Gulen Movement’s critics are having a hard time wrapping their heads around the selflessness aspect of the movement. Members of the movement are often faced with questions like “why are you sacrificing so much from yourself?” The answer they usually get is: “to help the inhabitants of this elderly world to have a better, brighter, and a more secure future. I (we) forgo our own happiness, so a greater number of people can find it.” For those who has no worries than that of their own, this explanation might not make a lot of sense, but there are people who appreciate the selfless acts of the volunteers movement and there are many stories to be told even after the heroes and heroines of the stories are gone.
The staffroom fell silent as my colleagues all looked at each other, not sure if I was joking. The normal end of term conversation as to where people were going for their summer holidays had fallen flat when I mentioned my forthcoming trip to Iraq.
Even worse, I was heading off to Kirkuk, the oil-rich center of deathly ethnic conflict. Jokes were made about life insurance and blessings for a safe return given. I, despite numerous warnings from friends and colleagues, remained excited and keen to carry out my fieldwork.
My primary aim was to assess the impact of Kurdish, Turkmen and Arab political discourse on the politics of Kirkuk. My secondary aim was to make some social and political observation about the people of Kirkuk. Initial interviews with representatives from each of these main ethnic groups established some common points in the construction of their discourses. Each group has its own narrative relating to their presence in Kirkuk, the number of their ethnic group present and their roots in the city.
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