The New York Times’ coverage of the attempted coup in Turkey featured speculation that the backers of the coup were the followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish imam who lives in seclusion in Pennsylvania.
The coverage tonight linked to an article published about him in 2012.
Prime Minister Erdogan and Gulen were once collaborators. Now they are enemies. Gulen has a power network inside Turkey. Gulen runs one of America’s biggest charter chains.
I ask again, why should foreign nationals take over the functions of local government in the U.S.?
The Gulen schools have different names. Check with Sharon Higgins’ blog to see if you have Gulen schools in your city or state.
Some Gulen schools, like the Magnolia charter chain in Los Angeles, claim they have no connection with Gulen. But when the board is controlled by Turkish men, you can bet that the school is a Gulen school.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Gulen has contributed to both the Clinton Foundation and her campaign. She will.support Gulens Islamic enterprises and Charters. Im sure Huma has been a close adviser in that regard.
This is an unholy alliance.
How utterly ridiculous!
Wish it was ridiculous Karen…it is all over the net that Gulen not only contributed to Hillary’s campaign, but that he is also a major contributor to the Clinton Foundation…and that he has already asked for favors in exchange for his well placed cash. She is considering giving back his donations…as well she should. She and Bill should have known better than to take his money since Bill got this started by giving Gulen asylum in the US in 1999. She has known about Gulen from the start, and particularly in her role as Sect. of State when she dealt closely and first hand with Erdogan and the Turkish upheavals of the past few years.
see these sites from google today….
Hillary Clinton Has Received Donations From Gulenists | The Daily …
dailycaller.com/…/followers-of-a-mysterious-turkish-islamic-cleric-ha…
The Daily Caller
Nov 22, 2015 – Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania September 26, 2013. REUTERS/Selahattin …
Calls Grow For Hillary To Return Donations | The Daily Caller
dailycaller.com/…/islamic-cleric-may-be-laundering-taxpayer-money…
The Daily Caller
Dec 10, 2015 – A Turkish Islamic cleric with ties to Hillary Clinton has been sued in federal … The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, has lived in Pennsylvania’s Pocono …
Ties Emerge Between Clinton And Mysterious Islamic Cleric | The …
dailycaller.com/…/new-ties-emerge-between-clinton-and-mysterious-i…
The Daily Caller
3 days ago – Connections between Clinton and acolytes of the imam, Fethullah Gulen, … Cleric Have Donated Heavily To Hillary’s Campaign And Charity). Erdoğan has accused Gulen of attempting to undermine the Turkish government.
Muslim Cleric with Clinton Ties Taken to Court for False Imprisonment …
freebeacon.com/…/muslim-cleric-with-clinton-ties-taken…
The Washington Free Beacon
Dec 10, 2015 – Followers of Muslim leader accused of running cult donated up to $1 million to … Fethullah Gülen, a Muslim cleric whose movement has been described by … “Hillary Clinton is known to have attended [Gülen] events in the US, …
U.S. lawmakers got suspect Turkish campaign cash – USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/11/20/…got…/75982732/
USA Today
Nov 23, 2015 – President Obama greets guests after taking part in a town hall …. USA TODAY has identified dozens of large campaign donations … ties to a Turkish religious movement named for its founder, Fethullah Gülen. … same donors — including President Obama and Hillary Clinton — to return that money as well.
The Clinton Foundation is the only one that gets contributions from Gulen. USA Today also reported that more than 200 members (including Republicans) of Congress have accepted free trips to Turkey from the Gulenists.
In fact, Senator Kelly Ayotte, a Republican from New Hampshire, refunded more than $43,000 when USA Today called her out for acceptance Gulenist contributions.
There is even a site that id dedicated to out politicians all over the world that are the enablers of the Gulen Movement and their front groups. If you click the link and scroll down, you will discvoer that Republicans and Democrats are both represented on this list.
http://gulenpoliticians.blogspot.com/
And USA Today reports, “Gulen-linked money has flowed into campaigns all over the country, both Republicans and Democrats, and much of it raises red flags. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, received nine $2,500 donations from out-of-state Turkish-Americans on Oct. 7, 2013. One of the donations is attributed to a teacher at a Gülen-linked charter school in Toledo, Ohio, who had never before made a federal campaign donation. State public records suggest the teacher, Akif Camizci, was earning $37,000 a year. Camizci could not be reached at the school.”
Including Jeb Bush. Did Jeb Bush return the Gulen money that his campaign was given and what about everyone else on this very long list?
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/11/20/lawmakers-got-suspect-turkish-campaign-cash/75982732/
PBS and npr have been pretty silent on this. How much Gulen money have they taken?
NPR reports through one of its affiliates, KPCC, in Los Angeles
Ken Bramlett, L.A. Unified’s inspector general, said there is evidence some members of Magnolia Public schools had ties to a Turkish group under investigation in other states for questionable use of the U.S. visa program as well as misspending public funds.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2014/07/21/17031/audit-finds-missing-misused-funds-at-la-charter-ne/
PBS reports on The Gulen Movement through a Q & A:
It’s an interesting piece taht might help explain why the U.S. is sheltering Gulen and supporting the growth of his Islamic education empire around the world.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2011/01/21/january-21-2011-the-glen-movement/7949/
All Magnolia charter schools are part of the Gulen Network.
I’m all for de-funding Gulen schools and exposing his influence in this country, but as for the “coup” in Turkey, my feeling is, “Wagging Tail, meet Dog…”
Perhaps, but let’s use this to our advantage right now. This is an EXCELLENT way to get legislators’ attention to this issue. If legislators in my state thought that our taxpayer money might be going to fund a coup in a strategic country like Turkey, they might think twice about the money. I’m calling my representatives.
In.addition to the cash flowing from the schools it must be remembered that there are also Foundations and other sources of cash tracable to Gulen.
There are legislators that have been treated to junkets to Turkey that may make them hesitant to come forward. Parents and students have made these trips too.
The maleTurkish teachers are not certified .That could present another avenue to persue in the quest to shut the Charters down.
The two.Charters that are on our military bases could be problematic.
It is said that Gulenists exist in every continent but the Antarctic. Thats big…
To quote “reformers,” we should not let a good crisis go to waste. This story is already being covered by CNN. We have to get the media to expose Gluen’s charter school empire paid for by the American taxpayer. It could open up the door to a discussion of the many other charter scandals that seem to go unnoticed.
Charlie Rose interview with Erdogan, asking him, “Now to the matter of Mr. Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, in my country. What happened between you and him?”:
Toward the end of the television coverage last night, at dawn in Turkey, I watched Erdogan speak to a large crowd. The crowd surrounded him. They were up on stage with him. They were standing right next to him, men in t-shirts and dress shirts, looking outward, guarding him like secret service agents. I had never seen a crowd keep a president safe. He taunted Gulen, saying why don’t you try coming back to Turkey. The crowd chanted, we want Gulen!
They outspend us. We outnumber them.
“They outspend us. We outnumber them.”
But if we elect HRC, we support them.
Any women in the crowd?
Any women in the Gulen parallel government or its violent military coup?
Charter teachers are all male in US. Not sure about Turkey but doubt women have a role.
Polly,
Is that true? Do women apply for charter teaching positions and get denied on the basis of gender? I’m pretty sure I also didn’t see any Jews in the crowd. Does one also get asked questions about religious affiliation in the application process? Sexual orientation? Turkey and the United States are two different countries with different sets of values and laws. They can’t do that here.
Linda,
I didn’t mean to imply that the Erdogan administration is beyond reproach. Far from it.
A
US teachers male or female are replaced by male Turks . These young men dress in business suits. Gulen allows them to marry but their wives are garbed.. That info goes back several years.
No idea how these folks are accounted for once in US but that is something to ask.
We MUST be getting a hold of our state legislatures in the states with Gulen schools (Utah has one) and convincing them to pull ANY state funding from those schools. Now is the time. They will be freaked out by a movement that may have supported the coup attempt, and might actually listen for once.
These are insanely “interesting times”.
Tamp some of today’s reality and you have great, horrific satire. As it is, though, it’s totally Gonzo!
Tamp down
I read it as “Tap some of today’s reality. . . “
NATO and the State Dept both a big part of the problem, if you can get beyond the propaganda.
NJ Gulen schools employ female teachers as do schools in Turkey.
Are female teachers in Turkey in burkas? Ive never been there.
I visited Turkey twice. Some teachers wear burkas and others do not.
Abigail,
Every Gulen school is run by a board of Turkish men. Gulen is the single largest recipient of HB-1 visas for Turkish teachers. Why should foreign nationals own and operate American “public” schools? The single biggest responsibility of public schools is to teach the responsibilities of citizenship. Can we expect Turkish nationals to teach American children about citizenship in our society?
I am not advocating for Gulen schools. I am reporting facts. Some commenters stated that Gulen schools do not employ female teachers. That is not an accurate statement. I visited a Gulen school in New Jersey and I observed female teachers. One reader asked if there are female teachers in Turkey. I visited a school in Turkey and I conversed with female teachers. I am not a party to information on the sponsors of the coup. I merely suggested that Erdogan’s claims may not be substantiated.
For the record, I am a public school teacher and I support public school education. I oppose use of tax payer funding for charter
schools. They do not function as state actors and they are not subjected to the scrutiny by government agencies of true public schools. It does not concern me if the charter school operators are foreign nationals, or if they grew up down the block. No excuses charter schools, in particular, have little to offer on the inculcation of democratic values in my view.
Andrew Finkel is an American journalist who resides in Turkey. Please read his article for a more nuanced view of recent events.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/16/turkey-coup-army-erdogan?CMP=share_btn_tw
To all gullible, theoretical, FAKE DEGREE authorities in education:
Please patiently read between the line in the article in order to refuse to be a puppet for bad corporate with few millions or hundred thousand of dollars in bribery. You would destroy your own freedom and the freedom of many American generations including your family tree for life.
I cannot articulate well as in this written article. This is a small reality in a bigger picture of the history in the Roman Era. Trump, Putin, Kim Jong-un and Xi-Jinping will terrorize the world with all chaos of spy games, putting all conscientious educators, scholars and writers in jail by all accusations of civic movement, sexual misconduct, bribery…
Now, it is time to put out the small fire (= infested privatization of public good and services), before this small fire will escalate into forest fire (= silence all voices that against corrupted power in government of all levels from municipal,regional to states.)
Back2basic
I hope you saw this. What a wonderful way for the Billionaire Boys Club to do some great work without disrupting anyone. I read and save all your work. Thanks
Female teachers are hired to work at the Gulen charter schools, but you will not find them as top administrators, business managers, or as IT personnel (i.e., positions of control) There are a few female principals at this point, but that took years. If the women who work at the schools are Turkish or Turkic (Central Asia, Balkans, etc.), they are very often married to one of the Turkish or Turkic men.
Here’s a fascinating account by a female American teacher who worked at one of the Gulen Movement’s schools in Turkey. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/21/what-scares-turkey-s-women.html
The Gulenists are staunch religious conservatives and there is absolutely no “out” gay presence in their world. This group also holds creationist views. A head-scratching twist is how some Americans defend the Gulenists and welcome them with open arms, but can’t stomach fundamental Christians who hold exactly the same anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-Darwin views.
Who are you, Joseph Weldon? I love to watch all documentary in Chinese history, and all interesting documentary on mafia, gangster who control politicians through gambling, high class escort, and famous singers, paintings, diamonds… you name it.
There are transparency, proper procedure for each field of education that includes economy, sociology, military, astrology, math, psychology…
All leaders must be courageous and they must brought up to be compassionate and care for humanity and civilization. Back2basic
I cannot believe how the chickens are coming home to roost.
I have worked on exposing the Gulen schools on background for years while on staff at both AFT and NEA. I was primary source for Greg Toppo piece in 2010. I was primary source for Stephanie Saul piece on Harmony in 2011. I’ve been primary source for Dan Mihalopolous reporting on Concept for years.
The entire American education establishment has been well aware of the presence of Turkish men at charter schools for nearly 20 years.
The State Department, Labor dept and ED Dept have jointly approved of thousands of H1-B visas for the Gulen adherents as teachers; nearly all of these visa holders subsequently became citizens through sponsorships by the Turkish charter schools.
The ED Charter School Office gave Harmony millions in a CMO grant in 2010 and didn’t revoke the money when the Office of Civil Rights imposed a settlement on Harmony. The Texas State Dept of Education is the sponsor and they too don’t act.
Turkish charter schools have gotten millions from dozen or more states in distributing the federal charter school grant program.
The Waltons and other Foundations have given millions in start up funds over those 20 years.
The national charter meetings by NACSA or NAPCS or state charter associations have many full tables where Turkish men sit and congregate.
I got called xenophobic by Michael Petrelli at a Walton sponsored Education Writers Association event when I called Harmony “a Turk run charter chain.”
The small group of brave pesky souls who have writen about all this like Tim Furman, that Texas filmmaker, Sharon Higgins and CASILIPS and others have demonstrated more common sense than the entire education establishment combined for all those years.
I know enough about Turkiye to avoid saying that Gulenists were actually behind the weekend’s failed coup. One might say that the coup plotters were simply inspired by Gulen. The fallout however will be deep and wide as Erdogan will now go after everyone: Kurds, Armenians, Syrians, Turks equally. He will call for Gulens extradition but the spooks here will resist mightily “because we can’t give up our guy so easily.”
Frankly giving up the old man is meaningless if the reports about his failing health are to be believed.
What could be done : Giving up his field generals and money men quietly would be better. Freezing the money repatriated through all the Movements channels too. Freezing all the visas for all the schools and dialogue centers and commercial enterprises too. Letting the FBI go beyond Concept in IL and seek RICO on the whole bunch starting with visa fraud and going from there.
There is no single card in the whole charter school house of cards as the Gulen schools. Those schools get between $500 and $800 million per year in public funds. If somehow these terrible events in Turkiye can break the collective silence and years of cowardice by the education establishment then perhaps there will never be another time.
If there is serious evidence that Mr. Gulen organized any real crimes (financial fraud, visa fraud, tax fraud, etc.) in the US in connection with the charter school operations, this would be an excellent time to charge him with those crimes. I am extremely uncomfortable with the precedent of extraditing someone to effectively become a political prisoner, and that would let us do something that might satisfy the Turkish government — our NATO “allies” who happen to be located right next to Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
I hold no brief for Gülen or his schools, but, Diane, please be careful in accepting the claim by Erdogan that Gülen was behind the coup attempt. Erdogan is no democrat, no hero, and no friend of secular education. We American friends of public education have no dog in the fight between him and his former pal Gülen, which is about power in Turkey. As other commenters have mentioned, and many journalists too, it is not inconceivable that the coup was staged by Erdogan himself, like Hitler’s burning of the Reichstag, in order to consolidate power…and get the US to extradite his personal foe, Gülen. Let’s get rid of the charter school option that Gülen exploits; let’s not be used as pawns in Turkish Islamocracy power struggles!
Bill Clinton enabled the growth of the Gulen school movement when he signed the New Markets Tax Credit act at the end of his term. Gulen kindly later donated to the Clinton Foundation. We’ll see how this shakes out after the 2016 election.
http://www.alternet.org/education/who-profiting-charters-big-bucks-behind-charter-school-secrecy-financial-scandal-and
“A total of 150 schools located in Texas, Ohio, Illinois and various urban inner cities are funded by Turkish investors affiliated with “followers of Fethullah Gülen, a charismatic Turkish preacher of a moderate brand of Islam whose devotees have built a worldwide religious, social and nationalistic movement in his name,” according to the New York Times. That means he’s been instrumental in creating the largest single charter school network in the entire country. And the New York Times doesn’t provide the whole story, but what Gülen claims on his own website. According to himself, Gülen is also a big proponent of interfaith dialogue and world peace. But any detailed reporting on him finds that his followers operate more like those of Lyndon LaRouche’s political cult than like actual proponents of interfaith dialogue, world peace or any other cause.
Even so, Gülen is championed in the world of corporate education reform. He’s even garnered accolades from Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Maybe Gülen’s influence in charter school policy is in part what inspired Falun-Gong cult member Lotus King Weiss to try opening six charter schools in Manhattan’s Chinatown in April.
In any case, it doesn’t appear that Gülen’s schools have created the American jobs promised in the visa loophole. Instead, Turkish teachers and employees have been shipped to the United States to fill charter school jobs. Meanwhile, with each wave of school closings, schools lose hundreds of teachers, staff and administrators from these communities for good. Some get rehired in other schools, but many remain unemployed. Corruption in these schools has brought investigations into financial and hiring decisions. But all of this is immaterial to foreign investors with big money to spend. Even if they’re not getting the huge tax breaks afforded to residents of the U.S., America’s for-profit education industry is big business on an international scale. It’s no wonder that more and more people are adding education to their investment portfolios.”
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027252310
Gulen donates money to both sides of the aisle. The Clintons are not unique when it comes to getting Gulen cash. Gulen’s organization hands out money to both the far right middle, and far left.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/11/20/lawmakers-got-suspect-turkish-campaign-cash/75982732/
Jersey Jazzman just posted some interesting stuff on Gulen:
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2016/07/what-we-dont-know-about-gulen-linked_98.html
While the Gulen-backed Magnolia Science Academy CEO Caprice Young and other well-paid front people for the Gulen schools claim no connection to Gulen — Young “absolutely, categorically” denies any such connection — Gulen himself eagerly contradicted this. Indeed, he, through his lawyers, cited his involvement in those same schools — again, the same involvement so vehemently denied by Young and other Gulen front people — as justification for the U.S. government allowing him to stay here.
His lawyers enthusiastically claim, “Look at what Gulen’s done for U.S. education. Let him stay!”
(From a 2011 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer (which has, over the years, done some really excellent reporting on charter schools
http://articles.philly.com/2011-03-20/news/29148147_1_gulen-schools-gulen-followers-charter-schools
This excerpt shows the Imam Fetulleh Gulen eagerly claiming credit for all those U.S.-based charter schools, to bolster his efforts to remain in the country.
————————————————-
“Fethullah Gulen is a major Islamic political figure in Turkey, but he lives in self-imposed exile in a Poconos enclave and GAINED HIS GREEN CARD BY CONVINCING A FEDERAL JUDGE in Philadelphia that HE WAS AN INFLUENTIAL EDUCATION FIGURE IN THE UNITED STATES.
“As evidence, his lawyer pointed to the charter schools, now more than 120 in 25 states, that his followers – Turkish scientists, engineers, and businessmen – have opened, including Truebright Science Academy in North Philadelphia and another charter in State College, Pa.
“The schools are funded with millions of taxpayer dollars. Truebright alone receives more than $3 million from the Philadelphia School District for its 348 pupils. Tansu Cidav, the acting chief executive officer, described it as a regular public school. [emphasis mine]”
“The national Gulen charter school network has been confirmed by Gulen’s own lawyer.”
————————————————-
Except elsewhere, when it suits Gulen and the operators of the Gulen charter schools, they claim no connection to Gulen whatsoever:
————————————————-
“Federal officials declined to comment on the nationwide inquiry, which is being coordinated by prosecutors in Pennsylvania’s Middle District in Scranton. A former leader of the parents’ group at the State College school confirmed that federal authorities had interviewed her.
“Bekir Aksoy, who acts as Gulen’s spokesman, said Friday that he knew nothing about charter schools or an investigation.
“Aksoy, president of the Golden Generation Worship & Retreat Center in Saylorsburg, Pa., where Gulen lives, said Gulen, who is in his early 70s, ‘has no connection with any of the schools,’ although he might have inspired the people who founded them.”
————————————————-
So Gulen was involved in founding the schools, except he wasn’t.
Errr … except he WAS … again, when it suits Gulen and the leaders, they claim the credit:
————————————-
“The (Gulen’s) American charter schools were A CENTRAL PART OF GULEN’S ARGUMENT THAT WON HIM A GREEN CARD card after the Department of Homeland Security ruled that he did not meet the qualifications of an “alien of extraordinary ability” to receive a special visa.
“In a lawsuit Gulen filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia in 2007 challenging the denial, his attorneys wrote:
” ‘In his position as the founder and head of the Gulen Movement, MR. GULEN HAS OVERSEEN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CONGLOMERATION OF SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT the world, in Europe, Central Asia, AND THE UNITED STATES.’
“His attorneys also referred to a letter of support from a theology professor in Illinois who described Gulen as ‘A LEADER OF AWARD-WINNING SCHOOLS FOR UNDERSERVED CHILDREN around the world, including many schools IN THE MAJOR CITIES OF AMERICA.”
“On July 16, 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Stewart Dalzell ruled that Gulen met the requirements for a green card.”
———————————————–
Except he was. Hmm…
As someone else posted, we have no dog in this fight. It’s a squabble among thieves. I daresay the U.S. government was involved, probably playing both sides. And of course a charter school czar gave to Clinton; they all do…
Please don’t play the nationalistic card; it plays right into the Trumpmania. All countries need Public Schools, not profitable blood sucking charters.
As a player in a minor piece of this puzzle, I truly am no longer baffled as to why the complaint with the State of California against Magnolia that I signed on to with Amsterdam LLC has been summarily ignored. The state was supposed to respond within 60 days. They responded with a letter stating that they needed more time to respond due to the “complexity of issues”. That was months ago and not a peep from them since. There are too many high powered people who accepted Gulen money long ago and they fear exposure, especially at this point in our election season. They just want to brush it under the rug and they have done a masterful job of keeping the tie to these charter schools out of the mainstream media during this recent coup attempt. Sharon Higgins is absolutely right in that there is a media blackout on Gulen Schools.
I agree with “Threatened out West” that it is critical that teachers and concerned citizens act immediately to not let this window of opportunity slip by. Gulen being in the headlines has just given us a golden opportunity to bring not just the Gulen chain but all corporate “public” charter chains into the public consciousness, and reveal their defects.
We absolutely must call and above all write to our Senators, Representatives, Governors and Education officials, asking them to take a hard look at the questionable oversight of “public” charter schools and to investigate their many scandals, and frequent waste of taxpayer dollars. If enough citizens write, asking as Diane did, “Why should foreign nationals own and operate American “public” schools?,” we just might get their attention.
Enough letters might even lead to a broader discussion of the defects and detrimental effects of the entire corporate charter “public” school system.
Maybe we could write and ask 60 Minutes to do an expose? Frontline? Bill Moyers? We could write to Chuck Todd/NBC and PBS, NPR to suggest they invite Diane Ravitch—as a well-known expert on charter schools– to discuss charter chains like Gulen’s on the air. [Would that be okay with you, Diane?]
I am a former teacher and right now am caring for an injured family member 24/7 so I must admit that I have more ideas than ability–but I will make calls and burn the midnight oil if necessary to write letters. I have two quick questions:
1. Can anyone direct me to a reliable, clear and somewhat simplified list of effective facts and “talking points” to use in advocating against corporate “public” charter schools—both for-profit and “nonprofit”? In other words, a handy guide or outline that can then be personalized to my individualized style and discussed in my own individualized way. It would help a non-expert like me to make more effective calls and letters in a short time, while also staying factual and clear. For me, at least, it would be a big help.
2. What is the best single source of the most important issues relating specifically to Gulen’s charter chain which could be reliably used as a reference while writing?
Thank you for any suggestions. I want to get writing.
Hi Helen:
If you can obtain pictures of Teacher Rafe Esquith’s classroom, then you can show the children emotion between our belief in freedom of expression VERSUS children’s emotional expression in Gluen’s classes in USA or anywhere in the world. These Gluen children are like maniac in brain-washed of fighting mood.
I hope that you can explore the teaching staff’s tense emotion and Gluen’s rules and regulation of teaching pedagogy.
In short, we need to emphasize Dr. Ravitch’s wisdom:
“Why should foreign nationals own and operate American “public” schools?”
This is the simplest and honest question need to have an answer from US DOE. Back2basic.
Helene–Google Sharon Higgins–she has been tracking this for years. Also, TB Furman
(a blog from Chicago area, where the F.B.I. raided Gulen Concept charters) references her & frequently posts about this–I believe he has her talking points neatly parsed in at least one of these posts. (Hope you will read this–I know it’s 2 days after you wrote your comment.)
I am a student in one of the Gulens community schools. I have seen many devoted man and women for a better education. I am not brainwashed and my only aim life is a better humanity. Your discrimation about the subject of public schools is harsh. If you see Gulen as a treat that means that you cannot see the benefits about his ideology.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3693729/Did-Erdogan-STAGE-coup-based-Turkish-cleric-facing-extradition-botched-rebellion-claims-president-orchestrated-plot-justify-clampdown-civil-rights.html
Erdogan calls for Extradition of Gulen while he holds our military base, personel, planes and weapons.!!! Not until ALL Gulen assets, Charter Schools, foundations, management corporations and what ever else he holds in his multibillion Global Enterprise are shut down.
His modest lodgings in our Pocono mountains dont look.like as much of a threat as Erdogans Gold Palace. That is probably the plan. Gulen said he would work inside the system and infiltrate until he had enough power to overthrow it. For all we know, he and Erdogan have merely divided a global caliphate creation. Just a thought .
Also http://www.magnoliascienceacademy.blogspot.com and http://www.gulenpolticians.blogspot.com go back as far as 2010
Actually the Magnolia Science Academies have at least 3 female gulenists that teach for them, 1 is a school college counselor (san diego) and all wear hijabs. To the poster above that had a hard time grasping the notion that Hillary Clinton was so entrenched with the Gulen Movement, it should be noted when Gulen was brought to the USA in a private Gulf Stream Jet, it was in 1997 under the Clinton Administration. Hillary, and Billl as well as their pacs and Clinton Foundation have received millions over the years. Here is just one list. http://www.slideshare.net/GulenCemaat/gulen-movement-clinton-campagn-donors
First of all as a Turkish in this community we don’t follow Gulen we follow his ideology. He does not control us. He is just a devoted man trying to make the world a better place. Second of all our communities goal is not to take over the public schools in America but spread love and respect through education. People who saw this men as a treat can not see the benefit he and his ideology brings to America.
In 2017 German magazine Der Spiegel called the movement a “secretive and dangerous cult” while calling Gülen a suspicious individual. Saying, “the movement calls itself a tolerant service movement, while those who have left the movement call it a secretive Islamist organization with Fethullah Gülen as its leader”.