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.
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