The international Turkish Olympiad is the most important manifestation of the education endeavor the Gulen Movement has undertaken globally. The movement and Gulen himself has a great confidence in human beings regardless of their conditions, faiths, ethnicities and backgrounds. The education movement started as a result of this confidence and faith in the potential of success that lies within each of us.

Students from around the world who participated in the song final of the 9th International Turkish Olympiads on Tuesday fascinated the audience with their skillful usage of the Turkish language. A Tajik student came first in the competition.

The song final of the Turkish Olympiads was held at the Halic Convention Center in İstanbul on Tuesday night. The event was attended by thousands of people, including prominent figures such as Turkey's chief EU negotiator Egemen Bagış and celebrity figures from the media, arts and politics.

Turkey’s problems with it Kurdish population have been around since the 1940s. Despite the fact there is a broad-based consensus among the countries different factions for the need, a solution for these problems could not be found, or implemented. Over the decades the problem turned into an armed conflict orchestrated by separatists and 30 thousand lives have been lost to the heinous attacks. The Gulen Movement’s supporters brought about a different approach that was inclusive and social based. Kurds in Turkey had lost their hope that the state could embrace them and put an end to decades of negligence. The movement’s supporters founded the first private Kurdish language tv station once they were allowed; there is a tremendous interest from the country’s Kurds that shows how the Gulen Movement can act as the cement of the Turkish society.

By Ali Aslan

Today’s Zaman Columnist Ali Aslan drew attention to how the critics of the Gulen Movement’s actions amount to be a “Hizmetophobia.” He shares his insights as to the need for constructive criticism toward the movement, however, Mr. Aslan warns against a wide-spread witch hunt that can turn our century into a new “nazi” era. Human endeavor, by its nature, is imperfect and people can make mistakes; but most of the criticism towards the Gulen Movement stems from bigotry and baseless claims, thus lacking the necessary credibility.

One of the Gulen Movement’s many contributions to world cultural atlas is a magazine called Hira. Hira is published in Arabic to discuss scientific and religious issues of our time. When talking about religion, Hira uses the tolerant discourse of Turkish tradition. Hira also tries to establish an understanding of the relationship between creation and science, how religion does not clash with science and one is not the opposite (or the alternative) of the other. Hira’s main audience is the Arab world, but social scientists and theologians in other countries expressed interest in the magazine.

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.