can’t be that good without support from global powers. Some say they serve for global peace, and some other say: “Don’t be naive they must have a hidden agenda”.  I will not get into questions like “water of the mill” as they have been addressed previously. The main question I am going after is, what are really Gulen Inspired Schools? What makes them standout? How can you distinguish a Gulen Inspired School from any other public or community school?

When Gareth Jenkins came to the United States to present his controversial report on the Ergenekon case, he was asked whether he could reconcile his views on the process with the existence of Dursun Cicek’s newly unearthed “plan to fight radicalism”, which included planting weapons in houses of Gulen Movement sympathizers. This was back in the days when the Chief of Staff called the plan document “a piece of paper” and Jenkins’ view of the document was expectedly similar. He did add, however, that one would need to be particularly stupid to draft such a plan. After all, he said, “one can say anything about the Gulen Movement, but nobody can claim that they are violent.”

Mustafa Akyol, an important figure in Turkey’s intellectual fabric, wrote on the Gulen Movement and the fear mongering that’s going on around it. Akyol emphasizes on the disinformation that plagued the Turkish society for so long and how the Gulen Movement’s acts should be read in today’s context.

As a longtime subscriber to Newsweek, I have valued your mixture of news and opinion pieces. It is getting harder, however, to tell the difference.

Case in point, the article by Soner Cagaptay in the March 8 issue, entitled “Turkey’s Turning Point.” It appears in the “Scope” section, which describes itself as “News, Scoops, and the Globe at a Glance.” It does not serve your readers well to label in that way a biased and conspiracy theory laden diatribe against the Gulen Movement and Turkey’s current governing party.

In the past week, two supposed experts in Middle Eastern policy have put forth their opinions of the Gulen Movement.  First, we heard from Soner Cagaptay, whose argument piece entitled, “What’s Really Behind Turkey’s Coup Arrests?”, appeared in Foreign Policy magazine on February 25th.  Daniel Pipes, erstwhile Director of the Middle East Forum, jumped on the bandwagon to trash Fethullah Gulen and his followers, in his article, “Crisis in Turkey”, which appeared on National Review Online on March 2nd.  Both continue to profess that any Muslim, anywhere, who actively practices and promotes his/her religion are inherently incapable of desiring freedom and democracy and must be Islamists (the accepted term for those who specifically advocate radical, purist, even pro-violence interpretations of the Prophet’s Message).  Because Fethullah Gulen and those who agree with his teachings actively identify as Muslims not embarrassed by their beliefs who recognize that “secular” does not have to mean “un-religious”, they must be suspect.  However, in actuality, Gulen believes that all true Muslims yearn for freedom (Advocate of Dialogue, 2006) and has repeatedly denied promoting any particular political party (Foreign Policy, 2008).

My name is Lawrence Arthur Forman and I am the Faculty Advisor of the Turkish-Muslim Better Understanding Club of Old Dominion University, where I am an adjunct Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion. I am also the rabbi-emeritus of Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk, Virginia, where I served as senior rabbi for 30 years, and my wife, a clinical psychologist and I, have been affiliated with the Rumi Forum in Washington, D.C. for many years.