A New Kind of Lobbyists: Kurdish Lobbyists versus Turkish Muslim Missionaries Lobbyists in the USA (Gulen’s Missionaries)

• KurdishMedia.com - By Aland Mizell
• 25/07/2009 00:00:00

There is an old phrase that says ten people who speak make more noise than a hundred thousand who are silent. For many years in the United States, Armenian lobbyists and Greek lobbyists were more effective than Turkish ones. The American and European Union publics have always taken the opposite position on issues related to Turkey, such as on the Armenian genocide, Cypriots issues, Kurdish issues and human rights, among others. However, lately this leaning has changed. Today Fethullah Gülen has taken advantage of American and Western democracy to use its strengths for his own good trying to change the Western and the American image of Turkey. In other words, Gülen is trying to defeat the Western and American culture with their own weapon of democracy turning it against them. For example, lobbying in democratic systems is the right to influence legislations, a right that is protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the people to petition the government to address their need. Therefore the protection assumes that people should be involved in the decision-making process that will affect them. It is a political fact that the American capitalist system of government is one which relies on lobbying within the American traditional political system. It is considered a political value and thus legitimates manipulating the government as well as Congress for achieving a political, economical, cultural, or social view. This kind of political system allows for its weakness of being manipulated by lobbyists and interest groups. The ideas of lobby legitimacy and legality of lobbyists are rational as long as they serve the interest of the American people. By contrast, the Gülen lobbyists serve an ideology that wills to rule the world and thus does not serve the American people’s interest but instead jeopardizes American national security, interests, and subsequently world peace. Gulen’s followers offer scholarships targeting minorities, especially African – American college students who want to study in Turkey. His supporters use the race card to target African Americans because of the historicity of slavery, and they claim that Islam does not welcome slavery and that there is no racism under the tenets of Islam. Using that rationale to recruit Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, and other minorities in the USA, Gülen also notices that the African- American community is on the rise in its place in the American society. However, back in early 90s during his first trip to USA, Gülen claimed that America would be destroyed by the African – Americans. Now, however, racial dynamics have changed, particularly solidified by the election of President Obama.

Since Gülen is exiled to the USA from his home country because of its charge that he attempted to overthrow the secular government of Turkey, Gulen’s community in the USA takes a more active role in lobbying activities, spurred by his presence. Of course before the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) with its Muslim government came to power, Gülen did not get support from the Turkish secular government. Rather, his movement was under scrutiny by a government operating under Ataturk’s secularism. But today under the Islamic AK Party the relationship is different because President Gull and Prime Minister Endogen publically called Gulen’s followers “Ottoman soldiers” who go everywhere.

A rational person will ask what kind of history does Gülen teach at his schools? The Turkish government gives more than 3 million in endowment grants to leading American universities trying to buy academic freedom from the dark passage of the Armenian genocide. According to most historians, Armenians were massacred in a deliberate extermination of program by the Ottoman Empire during World War II. So at his schools Gülen teaches revisionist history by giving grants to many leading universities in the United States to ensure that they also teach a revisionist history that this genocide never happened, that fewer Armenians died, and those did because the Armenians first revolted against the Turks, resulting in a tragic civil war. Also according to his revisionist history, Turks never denied Kurdish rights; it is all the Kurds’ fault. Turks never did anything wrong, because the Ottoman Turks were angelic and sinless, the most peaceful empire. As such, it should be established, he argues, once again, this time not by using the sword but by using the pen. The pen would include lobbying activities carried out by an independent civil society of organizations such as NGOs, taking advantage of democracy in its freedom of speech and celebration of equality, trapping the unsuspecting in interfaith dialogues under the face of tolerance although he himself is not the most tolerant person, and using, in addition to interfaith dialogues, Turkish cultural centers, Turkish cultural associations, the Rumi forum, the Niagara Foundation, business associations, the Interfaith Institute, cooking classes, newspapers, a television station, magazines, and Hollywood. In addition, he might already infiltrate the U.S bureaucracy, the CIA, the FBI, NSA. Other key tactics are using high profile people as spokespersons, such as Bill Clinton, holding conferences to promote his ideas, although he never invites the opposition who will object his position to these conferences. Further, every year he brings his followers from Turkey and Central Asian countries to study as undergraduate and graduate students in the USA and directing them to receive scholarships at the prestigious universities to disseminate their Islamic mission. Gülen knows that they cannot achieve these goals in Turkey. They can only be achieved under the Western and American democratic systems. Gülen has opened more than 90 charter schools in almost every state in the USA. One wonders why? What kind of history do they teach? What is their purpose? The list of schools follows:

Arizona

Schools Operated by Daisy Education Corporation
Sonoran Science Academy-Tucson Middle-High School 2325 W Sunset Rd., Tucson, AZ 85741
Sonoran Science Academy-Tucson Elementary School 2325 W Sunset Rd., Tucson, AZ 85741
Sonoran Science Academy-Broadway Kindergarten - Grade 8 6880 E Broadway Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85710
Sonoran Science Academy-Phoenix Kindergarten - Grade 10 4837 E McDowell Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85008
Daisy Early Learning Academy 2325 W Sunset Rd., Tucson, AZ 85741
Davis Monthan Air Force Base *Opening 2009*

Arkansas

Lisa Academy
Lisa Academy-North
California
Magnolia Science Academy 1 Magnolia Science Academy 2
Magnolia Science Academy 3
Magnolia Science Academy 4
Magnolia Science Academy 5
Magnolia Science Academy San Carlos
Momentum Middle School
Bay Area Technology School (Bay Tech)
Pacific Technology School-San Juan
Pacific Technology School-Santa Ana

Colorado

Lotus School for Excellence

Florida

Orlando Science Middle School
River City Science Academy
Sweetwater Branch Academy
Stars Middle School
Georgia
Fulton Science Academy
Technology Enriched Accelerated Charter High School

Illinois

Science Academy of Chicago
Chicago Math and Science Academy Secondary School
Indiana
Operated by Concept Schools, Inc.
Indiana Math and Science Academy

Louisiana

Abramson Science and Technology

Maryland

Chesapeake Science Point

Massachusetts

Pioneer Charter School of Science

Missouri

Brookside-Frontier Math and Science School
Brookside Charter and Day School

Nevada

Coral Academy of Science-Las Vegas
Coral Academy of Science-Reno Secondary School
Coral Academy of Science- Reno Elementary School

New Jersey

Bergen Arts and Science Charter School
Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology
Tuition Schools
Pioneer Academy of Science

Ohio
Operated by Concept Schools, Inc.
Horizon Science Academy-Cincinnati
Horizon Science Academy-Cleveland
Horizon Science Academy-Cleveland
Horizon Science Academy-Cleveland
Horizon Science Academy-Columbus
Horizon Science Academy-Columbus
Horizon Science Academy-Columbus
Horizon Science Academy-Dayton
HORIZON SCIENCE ACADEMY - DENISON
HORIZON SCIENCE ACADEMY - TOLEDO
Noble Academy-Columbus
Noble Academy-Cleveland

Oklahoma

Schools operated under the Cosmos Foundation, TX.
Dove Science Academy-OKC Secondary
Dove Science Academy-OKC Elementary School
Dove Science Academy-Tulsa

Tuition school affiliated with Raindrop Turkish House

Bluebonnet Learning Center of Tulsa

Pennsylvania

Truebright Science Academy

Tuition School:

Snowdrop Science Academy

Texas

Operated by The Cosmos Foundation

Harmony Science Academy-
Harmony School of Science-Austin
Harmony Science Academy-North Austin
Harmony Science Academy-Beaumont
Harmony Science Academy-Brownsville
Harmony Science Academy-Bryan/College Station
Harmony Science Academy-Dallas
Harmony Science Academy-Dallas
Harmony Science Academy- El Paso
Harmony Science Academy-Fort Worth
Harmony Science Academy-Grand Prairie
Harmony Science Academy-Houston
Harmony School of Excellence-Houston
Harmony School of Innovation-Houston
Harmony School of Science-Houston
Harmony Science Academy-Northwest
Harmony Science Academy-Laredo
Harmony Science Academy-Lubbock
Harmony Science Academy-San Antonio
Harmony Science Academy-Waco
Texas Gulf Institute Career Center Adult
Riverwalk Education Foundation, Inc.
School of Science and Technology
School of Science and Technology-San Antonio
School of Science and Technology-Corpus Christi

Tuition schools affiliated with Raindrop Turkish House

Bluebonnet Learning Center of Houston
Bluebonnet Learning Center of Dallas
Bluebonnet Learning Center of El Paso

Utah

Beehive Science and Technology Academy Secondary School

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Career Academy

Gulen’s Organizational Structure in the U.S.

His organization is a hierarchical one with Gülen as the sole leader but with many devoted followers as his right-hand men and women. He advocates diversifying, so that if one sector is discovered or closed down, it will not affect the others because they seemingly operate independently. However, even a cursory investigation will show the connection to Gülen, who orchestrates all of these enterprises from his U.S. based headquarters. In the eleven or so years that he has been in the U.S., his organization has grown at a phenomenal rate, fingering into new areas each year. These bases provide a strong interest group for lobbying in the U.S. as the influence grows and impacts more governmental and societal sectors. The organizational chart below lists many of the organizations now operating in the U.S. -- all lobbying for the rise of power for Islam in America.

Note: This is an except from Dr. Mizell's original essay.

Dr. Aland Mizell, a Kurdish legal expert, is with the MCI and a regular KurdishMedia.com writer. Aland_mizell1@hotmail.com