Author: Hovhannisian John

FETHULLAH GULEN: THE NEO-OTTOMAN DREAM OF TURKISH ISLAM
Geries Othman

Asia News
1818
May 6 2009
Italy

In just a few decades Gulen, the son of an imam, has generated an
Islam-based cultural, religious and economic revival. Backed by
PM Erdogan he is disliked by secularist. He preaches dialogue with
Christians against atheism and dreams that Turkey can be a key player
from the Balkans till Central Asia.

Ankara (AsiaNews) – Ataturk’s secularism and the social order
guaranteed by the military appear to be teetering in Turkey today. This
is due to the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, backed by
a moderate Islamist party, but especially to the fact that despite
the secular constitution, religion appears to be taking root in
society. This trend in turn is supported by one of the best known and
more controversial figures in today’s Turkey, Fethullah Gulen, who
is seen a the most important modern Muslim theologian and political
scientist today.

Son of an imam, Gulen was born in Erzurum in south-eastern Turkey, in
1938. A great disciple of Said Nursî, a mystic of Kurdish origin who
died in 1960, he is in favour of a conservative and orthodox vision of
Islam without rejecting modernity which he believes must be addressed.

In the 1970s he organised summer camps in Izmir to teach Islamic
principles, setting up the first student or ‘light’ hostels. Still
tolerated by the state he began building his first schools, then a
university, mass media, groups and associations to breathe life into
"modern Turkish Islam" whereby religion and nationalism could be one.

Because of some statements, Turkey’s National Security Council
condemned in 1998 for "trying to undermine the country’s secular
institutions, concealing his methods behind a democratic and moderate
image." For this reason he has been living in voluntary exile in the
United States since he was sentenced in absentia.

>From his headquarters in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), he continues to
build his empire, which includes a network of more than 300 private
(Islamic) schools in Turkey and 200 abroad (from Tanzania to China,
Morocco to the Philippines and former Soviet Republics with large
Turkic minorities), a bank, various TV stations and newspapers,
a 12-language website and many charities, a virtual business empire
worth billions of dollars.

The key to his success lies in the work of thousands of members of his
movement, who are willing to volunteer their time and energy promote
education, especially where there are few institutions and limited
economic means. Indeed Gulen’s ideas have attracted intellectuals
and diplomats who have become his promoters because they see him as
a promoter of peace and inter-faith dialogue.

In the 1950s Gulen’s mentor Said Nursî preached that Muslims should
join Christians against atheism, trying to contact Pope Pius XII and
Patriarch Athenagoras. Following in Nursî’s footsteps, Fethullah
Gulen began promoting inter-faith dialogue in Turkey. Stating that
his only goal was to "honestly serve humanity," he developed ties
with all Christian Churches in Turkey, including relations with the
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I and Armenian Patriarch Mesrob
Mutafyan. He sought an audience with Pope John Paul II which was
held in Rome in 1998, and met the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem,
Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron.

Officially his movement has about a million followers, including tens
of thousands of public sector employees in Turkey who are protected
by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (one of Gulen’s best known
sympathisers).

In 2006 a Court in Ankara acquitted him from charges of creating
an illegal organisation for the purpose of overthrowing Turkey’s
secular state and replacing it with one based on the Sharia. But
despite that and his large following, he has been criticised by a
large number of secularists who believe that underneath a veneer of
humanist philosophy, Gulen plans to turn Turkey’s secular state into
a theocracy.

Secular Kemalists have compared him to Khomeini and fear that his
return to Turkey might turn Ankara into another Tehran. The governments
of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are also weary and
suspicious of his "Turkish schools promoted by Islamic missionaries."

At the basis of Gulen’s teachings is the notion that state and religion
should be reconnected as they were in Ottoman times and that Turkey
should play the role of beacon for the Balkans and the republics in
the Caucasus. Through him a "neo-Nur" philosophy is integrated into
Turkish, if not pan-Turkic nationalism, which explains his success
among ethnically related Turkic peoples in post-Soviet Central Asia.

Through hundreds of private schools operating in the Central Asian
republics the Gulen movement is giving Turkey a new strategically
significant cultural and economic role and leading communities who
lost their own identity with the fall of Communism back to their
cultural and religious roots in Turkish culture and Islam.

Following this approach Turksoy, an "International Organisation
for Development of Turkic Culture and Art", was set up in Ankara
in 1993. Created by the Turkish Ministry of Culture its goal is to
sponsor and coordinate initiatives within the "Turkic world." It came
into existence after the culture ministers of Turkey, Turkmenistan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkish Republic of Cyprus as well as the
autonomous Russian republics of Tatarstan and Bašqortostan signed
an agreement of cultural cooperation.

According to the agreement, the new organisation was established
as a function of new emerging international relations in order to
back cultural restructuring in the Trans-Caucasus region and around
the world. More specifically, Turksoy’s goals are: to establish
friendly relations among Turkish-speaking peoples and nations;
explore, disclose, develop, and protect the common Turkic culture,
language, history, art, customs, and traditions as well as pass them
down to future generations and let them live forever; and develop
an environment that allows Turkic peoples to use a shared alphabet
and language.

Given Turkey’s predicament today, the country appears even more divided
between secularism and political Islam, torn between a desire to turn
towards Europe and the dream of becoming a pan-Turkic regional power.

ARMENIAN CHURCHES IN JERUSALEM ARE NOT TAKEN DOWN

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.05.2009 17:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian churches in Jerusalem are not taken
down, Head of Hay Dat Jerusalem Bureau Georgette Avakyan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

Azg Armenian daily reported, citing Maan Palestinean Information
agency, that recently Jerusalem City Authorities passed a decision to
bring down an Armenian Catholic church in the Ð~^ld City. "Israeli
authorities’ step is considered as an encroachment on Old City’s
shrines, and is explained by oncoming visit of Roman Pope Benedict
XVI. The decision, directed against catholic church, aims to strengthen
domination of Jews in the Old City," the agency reported.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH THE HEADS OF STUDENTS’ COUNCILS OF THE UNIVERSITIES

ARMENPRESS
MAY 5, 2009
YEREVAN

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met today with the heads of students’
councils of the Armenian higher educational establishments.

The Presidential press office told Armenpress that greeting the
young guests the President underlined the commitment of the Armenian
authorities in the issue of establishment of strong students’
councils. According to Serzh Sargsyan, during the education
years the student must not only make steps towards the science and
scientific world but also be educated as a future citizen. Among the
issues existing in our reality pointing out to the imperfectness of
mechanisms of self-organization of the society and lack of traditions
of self-organization the President stressed that this is in reality
an important sphere and is related to the necessity of formation of
a new culture.

Establishment of strong students’ council has a function which fosters
the self-organization of the society. Here the young people for the
first time learn to combine over a general aim, organize themselves,
make joint decisions and fight for the personal rights.

This is a separate culture the rooting of which can greatly contribute
to the development of abilities to juxtapose powers of the society
in different spheres.

According to President Sargsyan "if mighty students’ councils are
established, it means that tomorrow mighty condominiums, mighty trade
unions and why not also mighty parties can be established".

Reminding the famous proverb which says "Future belongs to the young
people", the President said: "We do not want people to understand
that "the present does not belong to the young people" under this
saying. Of course the experience is an important thing and no clever
person must refuse from the experience. But at the same time we must
also understand and take into account that the experience can be
positive as well as negative. An experienced official is of course
a good and useful citizen for our country. But regrettably in many
cases the experienced official is also experienced in abuses. Thus
the most correct way is that we are able to successfully juxtapose
the experience and the juvenile enthusiasm. We are ready to do that
but we must also see young people ready to that".

Mentioning the example of the chess S. Sargsyan noted: "Up to the
latest years aged, experienced chess players were decisive in the
chess world. But today the young chess players have taken up the role
of the leader. Already now the 8, 9, 10 year old children successfully
play against experienced grand masters; leaders of the world cup are
exclusively young people which once more speaks about the fact that
today the world needs fresh ideas and non standard solutions.

And for this reason the opportunities of young people become
limitless. There is a limitless field of activity for the youth
in our country as well. We need initiative state officials, young
initiative scientists. And you must solve this issue. Your previous
generations implemented their historical mission with honor: thanks
to your grandparents Armenia became a state of general intelligence
and education and educated people are regarded with honor in Armenia.

Your fathers, mothers and sisters could built and create a free
and independent Armenia and now you should be able to continue the
process but it is impossible to be done without knowledge and active
social position".

Noting that the youth faces many issues the President Sargsyan singled
out some of them.

"First, the young people must permanently deal with the consolidation
of our independent statehood. Without an active youth we will not be
able to have a strong statehood and without a strong statehood the
development of our state is impossible.

Second, the youth are obliged to be the creators and establishers
of new science. We have a great need of young scientists in all the
spheres started from the Armenology and finished with exact sciences.

Third, our youth must be free citizens of a free state. If a person
does not feel free he cannot conduct great works and no one doubts
that our country needs great works".

After the President’s speech a concerned discussion and exchange
of thoughts on the issues the studentship is concerned with took
place. Particularly a refer has been made to the process of educational
reforms, state-order – labor market relationship, social issues, the
post-graduate education and staff preparation as well as the military
patriotic education of the youth. On the request of the students the
President has also spoken about the urgent foreign political issues.

HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMS IMPLEMENTED BY 115 ORGANIZATIONS IN ARMENIA IN 2008

ARKA
Apr 30, 2009

YEREVAN, April 30. /ARKA/. Charity and humanitarian aid programs were
implemented by a total of 115 foreign and national organizations in
Armenia in 2008, head of government administration David Sargsyan
reported.

Over the year 2008, humanitarian and charity cargoes for a total
of 19.8bln Drams (customs value) were imported to Armenia from 43
countries. It is a reduction of 4.7bln Drams as compared with 2007
due to decline in imports of pharmaceuticals under humanitarian aid
programs, he said.

44 organizations initiated humanitarian programs and works in the
country in 2008 for a total of 22.4bln Drams, which is an increase of
8bln Drams as compared with the 2007 level. Construction works financed
by Holy Echmiadzin at "Surb Nerses" medical center in particular,
constituted a large part of it. ($1=372.22Drams).

DRAFT EU DECLARATION TO BE DISCUSSED AT EASTERN PARTNERSHIP SUMMIT

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.04.2009 17:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Prague will host a summit to launch the Eastern
Partnership project for six non-EU former Soviet Bloc nations on May 7.

The Eastern Partnership, a priority for Czech presidency that ends
June 30, is designed to boost the European Union’s relations with
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Promotion of human rights and rule of law in former Soviet states
is to form the "core" of the EU’s new Eastern Partnership policy,
according to a draft EU summit declaration seen by EUobserver.

"Shared values including democracy, the rule of law, and respect for
human rights will be at its core, as well as the principles of market
economy, sustainable development and good governance," the text says.

"The Eastern Partnership should provide the foundation for new
Association Agreements between the EU and those partners who have made
sufficient progress towards the principles and values set out [above]."

EU leaders are set to formally adopt the document, which was drafted
by the Czech EU presidency.

Apart from values, the declaration says the region is of "strategic
importance" and the EU has an "interest in developing an increasingly
close relationship with its Eastern partners, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine."

GEORGIA RENEWS TRANSIT OF RUSSIAN GAS THROUGH ARMENIA

Interfax
April 27 2009
Russia

Transit of Russian gas through Armenia, which was halted on April 23
owing to repairs on the North-South gas pipeline, were restarted on
Sunday morning, Tamara Shoshiashvili, PR head for the Georgian Oil
and Gas Corporation (GOGC), told Interfax.

She said that over the three days of stoppage, a four-kilometer tap
was implemented at the corrosive section of the pipeline near Gladnula
in the Gardabani region.

quot;Work on this section was implemented in the second phase of the
rehabilitation of the North-South gas pipeline,quot; she said.

The North-South pipeline, which supplies gas from Russia to Georgia
and Armenia, was developed in the 1970s.

Georgia receives 10% of total supply of gas to Armenia for its
transit services.

MEETING BETWEEN ARMENIAN, AZERI LEADERS WILL BRIDGE THE GAP

Interfax
April 27 2009
Russia

There are positive trends in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process,
said Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian.

"Today there are some positive trends in the Karabakh process, since
the Azerbaijani president stated the desire to resolve the Nagorno-
Karabakh conflict in line with principles of international law, that is
on the basis of all principles. This is a very important and positive
trend," Nalbandian said in an interview with the state news agency.

The Armenian and Azeri presidents, who have already met three times,
will soon hold another meeting, he said.

"Hopefully, this meeting will be positive and constructive and will
enable more active talks and will intensify the progress and the
process of bridging the gap between the conflicting parties," the
Armenian foreign minister said.

The Armenian and Azeri presidents are due to meet in Prague on May 7.

*** The Co-chairmen of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group said they are optimistic about the resolution
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, during a press conference in Yerevan.

There are intentions and possibilities to settle this conflict,
U.S. Cochairman Matthew Bryza told the conference on Monday. U.S.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said recently that the conflict
might be resolved within the next few months, Bryza said, adding that
in his opinion that was realistic.

"The parties to the conflict understand that it is possible to make
progress, but it is still difficult to set a timeframe. One thing
is clear – the sides will concentrate on a peace agreement once
they coordinate positions on fundamental [settlement] principles,"
Russian Co- chairman Yuri Merzlyakov said.

The intermediaries hope for a fruitful and constructive meeting of the
Armenian and Azeri presidents in Prague on May 7, French Co-chairman
Bernard Fassier said.

‘The presidents may also meet in St. Petersburg in June, but everything
will depend on their will and mutual understanding," Fassier said.

The co-chairmen welcomed the closer relations between Armenia and
Turkey and the coordination of the normalization roadmap.

Merzlyakov rejected claims that Russia might withdraw its servicemen
from Armenia with the settlement of the Armenian-Turkish relations.

*** The roadmap for settling Armenian-Turkish relations does not
list any principles, or provisions, Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard
Nalbandian said.

The road map has no principles or provisions. It is a schedule of steps
the sides must make to enforce the reached agreements. Provisions
and principles will be laid down in an agreement or agreements,
which both sides will sign, Nalbandian said in an interview with the
national information agency on Monday.

There is not a single country that would not support or welcome
Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, he said.

Although, there is, perhaps, one country that has reservations –
Azerbaijan. I don’t think it is right, since the settlement of
Armenian- Turkish relations can only have a positive impact on
the region.

Azerbaijan is part of this region, the minister said.

Nalbandian also denied assertions that Armenia has agreed to the
settlement of relations after the events in South Ossetia, when
Armenia experienced problems delivering goods when motorways were
closed in Georgia.

You know very well that the Armenian president’s initative to settle
relations was proposed long before those events. That was not so.

The decision was made with the full awareness that we must settle
relations with Turkey, the Armenian foreign minister said.

Concerning the pessimistic assessment made in Armenia regarding the
establishment of relations with Turkey, Nalbandian said, if opinions
are aired that Turkey can deceive us, then Turkey will in the first
place deceive itself, the international community, the United States,
Russia and the European Union.

I hope, when we settle our relations, not only the Armenian
leaders will lay flowers at the tomb of victims of the genocide of
Armenians. We will be joined by Turkish leaders, he said.

He said that for the past few months, the president and the foreign
minister have been making statement to the effect that Armenia wants
to establish fully -fledged relations with Turkey and to settle them
without pre-conditions.

By making a joint statement with Turkey we are saying that we accept
the establishment of relations and the opening of the borders without
pre-conditions. I don’t think anyone has been deceived in Armenia,
the minister said.

A party in the governing coalition – the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Dashnaktsutyun – announced on Monday that it was withdrawing
from the coalition and giving up all of its ministerial portfolios
and posts in the parliament.

The main reason for the withdrawal is disagreement over Armenia’s
foreign policy. The Federation agues that, the recognition of the
genocide of Armenians is a matter of national security. The party
is giving up all of its ministerial portfolios and posts in the
parliament, representative of the party’s supreme body, head of
the parliamentary foreign relations commission Armen Rustamian told
the press.

*** BAKU. April 27 (Interfax) – The co-chairmen of the OSCE
(Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Minsk Group on
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict resolution have agreed on a meeting
between Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan in Prague on May 7, Russian co-chairman Yury Merzlyakov said.

"At their meetings with the [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairmen, Azeri
President President Ilham Aliyev and Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov confirmed the agreement to attend the meeting between
the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia due in Prague," Merzlyakov told
journalists at the Baku airport on Saturday.

The Prague meeting of the presidents will focus on their differences
on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict issue, he said. "Hopefully, there
will be results from this meeting," the Russian co-chairman said.

As for the next visit by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen to the
region, it will take place in May after the Prague meeting between
the Azeri and Armenian presidents, Merzlyakov said.

For his part, U.S. co-chairman Matthew Bryza also said he was satisfied
with the outcome of the Baku meeting. The meetings in Azerbaijan were
constructive, he said.

The Turkish-Armenian rapprochement has a positive effect on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution, Bryza said.

French co-chairman Bernard Fassier also said the stabilization of
Turkish-Armenian relations will have a positive impact on the Nagorno-
Karabakh conflict resolution and stability in the region in general.

The meeting between the Azeri and Armenian leaders in St.

Petersburg in June will depend on the results of the Prague meeting,
he said.

There are reasonable hopes that the Azeri-Armenian conflict will be
resolved before the end of 2009, he added.

Resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is like building a house,
and it is a long process, he said.

Our visits and talks are already piling bricks but we not ready to
put on the roof yet, he said.

Hopefully, concrete and serious progress will be achieved before the
end of this year, the French co-chairman said.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE DISCUSS ARMENIAN- TURKISH RELATIONS

Interfax
April 28 2009
Russia

Armenian Foreign Minister and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
discussed on the phone Armenian- Turkish relations and Nagorno-Karabakh
on Monday.

Clinton welcomed the joint statement of the Armenian, Turkish and
Swiss Foreign Ministries and said it was a historic step towards
natural relations.

On Thursday, the Armenian, Turkish Foreign Ministries, and the Swiss
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) made a joint statement
on the settlement of Armenian-Turkish relations and a road map.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry also said that the U.S. Secretary of
State expressed its support to the negotiating process in terms of
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk
Group for Nagorno-Karabakh and said it hoped that this process will
see positive progress.

The talk was held on the initiative of the U.S., the Foreign Ministry
said.

However the oppositional Armenian National Congress said the
Armenian-Turkish relations and Nagorno-Karabakh were discussed by
the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairman Matthew Bryza, the U.S. Ambassador
to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch and representatives of the oppositional
congress, Levon Zarubian and David Shakhnazarian.

MARCHERS PROTEST GENOCIDE SEMANTICS
Ofelya Martirosyan

Daily Sundial
enocide-semantics-1.1737968
California State Univ. in Northridge
April 29 2009

Bracelets with the Web site were on display
during a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 94th anniversary of
the genocide held last Thursday.

Nearly 10,000 people dressed in black holding flags, banners and signs
marched in Little Armenia Friday morning in Hollywood in protest of
Turkey’s failure to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Protestors also
decried President Barack Obama’s failure to use the word "genocide."

Obama issued a statement about the genocide saying his views have
not changed, but refrained from using the word genocide. Instead he
twice referred to "Meds Yeghern," which are words used by Armenians
in reference to the events of 1915.

This year marks the 94th anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th
century when under the guise of WWI, the Young Turks of the Ottoman
Empire systematically killed 1.5 million Armenians. To this day,
Turkey refuses to acknowledge the genocide.

Protester Aghasi Kirakosian, 75, said, "They massacred Armenians
and Turkey denies it without shame. Whoever doesn’t recognize it is
equally guilty."

Obama’s statement read: "Ninety four years ago, one of the great
atrocities of the 20th century began. Each year, we pause to remember
the 1.5 million Armenians who were subsequently massacred or marched
to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire. The Meds
Yeghern must live on in our memories, just as it lives on in the
hearts of the Armenian people."

Harut Sassounian, a publisher and human rights advocate, said the
president broke his campaign promise of properly recognizing the
Armenian genocide. "It’s a clever ploy on his part just like many
presidents before him who used euphemisms and word gymnastics."

Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles City Council president, spoke at the
protest organized by Unified Young Armenians. Garcetti urged the
president to use the word genocide.

"There is no debate. There is no ambiguity. There is only the horrors
of a genocide. Call it what it is. Say the right word and call it a
genocide," said Garcetti.

Sassounian said a simple acknowledgement or an apology on Turkey’s
part would not do.

"In 1915 an attempt was made to destroy an entire nation in its
ancestral homeland, depriving the survivors of their cultural
heritage as well as their homes, lands, houses of worship and personal
property," he said. "A gross injustice was perpetrated against the
Armenians, which entitles them to demand compensation."

Protests continued later in the day in front of the Turkish Consulate
and a commemoration was held in Montebello attended by Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa, Congressman Adam Schiff and state senator Carol Liu (D).

"Turkey’s guilty of genocide," shouted the thousands of protestors,
"recognize the genocide, recognize history."

RECURRENT BLUFF

A1+
01:16 pm | April 29, 2009 |

Armenia doesn’t export electric energy to Turkey although an agreement
was reached between the two countries last September.

In September 2008, during the visit of Turkish officials to Armenia,
Armenia and Turkey signed an agreement according to which Armenia
was to provide electric power to Turkey. It was agreed that electric
energy would be sold to Turkey from March 1, 2009.

Two months have passed since March 1 but no electric energy has been
sent to Turkey. There is no reference to the preparation works either.

According to the tentative agreement the power supply was to
be realized without any mediators, through the territory of
Kars. Annually, 1.5-milliard kilowatt-hour electric energy was to be
exported to Turkey at the first period.

The Turkish side agreed to recover all technical shortcomings in
September and to restore the lines of electric power transmission.

The Ministry of Energy of Armenia still doesn’t possess any news. "The
agreement has come into effect. If we have any news, we shall inform
you," Ministry’s Spokeswoman Lusine Harutyunyan said to A1+.

Despite the statements of the Armenian side, Turkey continues
dispelling the information.