One Week in the US
We spent last week in the United States. The reason for me to have undertaken the hours-long flight was to attend meetings that lay the Fethullah Gülen "movement" on the dissection table. Frankly speaking, I would not have undertaken such a trip had it not been for Gülen's sake. It was both burdensome and distressing.
As security replaced freedom in the wake of 9/11, the treatment deemed fitting for foreigners, particularly those from the Middle East and whose names are Ahmet, Ali, Abdullah, Hasan etc. is humiliating. It is apparently necessary for me to say this. Because there may be some who do not know or have the wrong idea. Those, like us, from Turkey are also considered as "Middle Eastern" and are treated accordingly.
Our entering Chicago was not very difficult. Of course like everybody else, we had both hands fingerprinted and were photographed. However, the domestic flights, that is to say, the ones from Chicago to Houston, Houston to Dallas and thereupon to Newark, were not easy as well. Almost every time we were treated differently as our above-mentioned traits were easily discernible. The security ceremony went on in the following order: First you take off your coat, your jacket and your belt. In the meantime your luggage is being ransacked. You are asked to sit on a chair. Your arms and legs are lifted high in the air. Then you stand afoot and while your hands are still in the air, you are being checked over and over again, from bottom to top, front and back, in between your legs and down from your armpits with sensitive devices. I, however, was subjected to "a little more prolonged treatment." Let me relate this as well.
In "John Ross 'JR' Ewing, Jr.'s homeland" Dallas, I was kept waiting for dozens of minutes. As usual I took off my clothes. I only had on my trousers, my shirt and my underwear. However, the device continued beeping. The police officer repeated the procedure. It did not work. He tried again. It still did not work. Each time the device kept on beeping. At last I told the police officer about the recent medical operation I had and showed him the metal stitches on my chest. The device was beeping probably because of these metal stitches which ensured that my chest bones knitted into each other. The cop immediately dropped the device. He was ashamed and a bit scared too.
He made me sit on a chair, brought my shoes. He covered me with my clothes. He then told me very politely that I was free to go. His attitude changed completely after he saw the stitches.
Let me say the following: In spite of all the odds, the trip was worth undertaking. We attended two very well organized meetings. The participants were academics and writers, each an expert in their respective fields. Satisfactory, highly informed and well-thought-out articles were read and discussions were held.
That Gülen is being followed by so many people around the world is very significant. I do not know of any other Turk who has been the subject of researches at this level. The interest in Gülen is increasing and spreading. I have not listed the names since Zaman daily provided sufficient information about the participants. Everyone expressed their views freely and sincerely. The two-day meeting at Rice University in Houston was particularly fruitful. Gülen was discussed from various aspects. He was compared with both present-day figures and with other prominent figures in Islamic history.
ZAMAN
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