Gülen: I'm Pleased With Court Decision
Turkish intellectual Fethullah Gülen has said he was pleased by a court decision on Tuesday that cleared him of all allegations by upholding an earlier decision to acquit handed down by the Ankara 11th Criminal Court.
The Supreme Court of Appeals Penal General Committee upheld the acquittal in a vote of 17 to six. In an exclusive interview given to the Web site Herkul.org, Gülen said he saw the good news as a blessing from God. He noted, however, that "we will be more pleased when we are told to enter into heaven safe and sound." He said he only has God to thank for this good news.
Gülen also commented on the news that he has taken the top spot in a survey of "The World's Top 20 Public Intellectuals," organized by the US Foreign Policy magazine in cooperation with British magazine Prospect. In the survey, closely watched by millions all over the world, Gülen won the vote by a landslide. He said he will accept the recognition on behalf of all the people who made contributions to the movement and as a reward for their sincere endeavors.
He noted that the judges' decision at the General Penal Committee showed their integrity of character, emphasizing the fact that they decided according to their consciences. "Therefore they stood by the ruling made earlier by the Supreme Court of Appeals," Gülen added. He said he was encouraged by the decision. "This proves there are still judges in Turkey who are not afraid to rule according to justice despite all the pressures brought upon the court."
Gülen pointed out that with this decision, visiting Turkish schools associated with the Gülen movement would not be considered a crime. He was referring to the closure case filed by the chief public prosecutor against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in which President Abdullah Gül was cited as visiting Turkish schools abroad while he was foreign minister, an act that allegedly violated the secular principles of the Constitution. The previous decision by an appellate court and the upholding of the verdict by the Penal General Committee refuted the allegations that Gülen is "establishing an illegal organization in order to change the secular structure of the state and found a state based on religious rules." Legal experts argue that the case against President Gül has no standing in the court with this new verdict.
Gülen reiterated that the case brought against him was full of hearsay and had no merit. He said evidence included in the case was doctored and that the court recognized that the prosecutors failed to prove their case against him.
Gülen admitted, however, that he had suffered a great deal of pain in the last decade because of the baseless allegations, which, he said, had prevented him from concentrating on his studies and continuing with his book writing.
He also dismissed allegations that he is similar to Iranian religious leader Khomeini. "I am not Iranian, I'm not like Khomeini. I have never carried his claims. So my return is not like a return of Khomeini," he stated. He stressed that he is not a public person who loves to make appearances. "I never had similarities to Khomeini in terms of character, religious order or country," he said, adding, "I will return to my country when the conditions are ripe, and it is going to be in my own humble, modest way, without making a big deal out of it, without having any major public appearances."
Gülen also emphasized his love for his country. "I have soil samples from every corner of Turkey in my room. I try to get relief by smelling a handful of dirt brought from my homeland," he noted, adding, "After all, I'm a child of Turkey."
British magazine Prospect features Gülen as cover story
The latest issue of Prospect, a UK-based magazine, has featured Fethullah Gülen, a well-respected scholar of Islam, in its cover story.
The article, titled "A Modern Ottoman," described Gülen as "the modern face of the Sufi Ottoman tradition." Gülen recently came out at the head of a list of "The World's Top 20 Public Intellectuals" organized by Prospect in cooperation with US magazine Foreign Policy. The center-left British monthly pointed out that "millions of people inside and outside Turkey have been inspired by Gülen," adding that he is influenced by Sufi thinking, insists on friendship among people of all faiths and that "no one should be seen as an outsider." The magazine cited "a combination of charisma, good organization and an attractive message" as reasons for his overwhelming support worldwide. It said, "What Gülen says is that you can be at home in the modern world while also embracing traditional values like faith in God and community responsibility — a message which resonates strongly in Turkey."
The article, written by Ehsan Masood, a London-based journalist and a frequent writer on the Muslim world, says: "Fethullah Gülen leads a global movement inspired by Sufi ideas. He promotes an open brand of Islamic thought and he is preoccupied with modern science," noting that he publishes an English-language science magazine called The Fountain. It states, "He and his movement are at home with technology, markets and multinational business and especially with modern communications and public relations."
Gülen's thinking is certainly influenced by Sufi ideas, the magazine said. "For example, a reader who wants to truly understand the Quran needs to invest his heart as well as his intellect." Another idea Gülen shares with Sufism is that "God, humanity and the natural world are all linked and might even be part of a single entity, a sort of cosmic trinity."
The British monthly drew attention to a recent international conference, held at the House of Lords, and said Gülen's ideas to marry science and religion, his large body of work on interpreting Islam for the modern age and his role in Turkish politics were discussed at this conference. It also claimed the movement has more than 500 elite schools in dozens of countries, but said that a few can also be found in Africa, China and the US.
The magazine points out that many of his followers are from the middle class. It says: "Gülen reassures his followers that they can combine the statist-nationalist beliefs of Atatürk's republic with a traditional but flexible Islamic faith. He also reconnects the provincial middle class with the Ottoman traditions that had been caricatured as theocratic by Atatürk and his 'Kemalist' heirs."
This is not the first time for the British magazine to feature a Turk. Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk ranked fourth in Prospect and Foreign Policy's "The World's Top 100 Public Intellectuals" poll. Prospect is a general interest monthly magazine with a circulation of approximately 27,000. The 13-year-old magazine received worldwide attention in October 2005 when it published its list of the world's top 100 public intellectuals for the first time and listed Noam Chomsky as the top public intellectual of 2005. (Abdullah Bozkurt, Istanbul)
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