The New Turkey
Gulen movement. Is it conservative or moderate?

January 25, 2019

A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and principles.

The Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali Sunnis, the Twelver groups, the Ismā'īlī groups, the Zaydis, the Ibadis, and the Ẓāhirīs continue to exist. In addition, new sects like Ahmadiyya movement, Black Muslim movements, Gülen movement, Quranists, Salafis,Wahhabis, and Zikris have been emerged independently.

Islam, Secularism and the Battle for Turkey's Future 
Stratfor e-mail sent August 23, 2010 | 1217 GMT  and published on Wkikileaks with an analysis of the power struggle in Turkey. It says among other things:

Inside Turkey, the Gulen movement follows a determined agenda that  aims to replace the Kemalist elite and transform Turkey into a more  religiously conservative society. Outside Turkey, Gulen presents itself  as a multifaith global organization working to bring businesses,  religious leaders, politicians, journalists and average citizens  together. Sourch 

From the Stratfor doc. Islam, Secularism And the Battle for Turkey's Future made Date 2010-09-21:

The charismatic imam Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, leads the transnational organization, along with a small group of “wise men.” Inside Turkey, the Gulen movement seeks to replace the Kemalist elite and transform Turkey into a more religiously conservative society.
Outside Turkey, Gulen presents itself as a multifaith global organization working to bring businesses, religious leaders, politicians, journalists and average citizens together.

5. (C) The officials reportedly also warned of the threat posed by alumni of Turkish Fetullah Gulen high schools, noting that they were especially dangerous because of their "high intelligence, ability to stick together, and experience studying abroad." (Note: The Fetullah Gulen movement is a conservative Islamist movement with a broad following in Turkey, that has built a worldwide network of schools - ref A.)

Stratfor e-mail: .........................Since the police were not a powerful force to be reckoned with at the time, they were not scrutinized as heavily by the secularists within the security establishment. As a result, background checks for police officers were more lax, allowing religious conservatives to gradually increase their presence in the institution under the Gulen movementa**s guidance.
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......................... The charismatic imam Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, leads the transnational organization, along with a small group of “wise men.†Inside Turkey, the movement seeks to replace the Kemalist elite and transform Turkey into a more religiously conservative society. Outside Turkey, Gulen presents itself as a multifaith global organization working to bring together businessmen, religious leaders, politicians, journalists and ordinary citizens.

The FGC is considered a modernist off-shoot of Sufi Nurcu tariqat (religious order) in Turkey. The movement aims to transform Turkey through conservative social values. Many academics describe the FGC as a neo-Nurcu movement. Gulen, a spiritual and charismatic preacher who has been known to cry during interviews and public sermons, is the founder and leader of his own branch of Nurcu Islam.

Meanwhile, some alarmist secular Turks assert without proof that the FGC is funded by the CIA to promote moderate Islam in Turkey as well as in Central Eurasia - it is interesting to note that in 2007, Russia started a crackdown on FGC infrastructure for its 'extremist' nature.

US-Cable:
Gulen has also attracted steady interest among commentators. Some writers, mainly those who write for the Gulenist daily "Zaman" or who teach at the Gulenist Fatih University in Istanbul, or who have otherwise identified themselves with his movement, assert that Gulen's public message of "dialogue" is a more mature expression of Islam. Given the Gulenists' penetration of the National Police (TNP) and many media outlets and their record of going after anyone who criticizes Gulen, others who are skeptical about Gulen's intentions feel intimidated from expressing their views publicly. Privately they note:

(1) Gulen's sharply radical past as a fiery Islamist preacher in the 1970's-1980's;
(2) his ruthlessness in banishing people from his more inner circles (Gulenists have admitted to us that they are petrified of making a "mistake");
(3) his and his inner circles' insistence that followers of Gulen mediate their study of Islam totally through his writings, i.e. no tolerance of dissent or critical thinking; and
(4) the cult-like obedience and conformity that he and the layers of his movement insist on in his global network of schools, his media outlets, and his business associations.

US-Cable:
The officials reportedly also warned of the threat posed by alumni of Turkish Fetullah Gulen high schools, noting that they were especially dangerous because of their "high intelligence, ability to stick together, and experience studying abroad." (Note: The Fetullah Gulen movement is a conservative Islamist movement with a broad following in Turkey, that has built a worldwide network of schools - ref A.) They added that the GOU has compiled a list of all the "Gulen" alumni.

The fears over "Gulen" alumni could also reflect its wider concern over students and professionals who have benefited from any kind of foreign influenced, particularly Western style, education programs. The GOU has cracked down on studying abroad, especially in the United States, for fear of losing control over the future orientation of the nation's youth.

US-Cable:
............The Gulenist doctrine, with its conservative and religiously observant undercurrent, has met fierce hostility in regimes such as Russia, which expelled the Gulenists en masse in the 1990s. ........................

US-Cable:
..................Gulen, much more militant when he began in the early 1970's, is the spiritual leader of an Islamic movement that officially professes to be interested in ecumenical understanding but whose roots are intensely Islamic. The movement works in the manner of other Islamic tarikats (brotherhoods) but is relatively more hierarchical and disciplined.

US-Cable:
........The officials reportedly also warned of the threat posed by alumni of Turkish Fetullah Gulen high schools, noting that they were especially dangerous because of their "high intelligence, ability to stick together, and experience studying abroad." (Note: The Fetullah Gulen movement is a conservative Islamist movement with a broad following in Turkey, that has built a worldwide network of schools - ref A.)

(13) https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/
docs/34/340170_executive-
summary-2-reva-.html