Secular Institutions Move Against Religious Leader Fethullah Gülen

Despite the sharp decrease in the number of voters who supported the pro-Islamic Virtue party in the April general elections, Turkey's secular institutions still view political Islam as a serious threat to the current regime. Unhappy to see that the measures to crack down on Islamists adopted at the National Security Council meeting on February 28, 1997 have not yet been fully implemented, the armed forces are now pushing politicians to take more radical action.

The secularists' latest campaign is targeting Fethullah Gülen, a respected religious leader, who heads a branch of the Nurcu brotherhood. Gülen, who always publicly defended the state and never developed close ties with the Welfare party and its successor, Virtue, has built a large educational network, opening over 300 schools in more than 50 countries, financed by a business empire that includes dozens of companies, banks, TV stations and newspapers.

Strongly nationalist, Fethullah Gülen initially focused his efforts on the Turkic republics of Central Asia, where his schools have gained a strong reputation for solid education based on the study of languages and sciences, before expanding to other parts of the globe. Although religion hardly figures in the curriculum, secularists claim the Fethullacis secretly recruit and influence young people living in the boarding schools. In Turkey itself, the movement, which has a wide network of supporters, also runs several schools but, like in most other countries where such schools are founded, they are under the supervision of the local Ministry of Education. Gülen, who often advocated tolerance and cooperation between the various religions, was received by the Pope at the Vatican last year.

Long perceived as a moderate and actively courted by politicians, from President Suleyman Demirel to Prime minister Bülent Ecevit, Fethullah Gülen is now the focus of a fierce media campaign, that started when TV channel ATV aired a video tape showing Gülen, apparently urged his supporters not to show their hand too quickly, in order not to trigger reactions like in Algeria. The Turkish press said the tapes were leaked by the army, to prod the civilian authorities into action.

Since then, new revelations have graced the front pages of the newspapers every day, underlining the fact that the Fethullah movement had opened schools in Afghanistan, which is ruled by the radical Taliban, and trained armed commandos in various camps. There is speculation that the campaign against Gülen also aims to embarrass politicians such as President Demirel, seen on the footage broadcast on television.

Gülen, who suffers from a heart condition and is currently in the United States, has protested that he was being "lynched" through the media and apologized for words that could have caused offense. He said many of his statements were edited and taken out of context.

Despite his denials, prosecutors have initiated action against the religious leader who could face the death penalty. Gülen said in a telephone interview with a Turkish TV channel that he would return to Turkey, even if sentenced to death.

Starting with the swift action against Virtue party deputy Merve Kavakçi, who lost her Turkish citizenship after appearing in parliament with her headscarf, the crackdown against political Islam appears to be gaining momentum. The Constitutional court is currently examining a request by prosecutor Vural Savas, to have the Virtue party closed down. Meanwhile, on June 22, a prosecutor demanded the death penalty for 51 Islamists charged with attempting to overthrow the secular regime, for having organized demonstrations against the headscarf ban in the South-eastern city of Malatya. Some twenty other defendants could face up to 15 years in jail.

The fight against the "forces of reaction" was the main item discussed by the new government in its first National Security Council meeting, on June 23. Politicians have been noticeably reluctant to implement full the measures some perceive as attacks on religion itself, and members of most of the political parties have, albeit meekly, tried to defend Fethullah Gülen. Even Bülent Ecevit who, a few months ago, had publicly stood by the religious leader, was forced to change his tune. Although the government resisted pressure to reinstate Article 163 of the penal code, that deal with religious crimes, the government is planning to introduce a series of new measures, including stricter control of religious foundations, implementation of the ban on religious garments, and legal amendments to make it easier to dismiss civil servants accused of being "reactionaries".