World's Gülen Brotherhood
Farzana Samiha, 14, speaks Turkish fluently and knows about the Muslim-majority country nearly as mush as she knows about her own homeland Bangladesh, thanks to her school which is inspired by influential scholar Fethullah Gülen.
"I love Turkey and it's a language that lots of people speak," Samiha, who recently participated in the annual Turkish Language Olympics in Istanbul, told Reuters on Sunday, June 7.
Samiha is one of thousands of students worldwide who study in some 500 schools associated with the brotherhood known as the "Fethullahcilar", or disciples of Fethullah, in some 115 countries worldwide.
During the Olympics, which ended last week, some 700 children from across the world competed in singing, poetry reciting and prose composition in Turkish.
Nearly all the competitors are students of schools set up by a global network of millions of followers of the Turkish preacher and author.
The schools, spreading from Poland to Nigeria, often perform much better than local state schools and offer extensive scholarships.
Gülen, 71, is leader of the international faith-based Gülen social movement, whose ideology is described as a modernized version of Sunni Islam.
The movement condemns terrorism, supports interfaith dialogue and emphasizes the role of science.
Reclusive Gülen, who is living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, has authored over 60 books and many articles.
He has been the subject of several academic studies.
A recent conference was held at the House of Lords, under the sponsorship of the London School of Economics and the University of London, to study him and his movement.
Last year, American Foreign Policy magazine placed him at the top of its list of the world's Top 20 Public Intellectuals.
Impressive
Many in Turkey are impressed by the huge success of the Gülen-inspired schools, even the country’s elite secularists, who are not at ease with the man.
"It would be unfair not to write that I am totally impressed with the climate of brotherhood created by these children who have been educated in the community's schools," wrote columnist Ahmet Hakan in the secularist newspaper Hurriyet.
Gülen's teachings have inspired millions of Turks to dedicate their time and money to groups active in publishing, charity and above all education.
Others praise the schools for offering a Muslim face for Turkey, the predominantly Muslim country that has been run as a secular state since 1923.
"The world doesn't see Turkey as a Muslim or a religious country, they see it as a bridge country between East and West," Turkish language teacher Leyla Kayumova, who works in Arizona, told Reuters.
But despite the admiration and successes, some secularists suspect a secret agenda behind the schools.
Gülen has long been revered and reviled in his home country.
To members of the Gülen movement, he is an inspirational leader who encourages a life guided by moderate Islamic principles.
To his detractors, he represents a threat to Turkey’s secular order.
Ozcan Keles, head of the Gülen-inspired Dialogue Society in London, defends the movement.
"The sheer scale of the movement and the diversity of the countries in which it operates makes it impossible to substantiate the argument that Gülen is at the centre controlling things," said Keles.
"If you have a secret agenda to overthrow the secular Turkish state, why open a school in Madagascar?"
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