Call the politicians -- that's what we paid for, isn't it?
On July 13, 2013, a crowd of over 500 Turkish-American and American citizens protested against Muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, where Gulen has been living for the past 11 years – the same time frame when the mysterious Gulen-inspired United States’ taxpayer- funded charter schools started to spring up all over the United States.
Despite the local cops’ and other Gulen aficionados’ best efforts to stop the protest – and after making some minor adjustments to the itinerary, it went on as planned. To our great amusement, as the protesters made a motorcade drive past Gulen’s compound, the Gulenists hid behind buildings, peeking out at the protesters like monkeys in a zoo. None of them came out of the shadows except for one lone photographer who occasionally peered out of a corner to take pictures of the motorcade.
The protesters gave a compelling argument for the United States’ government to stop endorsing Gulen’s many US based schemes, and instead – investigate and prosecute the Gulenists for their many -- and ongoing -- illegal activities. The protest attendees -- the majority of them Turkish Americans believe – as we do – that Fetullah Gulen is not just a blameless Iman trying to spread his spiel on interfaith dialogue, but is in fact an extremely dangerous and influential Islamic extremist whose agenda is far from innocuous. In fact, it has been our contention for the past five years that Fetullah Gulen and his merry band of thieves are orchestrating a malicious, ruthless, and invasive self-serving agenda both in Turkey and the United States (via our charter schools).
And what exactly is that agenda? In the United States the Gulenists have managed to ferry away hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into Gulen’s billion dollar empire which is orchestrating a political schema both in the United States and Turkey. In the United States the Gulenists have found their nirvana in the form of greedy American politicians who will prostitute themselves for a few campaign bucks, a trip to Turkey, and their names engraved on superfluous plaques validating their allegiance to Gulen.
The Turkish Americans, and other American citizens plan to continue the protests, not only as a sign of solidarity for Turkish protesters abroad, but likewise as an effort to bring a much needed awareness to Fetullah Gulen’s agenda in the United States. We will continue to update this website, providing future protest event dates and locations.
Below are some Youtube links to the Saylorsburg protest and an article written by Arnold Ahlert for Frontpage Magazine and published on November 1, 2012. The article, like many others we have posted, details exactly what the Gulenists are doing and what Gulen’s agenda is in both the United States and Turkey:
Saylorsburg protest:
http://youtu.be/-kvkwu16tFQ
You tube video titles:
Fetullah Gulen Protestosu1.eylempart-113.07.2013 Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania
Fetullah Gulen Protestosu1.eylempart-2 13.07.2013 Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania
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http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/12700
Middle East studies in the News
Stealth Islamist Charter Schools Under Investigation
by Arnold Ahlert
Frontpage Magazine
November 1, 2012
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/arnold-ahlert/stealth-islamist-charter-schools-under-investigation/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=9396bb55e8-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag
http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/12700
The charter school movement associated with Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen is under federal investigation
If one believes that the battle for the nation's soul is occurring, not just in Washington, D.C., but in schools across the nation, the steady advance of Turkish-Gulen Charter Schools may be cause for alarm. Fethullah Gulen is a Turkish Islamic cleric who fled his native country in 1998, after being charged with seeking to overthrow the secular Turkish government. He currently lives in exile at a 28-acre mountain complex in the Pocono Mountains, with more than $25 billion of assets at his command. The 135 charter schools associated with the Gulen Movement (GM) enroll more than 45,000 students and comprise the largest charter school network in the United States — all of which are fully funded by American taxpayers. Fethullah Gulen has been under investigation by the government since 2011.
That investigation, carried out by FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education, is centered around charter school employees who are allegedly engaged in kicking back part of their salaries to the Muslim movement also known as Hizmet (service to others), founded by Gulen. Gulen initiated his movement in Izmir, a city on Turkey's Aegean coast, more than 40 years ago, preaching impassioned sermons to his followers, who may now number as many as six million. In Turkey, the Gulen Movement has been accused of pushing for a hardline Islamic state. Despite this reality, government officials investigating the kickback scheme are apparently satisfied that there is no religious agenda being disseminated in America. Their investigation is centered around the hundreds of Turkish teachers, administrators, and other staffers employed under the H1B visa program, who may or may not be misusing taxpayer money.
This would appear to be a stunningly naive approach to the issue. H1B visas allow US employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations on a temporary basis. "Specialty occupations" are defined as "requiring theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge in a field of human endeavor." Gulen schools are among the nation's largest users of the H1B visas. In 2009, they received government approvals for 684 visas. The Harmony School, a Gulen-related institution, has applied for more H1B visas than any educational institution in the country.
GM officials at some of the charter schools that ostensibly specialize in math and science, claim they need to fill teaching spots with Turkish teachers. At the Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School in State College, Ruth Hocker, former president of the parents' group, grew suspicious when certified American teachers began to be replaced by uncertified Turks with limited English-speaking skills who, despite that limitation, commanded higher salaries. Parents pointed out that these uncertified teachers were moved from one charter to another when their "emergency" credentials expired. They also spoke about a pattern of sudden turnovers of Turkish business managers, administrators, and board members.
Similar complaints arose in Texas, where it was revealed that hundreds of Turkish teachers and administrators were also working with H1B visas. In addition, the Harmony School group was using taxpayer money to fund Gulen's movement via school construction and renovation projects. Despite assertions that the bidding process on those projects was fair, records showed that virtually all of the work has been done by Turkish-owned contractors, according to the New York Times.
A former teacher from Turkey revealed an ominous development, reportedly telling the FBI that the Gulen Movement had divided the United States into five regions, with a general manager in each who coordinates the activities of the schools, and related foundations and cultural centers.
All of the above raises the obvious question: if these schools are traditional American charter schools that do nothing more than "follow the state curriculum," as Tansu Cidav, the acting CEO of the Truebright Science Academy in North Philadelphia contends, why is it necessary to hire foreign teachers and coordinate activities nationwide?
A federal document released in 2011 may provide the answer. It posits that Gulen's charter schools may in fact be madrassahs, where students are "brain-washed" to serve as proponents of the New Islamic World Order Gulen purportedly seeks to create.
Former Muslim Brotherhood member Walid Shoebat illuminates the bigger picture. Shoebat, who was highly critical of a CBS "60 Minutes" report on Gulen (who refused to be interviewed for the piece), likens the cleric's movement to the leftist Center for American Progress (CAP) And radical billionaire George Soros. "Both men are extremely wealthy, use that money to surreptitiously spread their ideologies, and like to operate behind the scenes as much as possible," writes Shoebat.
The American Thinker's Janet Levy takes it one step further. After noting that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan belongs to the AKP political party founded by Gulen upon his arrival in Pennsylvania, she points out that "Turkey is reverting to its historical Ottoman Empire-inspired Islamic fundamentalism," even as "it is pursuing a stealth or cultural jihad against the West, in large part through the efforts of Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Islamic theologian." In a 1999 video, Gulen himself spoke of a surreptitious plan for taking over the Turkish government: "You must move in the arteries of the system without anyone noticing your existence until you reach all the power centers … until the conditions are ripe … The time is not yet right. You must wait for the time when you are complete and conditions are ripe, until we can shoulder the entire world and carry it[.]"
The movement is well on its way towards achieving that aim. GM is now active in 140 countries. Aside from its charter school empire, other interests including boarding schools, universities, banks, media companies, newspapers, charities, and think tanks.
60 Minutes reporter Leslie Stahl took the typically leftist, see-no-Islamist-evil approach towards complaints about the Gulen schools advancing an Islamic agenda in America, assuring viewers that he promotes "tolerance, inter-faith dialogue and, above all, he promotes education." Yet even Stahl was forced to acknowledge that while Gulen "invites conspiracy theories that he's running Turkey from the Poconos and is bent on global Muslim domination," his movement "does lack transparency: its funding, hierarchy, and ambitions remain hidden–leading our State Department to wonder in cables between Ankara and Washington if Gulen has an 'insidious political agenda.'"
This is not the first investigation conducted of Gulen's empire. In 2008, members of the Netherlands' Christian Democrat, Labor, and Conservative parties agreed to cut several million euros in government funding for organizations affiliated with Gulen. An investigation ensued when Erik Jan Zürcher, director of the Amsterdam-based International Institute for Social History, along with five former followers who had worked for Gulen, told Dutch television that the Gulen community was moving step-by-step to topple the secular order.
In Pennsylvania, neighbors of Gulen's fortress retreat complain of hearing automatic gunfire and the drone of a surveillance helicopter that constantly searches for intruders. 100 Turkish guards stand watch over the property as well. If this man and his movement–which continues to expand–have nothing to hide, they have a remarkable way of showing it.
As a Turkish observer speaking to the New Republic noted, "No society would tolerate this big of an organization being this untransparent." The FBI's new investigation against Gulen's organization brings us one step closer to exposing what goes on behind the closed doors of Gulen's empire.
Note: Articles listed under "Middle East studies in the News" provide information on current developments concerning Middle East studies on North American campuses. These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of Campus Watch and do not necessarily correspond to Campus Watch's critique.
