MORE FROM HUFFPOST
MORE FROM HUFFPOST
hizmet
Unfortunately, in a country where independent media outlets are shut down or taken under government custody, a significant portion of Turkish citizens were made to believe -- through relentless pro-government propaganda -- that I am the actor behind the July 15 coup. However, world opinion, which is shaped by objective information, clearly sees that what is going on is a power grab by the administration under the guise of a witch-hunt.
An expert on Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric in exile in the U.S., explains the aims and influence of his movement.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
WHAT'S HAPPENING
The target of Erdogan's purge -- the movement led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen -- is not dangerous. It's one of the most moderate and socially constructive organizations in the Muslim world. In attacking it, Erdogan is planting the seeds for his own destruction.
Turkey's journey of democratization toward EU membership stalled and made a U-turn during the third term of its ruling party AKP. Turkey's democratizing reforms have been both a state policy and a popular path throughout 90s and were accelerated under then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2003.
It's unfortunate when an organization tasked with providing help to the needy must ask for help itself. It's even more unfortunate when the help it seeks is rooted in deliberate and systematic suppression.
Erdogan has employed a multidimensional effort to intimidate, silence and otherwise persecute every institution or individual remotely associated with Gulen.
Gulen places a great importance on the interdependence of individuals, communities, nations and systems on one another. Each fundamental unit within any system plays a role and has an inexplicable effect -- small or great -- on every other unit within such a system.
