The New Turkey
Gulen movements "Wise Men"

August 4, 2020

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. (1)

Fethullah Gulen is not as active as he used to be in the movement. He gets sick more frequently (he has diabetes). They now have a council of elders, 12 'wise men'. Most of them are in the US, close to Fethullah. They meet regularly and make decisions on the big issues affecting the movement. (2)

Fethullah Gulen is not as active as he used to be in the movement. He gets sick more frequently (he has diabetes). They now have a council of elders, 12 'wise men'. Most of them are in the US, close to Fethullah. They meet regularly and make decisions on the big issues affecting the movement. (3)

The movement of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen has started discussions on who will replace the leader of the movement, with four members in the running to succeed the ailing leader, according to an intelligence report prepared by analysts who track the group’s activities.The four were identified as Mehmet Ali Şengül, Cevdet Türkyolu, Osman Şimşek and Ahmet Kurucan. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Default.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104881&NewsCatID=341

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GULEN’S MOVEMENT

A discussion of the significance of Gulen’s movement requires considering both the organizational structure of the movement itself, the movement’s place in Turkey’s political and economic system, and its influence beyond Turkey.

First, the organizational structure of the movement is seen as hierarchical and somewhat non-democratic, which is somewhat unexpected given the community’s liberal attitudes and tolerance of differences. Gulen is the sole leader of the movement and the hierarchical order extends from the top to the bottom through an increasing number of abiler (elder brothers).

The ranking is very strict and each rank’s abi (elder brother) obtains only a certain amount of knowledge of the activities occurring or under discussion while agreeing to refrain from asking questions or seeking more knowledge about the higher ranks. An abi or someone under his supervision may, however, talk to other abi‘s informally and also talk to those assigned to overseeing the activities. Although this sort of structure may be helpful if the members of the community were to face persecution by the government, it does raise serious problems for the development of democracy within the group and creates the likelihood that many followers are left out of the decisionmaking process. Of course, those entering into this structure do so of their own free will. (4)

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