AP EXPLAINS: The cleric being blamed for Turkey coup attempt

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

A lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said that "there are indications of direct involvement" in the coup attempt by Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania. He said he and his firm "have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed" by Gulen and his movement. According to Turkish intelligence sources, he said, "there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government."

The president of a group that promotes Gulen's ideas, the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, denied the charges. Y. Alp Aslandogan told The Associated Press "we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible." Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, "we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey."

Some background on Gulen:

WHO IS FETHULLAH GULEN?

Trained as an imam, or prayer leader, Fethullah Gulen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. Supporters started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the U.S. In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan has long accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains. Gulen is rarely seen in public and has been put on trial in absentia at least three times.

-more-

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ap-explains-the-cleric-being-blamed-for-turkey-coup-attempt/ar-BBuobzI?li=BBnb7Kz

[MH1]

1. Wow, sounds like a really dangerous group

a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Well ... maybe dangerous to other kinds of Islam that don't support those ideas.

Ideas like interfaith dialogue can be dangerous. Very dangerous.

(although, if they really plotted a coup attempt in Turkey ... hmmm.)

[athena]

6. I suggest you look into it further.

Don't just believe the group's own propaganda.

http://truthinmedia.com/exclusive-fbi-whistleblower-and-teacher-expose-islamic-gulen-movement-infiltrating-u-s-through-charter-schools/

While Gülen followers and some U.S. officials claim Gülen teaches a moderate version of Islam, some believe it is only part of a strategy to infiltrate the U.S.

According to The Middle East Quarterly, in 1999, Turkish television aired footage of Gülen delivering sermons which revealed his plan to implement Shari‘a law and use controversial tactics to achieve those goals.

In the sermon, he said:

“You must move in the arteries of the system without anyone noticing your existence until you reach all the power centers … until the conditions are ripe, they [the followers] must continue like this. If they do something prematurely, the world will crush our heads, and Muslims will suffer everywhere, like in the tragedies in Algeria, like in 1982 [in] Syria … like in the yearly disasters and tragedies in Egypt. The time is not yet right. You must wait for the time when you are complete and conditions are ripe, until we can shoulder the entire world and carry it … You must wait until such time as you have gotten all the state power, until you have brought to your side all the power of the constitutional institutions in Turkey … Until that time, any step taken would be too early—like breaking an egg without waiting the full forty days for it to hatch. It would be like killing the chick inside. The work to be done is [in] confronting the world. Now, I have expressed my feelings and thoughts to you all—in confidence … trusting your loyalty and secrecy. I know that when you leave here—[just] as you discard your empty juice boxes, you must discard the thoughts and the feelings that I expressed here.”

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/guelen-movement-accused-of-being-a-sect-a-848763.html'

This second article is worth reading in its entirety.

[MH1]

7. Good info, thanks. Especially the H1B link.

Sheesh. How in the hell are they getting H1B visas to bring in high school teachers? It makes no f***ing sense.



But it looks like the way they are abusing the visa program is textbook and one more example why that program should be severely curtailed.

[mopinko]

17. chicks hatch in 21 days.

just sayin.

[PSPS]

2. "150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the U.S"

Wonderful. Out tax dollars at work, I see, complete with our buying him his cozy "gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains."

[FSogol]

3. Yeah, it is terrible when someone promotes Democracy, education, and science.

[Warpy]

4. The schools have been set up worldwide

and are seen as a viable alternative to the Wahabbist madrassa type of school more commonly available. Yeah, what a villain, I know.

[trumad]

5. Pretty certain you didn't read the fucking article.

[Rex]

8. So that means the CIA knew all about this a long time ago.

SO Richie Rich is above our laws? He is an outlaw or just someone too rich to fail?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

10. Did you even read the article?

[Rex]

12. Duh, now where is he?

Are we even sure he is still alive?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

13. Answering a question with a question

That's the kind of deflection the GOP is known for.

[Rex]

14. Oh really?

You didn't answer any of my questions either, so why should I care what you think?

EDIT - Thanks for projecting, please don't edit what you just did.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

15. You didn't ask shit

Except suggest some paranoid conspiracy theory. FWIW some feel the coup may be faked by Erdogan in an attempt to consolidate his power.

We'll have to wait and see what happens. I don't know the answer at this time and neither do you.

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Is Gulen a Sufi?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. Don't know

But he sounds like one.

[mopinko]

18. if he did have anything to do with it, no doubt we know all about it.

no doubt we are listening to his phone calls, etc.

fwiw, one of his schools is around the corner from me. not only an excellent school, but a very open schoolhouse, often hosting community meetings and functions. unlike the cps schools where the janitors own the buildings.