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Gülen and Erdogan's Islamic rivalry and its consequences

By Alon Ben-Meir and Arbana Xharra - posted Wednesday, 12 December 2018


Aydogan Vatandas, an investigative journalist from Turkey, says that the main reason that the leadership of the Gülen movement failed to see Erdogan's real ambitions was due to their belief that subordinating the military to civilian authority and limiting the influence of the judiciary would not have a dramatic adverse effect on Turkish democracy. "It was wrong to believe that weakening these institutions would lead to the emergence of a democracy." According to him, Erdogan has already consolidated his power to reshape the society, which led to the entire cleansing of the Gülen movement from Turkish society.

Since the failed military coup in July 2016, nearly 445,000 people have been the subject of legal proceedings on bogus charges of membership in the Gülen movement, including judges, teachers, police officers, and journalists, while snatching over 100 alleged members of the Gülen movement from other countries.

Nazmi Ulus, the Gülen movement's representative in Kosovo, said that although the movement maintains their schools (Mehmet Akif Colleges) and is sustaining their activities, they no longer feel safe anymore, especially in light of Erdogan's kidnapping of six Turks living in Kosovo in March. "Considering the people of Kosovo, yes we can say we are safe, but again considering the self-assertion… and also the ability [of Erdogan to blackmail and]… operate in the region, it is impossible to say yes, we are safe".

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Although Erdogan was able to nearly destroy the Hizmet movement in Turkey, hundreds of thousands of followers are still fully but quietly entrenched in private and government institutions and are well-embedded in scores of countries, including the US, which are beyond his reach.

The rivalry between Erdogan and Gülen suggests that despite Erdogan's efforts to decimate the Hizmet movement, he will end up on the losing side. The majority of the Turkish population has suffered greatly from his purges and gross human rights abuses; coupled with an alarming deterioration of the economy, he has become increasingly unpopular.

Unlike Erdogan, to whom history will not be kind, however, Fethullah Gülen enjoys a non-elected position and will remain deeply revered by his followers as long as he lives and beyond. His socially-oriented Islamic philosophy and humanitarian services will certainly outlive Erdogan's political Islam, which may well diminish once he leaves the political scene.

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About the Authors

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

Arbana Xharra authored a series of investigative reports on religious extremists and Turkey's Islamic agenda operating in the Balkans. She has won numerous awards for her reporting, and was a 2015 recipient of the International Women of Courage Award from the US State Department.

Other articles by these Authors

All articles by Alon Ben-Meir
All articles by Arbana Xharra

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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