Posted on 12/12/2013 6:51:24 AM PST by LSUfan
Wednesday afternoon the story broke in Baton Rouge media that the Kenilworth Science & Technology School had been raided by the FBI.
The FBI indicated that the raid, which evidently was conducted to gather material evidence in the form of documents and computers, was not a matter of public safety. As a result, it probably was not related to a report earlier this year that a teacher at the school was accused of having inappropriate pictures of children on his cell phone. Had those charges stuck, that would have been the second scandal of a sexual nature involving a Gulenist school in Louisiana.
Abramson Science & Technology Charter School in New Orleans was shut down back in 2011 in the wake of a scandal that started as an investigation into sexual activity involving students at the school and evolved into a possible public bribery investigation. Abramson operated under the same charter organization that Kenilworth operates under: Pelican Educational Foundation.
During the course of the investigation into Abramson, Pelican’s ties to the Gulenist movement were revealed.
By now you’re wondering what the Gulenist movement is, no doubt. The Gulenist movement is a secretive, controversial Islamist movement founded by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Islamic scholar with a controversial history and a great many followers and admirers in both the Islamic and Western worlds. However, a close analysis of Gulen and his movement reveals what may very well be a disturbing threat, rather than the benign movement that many suppose.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehayride.com ...
They're here, they're in and they have a following.
Oh ... I can't say "they" like they're different or something ?
Well, f*** you, too ... we are screwed.
Or we'll get pissed off enough to get these scum out of our country.
He all sounds wonderful imho, all except for not supporting or wanting secularism. He being Muslim leads me to believe he tilts towards non-secularist Islamic states, and I’m being generous.
Gulen was thrown out of Turkey and lives in safety here in Penn. He is one of the wealthiest people probably in the US and yet we have never heard of this Islamic Soros-like person.
I remember reading somewhere (here?) about a compound in eastern Pa. that no one can get to because it is hundreds of acres of private property and allegedly patrolled 24/7 and the only road in has gate guards and etc.
Gulen story bump
Atlas Texas Construction and Trading was the company brought up in an article on the earlier bribery scandal...
Atlas had done building work at an Oklahoma charter school that was led by Mustafa Guvercin...Atlas is described as affiliated with Gulen in a classified State Department cable that was published by Wikileaks....
http://asbarez.com/117571/fbi-raids-gulen-school-in-new-orleans/
via a blog
About Us | Sampoerna Academy
https://www.sampoernaacademy.sch.id/.../mustafa-guvercin_p21
MUSTAFA GUVERCIN DIRECTOR OF SAMPOERNA ACADEMY. Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, University of Houston – Clear Lake, Houston, the U.S.
Dove Science Academy - Gulen Charter Schools
gulencharterschools.weebly.com/dove-science-academy.html
Dove Science Academy has filed a number of H-1B visa applications for teachers and staff, ... Mustafa Guvercin a.k.a. Mustafa Dove (note: dove=guvercin in Turkish)
Thanks, good article. Does Joseph Wilson’s Turkish network (American-Turkish Council/ATC, Turkish-U.S. Business Council/Turk-Amerikan IS Konseyi/TAIK)) intersect with Gulen’s network?
Emails Show Ties Between Hillary Clinton And Followers Of Controversial Turkish Cleric
The emails, which were released by the watchdog group Judicial Watch on Monday, show that Abedin moved to help the men, Gokhan Ozkok and Recep Ozkan. . .In one May 2009 email provided to Judicial Watch, Ozkok, who was at that time the president of the Gulen-connected Turkish American Business Council, praised Clinton in an email to Abedin for “converting” Turkish Americans to the Democratic party.
I was invited as a speaker to the annual meeting of the American-Turkish Council (ATC), which can be considered key to close relations between Turkey and the United States. Although the ATC is not well known by the Turkish public, it is one of Turkey’s most important windows to the world. This gargantuan structure was formed first by defense officials, then joined by the energy sector, all major corporations doing business with Turkey, high level diplomats, bureaucrats and politicians. In reality, it serves as a “Turkey lobby” in Washington. It has serious weight form Congress to the White House. Even more important, annual ATC meetings also determine the color of the strategic dialogue between Ankara and Washington.
But the 33th ATC meeting was a lifeless, dismal affair. When I was wondering why there was no one around, it was whispered in my ear: "The Turkish government is boycotting it." Upon instructions of the prime minister's office, there was practically no representation of Ankara in this meeting that usually hosts several cabinet ministers. Given the situation, US Secretary of State John Kerry also decided not to attend.
It wasn’t difficult to find out the reasons behind the government’s hostility to the ATC. Several months ago, the organization, in a periodic information sheet sent out to its members, referred to the Dec. 17 graft probe and even included some articles from the [pro-Gulen Movement] daily Today’s Zaman in its press summary. According to reports, an ATC executive board member known to be close to the government hastily complained to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the council’s chairman, retired ambassador Jim Holmes. Ankara began exerting pressure for Holmes to resign.
Another incident occurred a couple of weeks ago when a group of Turkish journalists close to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) were in Washington. The group, there on the government’s initiative, ostensibly to help improve its image, attended a panel chaired by Holmes at the office of SETA [Turkey’s pro-government Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research]. The group reacted strongly to a question asked by the daily Zaman. This kind of behavior, although accepted as routine in Turkey, doesn’t go down well in the West. Holmes, who was chairing the panel, insisted that the AKP columnist must answer the question. This upset the government.
I must admit that Turkey’s persistent campaign against Holmes has not helped its already dented imagine in Washington. Someone who was once an influential figure in Turkish-US relations told me, “Being a bully may work in Turkey, but not here. ATC is an American organization.” Another labeled the pressure on Holmes as “shameful."
The most salient comment came from an official who asked, "If they make ATC ineffective, how is Turkey going to voice its problems?”
For years, there were three different sources working as a Turkish lobby in Washington. The first was the Israeli lobby. The second was TUSKON [the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey] and extensions of the Gulen movement. The government, after destroying its bridges with these organizations, now blew up its last pillar in Washington.
A night before the meeting was to start, ATC Chairman Holmes quietly submitted his resignation to the executive board, hence the mournful ambiance at the meeting. But I don’t think this story will end here. From what I have heard, neither the US administration nor the giant corporations on the ATC board are happy with Ankara’s pressure. Who knows, they may even refuse to accept Holmes’ resignation.
Going to the airport I noticed the conference booklet with this year’s theme on the cover: “Turkish-US Relations: Critical Partnership in a Changing World.”
If you asked me, I would have titled it: “Changing Partnership in a Critical World.”
UK Finds Gulenists Involved in Turkey Coup Attempt, Doesn’t Blame Entire Group
‘No hard evidence’ entire Gulen movt. behind Turkey coup, only some members – UK report
The presence and activism of the Gülen movement is even more complex and intense in the United States than it is in Europe. This is due in part to the large number of Gülen establishments, but it is also due to the presence of Gülen himself.
Fethullah Gülen arrived in the United States in 1999, ostensibly for health reasons but also to escape a political atmosphere in which the Turkish military was cracking down on various religious groups. Since then, he has been living in Pennsylvania. His choice to live out his self-imposed exile in the United States can be explained by the large number of his followers who were already in America at the time and by the opportunities the country’s open, liberal democracy offers to Gülen and his movement to amass influence through powerful lobbying instruments in Washington.
In the United States as elsewhere, Gülenists’ primary focus is on education. But the Gülen movement’s educational initiatives in the United States have proved more controversial than virtually any of the institutions emanating from or inspired by Gülen’s ideas around the world.
There are more than 140 charter schools in the United States, located across the country and especially in Texas, that are linked to the Gülen movement. These charter schools are troubled public schools that have been turned over—some would say sold—to private operators, which may be corporations, associations, churches, or, in the case at hand, companies whose leaders are known for their adherence to Gülen’s ideas. However, it is difficult to prove that these schools belong to the Gülen movement because many of the individuals operating them deny any links to Fethullah Gülen.
The Turkish companies that run these charter schools also insist that there is no reason to call them “Gülenist” because the teachers keep their religious convictions to themselves. Indeed, even some of the parents of the young Americans who attend these schools appear to be completely oblivious to the religious and cultural nature of the movement.
The lack of transparency with which many of these schools operate has given rise to several FBI investigations, notably on the exclusive and wrongful recruitment of teachers from Turkey. However, accusations of wrongdoing and irregularities in visa applications for Turkish teachers have all proved unfounded, and currently all charter schools with suspected ties to Gülen continue to operate.
Outside the educational arena, the Gülen movement participates in economic, cultural, and political activism in the United States. An economic showcase for the movement worldwide, TUSKON has an office in Washington, DC, that hosts forums and facilitates cooperation between Turkish and American entrepreneurs. In addition, the movement has created numerous organizations that help promote its lobbying efforts in the United States by spreading Gülen’s ideas in Washington.
Gülen movement supporters founded the Turkic American Alliance, which is headquartered in downtown Washington, as an umbrella organization to gather hundreds of Turkish-American cultural and educational associations nationwide. These organizations regularly host cultural events and sometimes conferences on Turkey or Turkish-American relations. As its name indicates—“Turkic” rather than “Turkish”—it aims to expand its activities to the other Turkic republics. On December 11, 2013, for example, it hosted the United States–Kazakhstan Convention in partnership with the Kazakh embassy. Although a recent creation (it was established in 2010), the Turkic-American Alliance is much more active and visible than the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations, an umbrella movement founded by the first Turkish expatriates and considered to be more secular.
The Rumi Forum, another DC-based organization with close ties to the Gülen movement, features regular lectures and debates on religious, political, and cultural topics. Once a year, in conjunction with other organizations affiliated with the movement, this forum—initially devoted to promoting interreligious dialogue—hosts a major conference on Gülen’s ideas. These conferences are often prepared with the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, a Jesuit institution that has long provided support to Gülen, with the assistance of academics such as John Voll, John Esposito, and Father Thomas Michel.
The boards of directors of both the Turkic American Alliance and the Rumi Forum, as well as the guests they attract, include prestigious and influential academics, businessmen, and elected officials. These groups also organize regular trips to Turkey in which journalists, researchers, and sometimes even politicians are welcomed in different towns in a full-on charm offensive promoting both the country and the movement.
A more recently established Gülen think tank, the Rethink Institute, is also advancing Gülen’s ideas in Washington. The institute promotes both the country and the movement through research and debates on hot-button Turkish issues, and it organizes seminars and conferences that defend the Gülen movement’s point of view on these matters.
These various instruments have afforded the Gülen movement a level of political influence in Washington that secular and government-affiliated Turkish organizations cannot rival. The Gülen movement’s lobbying instruments have proved more capable of attracting high-level U.S. officials to their many social and cultural events than organizations affiliated with the Turkish government, such as the Foundation for Political, Economic, and Social Research, a Washington-based think tank designed to promote U.S.-Turkey relations. This fact, especially when combined with its educational and economic activism in the United States, gives the Gülen movement political leverage in Washington that Turkey cannot ignore.
BUMP
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