The rise of Islam in Turkey--a deep perspective

Mustafa Akyol has written a very insightful essay, Turkey Is Getting More Secular, Not Religious, in his column The White Path. His formulation of the interaction between socioeconomic class, religious devotion, and social advancement has a lot to say for all who are interested in the role that religion plays in contemporary society.

Terrorism in Turkey--an insight

Reading various press accounts of terrorist attacks in Turkey, I find it hard to tell who did what to whom and for what reason. Mustafa Akyol, in his blog The White Path (the writings of Mustafa Akyol—on Religion, Politics, and Culture, offers insight into what we're seeing as we hear the different biased depictions. The article, Terrorism In The Turkish Mind, helps me put the accounts into perspective, by comparing the different press coverages with the political positions of the various newspapers.

More from Today's Zaman

Now that we're back from Turkey, I'm kind of using this blog to park interesting things from media reports and editorials about Turkey and the Gülen movement.

Today, I read an interesting op-ed from my friend Muhammed Çetin, who introduced me to the work of the Gülen movement when he and I lived and worked in Houston, Texas. The op-ed, Gülen-inspired schools and SMOs, describes the tension between how members of the movement view themselves and their work and how those who oppose or fear the movement view and portray it.

Here's an excerpt:

Because of its brevity, outsiders tend to use "Gülen schools" rather than "Gülen-inspired schools." But the shorter term seems to imply some sort of central control of activities and even an ideology, while the second makes it clearer that there is no centralization in the movement. Gülen movement participants tend to use the Turkish term hizmet (volunteer services) for the projects and services they provide. This is a solution for the inconsistency in naming the Gülen movement and the institutions it inspires and in clarifying their identity for outside observers.

Thorough analysis of the current political/constitutional crisis in Turkey

A slightly more balanced view than the already-pretty-balanced-looking OpEds in Today's Zaman, this analysis from Andrew Arato was up on Juan Cole's blog.

Turkey alive

Today's online edition of Today's Zaman has an interesting article about a silent protest march in the Tünel neighborhood in Istanbul. On our tour, we rode the Tünel funicular train from near the Jewish Museum to the very European-feeling İstiklal Avenue, in the Beyoğlu neighborhood. The photo shows our beloved guide Zaynep shepherding us aboard the train.

The protest demonstration appears to have been aimed at recent moves by the establishment (the secularist elite) to use non-military instruments of power, particularly the judiciary, to accomplish the equivalent of a military coup d’état. I'm not qualified to comment on the details of the speakers or statements at the event, but I'm impressed with the way the newspaper covered the event, and printed the essence of the organizers' public statements. I wish that American press coverage accurately reported the message of large public protest demonstrations.

Another cool thing was that they covered the participation of "Lambda-- a gay rights association --" in organizing the event. A nascent movement for LGBTQ civil rights making common cause against repression with advocates of religious freedom stands out for me. I don't know of any association between the Gülen movement and this demonstration. Yet, if the spirits behind this political demonstration for Muslim religious freedom can peacefully (and productively) coexist with Lambda, then their commitment to peaceful coexistence in general looks strong indeed.

Full group photo in Nigde

This was a group photo, taken with our hosts after a breakfast and interfaith dialogue in Nigde. I wrote about our host in a previous post. He's the one on my left. Standing to my right was the Imam from the local faith community in this small Anatolian town. His gentle openness to interfaith dialogue was impressive, and reflected well on the Gülen movement.

Patrick's Seattle Times article

The Rev. Patrick Howell, S.J., was an important voice and heart on our tour. Patrick is the Vice President for Mission and Ministry at Seattle University. Today's Seattle Times, published his column about our trip. The headline, Call to prayer points out key role of Islam in modern-day Turkey, was selected by the editors, though Patrick's article shared more interesting perceptions from our shared experience. He offers insights from the changes he's seen since his previous journey to Turkey, and a context in which to view our own life here in Seattle. His article closes with the words of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, whose wisdom hung in the air over many of our interfaith dialogues.

Summary reflection: The Fethullah Gülen movement

For an overview of the life and work of Fethullah Gülen, whose followers refer to him as "Hodja Efendi" (roughly, "honorable teacher"), his Wikipedia entry seems a reasonable start. For a cautionary article, that paints the Gülen movement as a "trojan horse" for an Islamic movement aiming at world domination, consider a December, 2007 article in the Australian journal Quadrant, by Father Paul Stenhouse.

I am not qualified to opine as to whether the people I have encountered in the Gülen movement have a hidden agenda of world domination. I'm not a political scholar, and I'm not a mind reader. That any Islamic movement should aspire to convert the entire world to its particular faith does not disturb me. I'm a Christian. The scripture I study and seek to understand advocates that very thing in Matthew 28:18-20. It is in the nature of any true faith that its adherents will want to share the good news their faith offers them.

The idea that the Gülen movement seeks to establish a new "new world order," a new Caliphate, with Fethullah Gülen as the Caliph, strikes me as silly. Fethullah Gülen is 67 years old, and in poor health. I've been surprised by things before, and certainly with God everything is possible, but there are other Islamic movements that have been working on world revolution a lot longer than Gülen is likely to be around, and they haven't gotten nearly as far as did the Roman Catholic Church on trying to establish a world theocracy with one man at the helm. The kind of piling up treasures on earth that world-dominating religions do seems to corrupt their faith, and spur their downfall. Sic semper tyrannis, dudes.

So, with the full knowledge that the Hodja Efendi might possibly be a wolf in sheep's clothing, bent on oppressing me and my kind through a ruthless and insidious program of educating poor children, reaching out to other faiths, and talking about tolerance, I will try to reflect on what I see.

All of the people associated with the movement that I've met so far have come "bearing gifts" of some sort:

• They brought food to a meal at my church (Ashure, "Noah's pudding").


• They opened charter schools to provide a quality secular education to poor kids in Los Angeles


• They created and operated a tour that opened up Turkish history and Turkish people to our delegation and many others like it, for interfaith dialogue that was truly open.


• They set up a charitable disaster relief organization.


• They co-sponsored a great lecture about interfaith relations at Seattle University.


• They held an awards banquet in Houston, and celebrated the accomplishments of non-Muslims who advanced the cause of interfaith relations there.


• They gathered at their place of business to discuss interfaith relations with our delegation. This included very busy people, like the Editor in Chief of Today's Zaman, who gave us over an hour in the middle of a weekday.


• They used their vacation time, from a job as a cameraman at a TV station, to be our delegation's tour videographer.


• They (parents, children, faculty) waited patiently for us to show up an hour late at their elementary school in Nigde, then had a celebration in our honor, then took us home with them, gave us tea and dessert, and talked with us about their lives, and their desire to love and tolerate those of different faiths.

Except for school faculty and some of the tour logistics staffers we met (who, like me, work for a "non-profit wage"), none of the people we met were paid to do this work. On the contrary, they were donating money, vacation time, and hard work because of their passion for their cause, and their desire to share themselves.

People slaving away in organizations built around a cult of personality tend to talk constantly about their leader. Everything I recall hearing about Fethullah Gülen on our tour was in response to our questions. The people we encountered talked about education, liberal democracy, civil society, peaceful resolution of conflict, science and technology, interfaith tolerance, history, and love. When we asked about motivation, or connections to the Fethullah Gülen movement, they talked about things that their Hodja Efendi had said or written. I don't recall them ever talking about miraculous accomplishments of their leader, what wonderful things would happen for me if I would just join them, or any of the other stuff one hears when meeting the adherents of a cult.

I'm sure that there are areas where I would disagree with the vast majority of people in the Gülen movement. I'm not a Muslim. In some ways, most notably sexuality, I don't meet their culturally/religiously defined standard of a "moral person." God made us different in many ways. I wouldn't presume to question God's wisdom in doing this. The Quran (49:13) teaches that God intended for us to know one another, and transcend our differences in honor of our common devotion to God. Even though my hosts knew about my being a gay man (it's public knowledge, and I disclosed it to our tour leader for practical reasons relating to hotel accommodations), I didn't experience intolerance. Disagreements over particular faith practices and ethical issues related to purity don't keep me from loving Roman Catholics, many Baptists with whom I also disagree, and Muslims. I'm even happy to be in formal association with Baptists that disagree with me about the sinfulness/non-sinfulness of my sexual orientation, for purposes of mission. We live and worship in different communities, but can still have purposes and programs in common.

Everything I have seen so far, in Houston, in Seattle, and in Turkey, suggests a decentralized movement of people, forming associations for purposes of mission. Their mission includes education, tolerance, embracing modernity, and an easygoing kindness. Though I'm happy being in my own faith community, I have no problem with supporting their mission. My feeling is that the world is a better place for having the Fethullah Gülen movement active within it.

I received the gift of an expensive education in the history and polity of Turkey, and the gift of much heart-to-heart dialogue with some pretty amazing people. Nobody asked anything in return for this gift, but I want to do something. My plan is to tell the story of what I've learned, possibly as part of my own faith community's adult education program. I'll even try to develop graphics and study materials appropriate for adult "Sunday school," that might be used by other faith communities that are curious about the Gülen movement.

Meanwhile, because I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was very clear about what God's law requires of us (in Matthew 22:37-39), I will pray for the success of the many mission efforts I saw and learned about, and for God's blessings on the Fethullah Gülen movement.

Istanbul

Much has been written about Istanbul. A good place to start would be the Wikipedia entry about the city. Our experience of it was mainly confined to historical sites, dialogue opportunities, and some really nice cafes. There's a more "westernized" nightlife in Istanbul, with bars, discos, and the like, but we didn't bother with it. The Bosphorus and Golden Horn provided lovely water views, and the architectural marvels, like the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, made for a vibrant, beautiful city.

Food on the tour

Turkey has a tradition of hospitality that is both part of the culture and part of the Muslim faith. As guests of the various foundations associated with the Gülen movement, we were treated to an incredible variety of Turkish foods. We didn't sample any of the wines produced in the region, because they wouldn't have been enjoyed by our Muslim hosts, and wouldn't have gone well with our meals. I don't think anyone missed wine. Turkish tea, Turkish coffee, regular old coffee (specified as "Nescafe" when ordering), bottled water (tap was not recommended for travelers), "apple tea" (I didn't try it, apparently an herbal tea for those who don't like "tea" tea), various delicious fruit juices (peach and cherry were my favorites), and a slightly salted yogurt drink called "ayran," that tasted for all the world like liquid cottage cheese--all of these were abundant.

The pictures will give an idea of what the food was like. Everything was even yummier than it looks in the pictures.

Summary reflections--plans

I plan to post some summary reflections, along with bunches of relevant photos. The subjects will (Lord willing) each be an individual post, with headlines tentatively as follows:

• Turkey
• Food on the tour
• People on the tour
• Istanbul
• Izmir and Ephesus
• Antalya
• Konya
• Nigde
• The Fethullah Gülen movement

After the reflections are up, I'll probably remove this post, and replace it with a "directory" post that links to the individual summary reflections.

OTHER TOUR PARTICIPANTS: You could still be added as authors, to post your own reflections. Another, easier way is to post comments on mine. Just click the word "Comments" at the bottom of any post to add your own text. Because this blog accepts "anonymous" comments, you won't have to log in or anything, though you'll probably want to add your name to your comment.

Paul reaches home

Elapsed time from wake-up call in Istanbul: 28 hours 45 minutes.

THIS IS NOT THE END

After some sleep, more reflections and photos. Even a few
conclusions and plans, insh'a Allah.

The party people hit the streets

On the night before our last night, we went to a trendy section of Istanbul, for stuffed baked potatoes and ice cream, overlooking the Bosphorus. Much tea was consumed. Then, most of the group piled back into the van, and back to the hotel.

A few of us set off with Huseyin, our erstwhile guide and cat-herder-in-chief, on foot. At about 11 pm, we cruised through the back streets of the old city, and off to a little place on the fifth floor of a corner building. It had a rooftop level view of the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, and the waterfront.

This tiny place pioneered a dessert that was something like a cross between vanilla-rice pudding and creme brûlée, made from--of all things--chicken. It was yummy, if a bit wierd.

For reasons nobody could quite explain, it is now popular across Turkey (newspaper article in photo), and made the inventor a lot of money.

What struck me as interesting wasn't the chicken pudding, so much as the whole business of late night carousing in a Muslim country. There we were, bopping around Istanbul, eating ice cream and drinking tea like there was no tomorrow.

The view of seagulls circling in magestic floodlit flocks high above the (enormous) Blue Mosque was other worldly. The ships twinkled on the Bosphorus as we drank tea after tea.

The raucous conviviality was familiar from college days. The utter absence of (trés un-Islamic) intoxicants made it all kind of surreal.

We walked all the way back to the hotel, and I was in bed by 1am, marveling at the incongruity of it all.

Update: The hundreds of snowglobe-like white reflector birds swooping gracefully in the floodlights above the Blue Mosque may have been bats, not seagulls. It's the best theory I've heard yet for what these were. The floodlights only made them look white.

Photo post: shoe shine stand

1) I don't know what the cone-shaped things are.

2) Yes, I know what they look like.

KADIM dialogue center at the Journalists' and Writers' association

A great visit with the center, and a discussion of interfaith efforts
in support of peace, reconcilliation, and justice.

Newspaper

We met with the Editor of Today's Zaman, a widely-read paper that provides comprehensive English-language coverage of events in, around, and related to Turkey.

The Turkish-language edition, Zaman, is one of the oldest and most widely-read papers on Turkey. The English-language edition is relatively new.

Though the Gülen movement per se has no ownership interest in the paper, the Editor described it as a positive force in efforts to advance the development of liberal democracy in the country.

We've been reading the paper pretty regularly on the tour. It seems relatively objective, tending to support the government (prime minister and head of state) position in its dispute with the judiciary over the (governing) Law and Justice Party closure case.

The paper can be found online at http://www.todayszaman.com .

Starting home

More posts to come, as I continue to collect photos, thoughts, and
wireless access points.

Educator

This man has an elementary school education. He moved from the Anatolian interior to Istanbul, where he became a successful entrepreneur, ending up as a manufacturer/exporter of furniture. We had breakfast with him and some people from his Muslim faith community in Nigde, the small town in central Anatolia where he has a summer home and small farm.

So, we have a man with a limited education, and deep roots in the small-town "flyover" region of his country. He's deeply religious. In America, i'd expect someone like him to be the kind of "religious right" guy who's suspicious of or even hostile to people of faiths other than their own.

Some critics of the Gülen movement have charged that its international face is a "false front," all sweet and interfaith, but in the heartland it's a jingoist, Islamist movement, dedicated to throwing back the advances made by the secularist Turkish Republic.

The man in the picture is a follower of Gülen. One day, in (if I recall correctly) the 1970's, he asked Gülen what he could do for the movement. Perhaps build a monument, or endow a mosque? Gülen asked instead that he build five* schools. We saw one of them in Nigde. I complimented our host on his beautiful school. He demurred forcefully. The translated reply was "it's not MY school." I thought for a moment and asked "Mr. Gülen's school, then?" He replied "I just bought the land and building. The school belongs to its faculty, students, and trustees." Gülen's name isn't on the walls. I'm told he doesn't know how many schools his followers operate. They're now on generation two of educating teachers, with graduates of Gülen universities just beginning to serve as teaching assistants (like interns). Many of them will go on to set up Gülen-inspired schools of their own. It's a lot like the Jesuits, who educate kids around the world, except that there doesn't appear to be any "Gülen World Headquarters" like the Vatican in Rome.

This movement is a network, without a headquarters. It's educational efforts are spreading like a virus. The man in the picture isn't a scholar, he's a scrappy business man with a big heart.

Without claiming credit, he's educated a lot of children.

Back to Istanbul

With our flight from Kayseri, we left central Anatolia. The people we met in the smaller towns (like Nigda) would nominally be the least interested in reaching out to Christians and Jews of Muslim people in Turkey. Yet, even the small-town Imam (Muslim clergyman) was very into interfaith outreach. This turns out to be as much as Muslim thing as a Gülen thing, but it's heartwarming nevertheless.

Wi-fi is soooo cool

We're sitting in a cafe, overlooking the Bosphorus, just after the
evening call to prayer from the mosque in the picture. There's music,
there are beautiful colored lights on the boats passing by, ice cream,
and no alcohol. The feeling is kind of "Islamic hip," if ever there
were such a thing.

I have a bunch of things to post from our day, at a local university,
a national newspaper, and the grand bazaar. Normally, I'd want to post
in sequence, but this is just all too cool. Turkish coffee and Wi-fi
(the wireless Internet connection I'm using to send this) are too good
to postpone.

Photo post: Marble painting

It involves floating (I''m guessing) oil paints on the surface of
(presumably) water, dragging needles through the paints, and
transferring the image to paper. The surface tension physics and
(probably) electrostatic chemistry of the pigments, float bath, and
paper will doubtless be fascinating when I look them up.

Photo post: Art teacher at Nigde

The school's art teacher demonstrated a traditional style of painting
they call "marble painting." We each received a framed painting as a
gift.

Photo post: kids at Nigde

Cult of Atatürk

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the modern Turkish republic, watches
over the school at Nigde from his (required by law) portrait and
another, more ghostly image.

Hoopla

We arrived at a school in Nigde, a smallish city in central Anatolia.
Parents, students, and staff welcomed us to a dinner, served with much
ceremony. This photo is kind of blurred, but shows the enthusiastic
dance show that the kids offered, amid the speeches by the headmaster,
great food, photo ops, and the beaming smiles of the parents.

The parents included (by all appearances) professionals, ordinary
working folk, observant Muslims (especially women wearing
headscarves), less obviously observant people--all sitting and
celebrating together.

We arrived from Konya an hour late, and these good people waited
patiently, then welcomed us so warmly that I cried a little, just for
a moment.

More soon about our breakfast dialogue the next morning, and the story
of the man who hosted it.

Photo post: Cappadocia panorama

Photo post: "Fairy chimneys" with... ...well, you know...

Photo post: "Fairy chimneys" of Cappadocia

The caves of Cappadocia

The volcanic tuff in this region is relatively soft, so inhabitants,
going back to ancient times, have excavated complex warrens of
dwellings. These were temperature-stable, expandable, and easily
defended. Many were occupied as recently as 1963.

Home stay

Our overnight hosts were the family of Mr. Kuddusi Büyükakkas, who
operates a trucking company (about ten trucks) in Nigde. We (three of
us) were joined by the Art and English teachers from the school for
tea and fellowship. Despite the English teacher's yeoman efforts, the
language barrier was high. Love filled the voids, however, and we
talked on, well past midnight.

Photo post: Ataturk outside the school in Konya

School principal

We visited a private primary school, operated by people associated
with the Gulen movement. The man in the picture is the principal, who
described a program of education that sounded exemplary in every way.

They operate In a way similar to that of the KIPP Academy, where I got
to organize a short course on world religion in Houston. Now, the
school in Konya draws most of its kids from the families of the city's
professional class. There's a teaching hospital near the school, and
lots of the parents are physicians. Still, the school admits a certain
number of scholarship children, and the love, intensity of parental
involvement, and staff dedication is apparent from the program
structure and from the faces of the kids we saw.

In the photo, the principal is holding a paper he carries, that list
the names of all the children in the school.

The Gulen Movement provides guiding philosophical bases, inspires
donations of time, money, land, and the like to open schools around
the world. Yet (so the story goes) the education the deliver is not a
religious one per se. Their curricula are secular, designed according
to local government standards wherever they operate.

I'm a skeptical guy, always curious about the "hidden agenda" behind
anything I see. It's certainly possible that I'm looking at a series
of "Potemkin villages," but with each new view of these folks, from
different directions and angles, the probability diminishes.

One of my curiosities was whether the schools are part of a cult of
personality, with Fethullah Gulen as a messianic figure at its center.
This has been suggested in some of the writings I've read from the
movement's detractors, both secularist and Islamic fundamentalist. It
would be disappointing for me, as I already (try to) follow a
messianic figure, Jesus.

In this school, there is no picture of Gulen on any wall, no quoted
slogan put up, and no mention of Gulen in the name of the school. If
it is a cult of personality, it doesn't operate in the usual way.
There's an Ataturk cult, as in many places around here (see a
following photo post), but the Gulen movement is looking either
angelically humble or devilishly subtle--so far.

I'll keep watching things unfold here, and remain my skeptical self.

Getting a beard trim in Konya

With the assistance of my erstwhile guide and translator friend, I got
my beard trimmed. It wasn't really necessary, but was fun.

Photo post: Outside the tomb of Mevlana Rumi

The 13th century philosopher-poet who became the inspiration for
Sufism, and a source of wisdom usable by all.

Turning point

We have now spent the first half of our trip mainly on building an understanding of the cultural and historical context in which 21st-century Turkey exists. Turkey is a naturally rich land. Civilization has flourished here since ancient times. At various points, Anatolia and what is now Istanbul were dominated by Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Selcuk, and Ottoman Islamic rulers.

At their height, the Ottomans built glorious physical structures, amassed great wealth, and established the traditions of inter-ethnic and intercultural tolerance that underlie the modern Turkish gestalt. Like America (until recently) they "had it all" and seemed poised to go on forever. A series of military misadventures, combined with corruption and dynastic rule (sound familiar?) led to the decline of the Ottoman empire. By the early 20th century, Turkey was known as the "sick man of Europe."

Turkey fared badly in WW1. After the war, Turkey was defeated, colonized, impoverished, and left with a negative self image. In 1923, Mustafa Kemal led a nationalist revolution. Kemal was an army general in the Ottoman time, and had a particular genius for social engineering. After throwing the colonial forces out of Turkey, he established the modern Turkish Republic. His grateful countrymen renamed him "Ataturk," which means something like "father of Turkey." Since the revolution of 1923, there has been turmoil in the country, culminating in the most recent military coup and new constitution, circa 1980. Tensions remain high, and there is currently conflict between the ruling party and elements of the judiciary.

When I was in school, the standard line taught to us in the US was that the role of the army in Turkey was to "protect the people from Islamic extremists." They would overthrow governments that they considered a threat to the strict secularism central to Ataturk's vision of a modern Turkey. Clearly, the reality of Turkish polity is much, much more complicated than we (in America) have been told. To comment much further than that would put me out of my depth, not to mention embarassing me and/or my hosts. Current politics aren't really germane to the "turning point" subject of this post anyway, except to say that we've been given a good introduction to where Turkey came from, and a glimpse of where it is now at the national level.

So, the tour now turns away from stones, bones, and national history, and onto a more personal, heart-to-heart level. As I write, we're in the mountains of central Anatolia, descending
into our next destination, the city of Konya. Konya is the small city where the great 13th century Sufi poet Rumi is buried. We'll be less touristic and more interactive from here, including more "meeting visits" and even an overnight home stay or two. Internet access may be sparse for a while, but I hope to have a rash of posts ready to upload whenever I can see the net.

Multi-faith garden

On our way from Antalya to the Aspendos amphitheater, we stopped at a
facility consisting of three small worship rooms clustered around a
fountain, one for each of the major Abrahamic faith branches. It's a
modern complex, supported by a consortium of local tourist hotels.

On the wall is my favorite (so far) quotation from Rumi, pictured here.