Every socio-cultural, revival and peace movements have always had their opponents no matter where in the world they originate. Both within Turkey and beyond, there are people who oppose this movement’s services, projects, and activities. The majority of these opponents are marginalized people who have closed themselves to universal values and beliefs, who are dogmatic and against dialogue as they don’t want to lose their status quo in society. People who don’t fit this description may stand against the movement’s activities as they don’t know much or haven’t had the chance to know the movement personally and are influenced by their predecessor’s aspersions.

One of the false subjective remarks made against the schools opened and operated by volunteers is that they are missionary schools propagating Islam. The reason for this accusation is that in the 19th and 20th centuries, generally speaking, missionary activities were started with the establishment of schools. If this allegation were to be true, meaning the Gülen movement’s schools are missionary by nature, the mere fact is that some of the schools, if not the majority, are operating in countries where there’s less tolerance towards religion and that the local authorities are even scrupulously auditing and monitoring the schools every activity is decisive and sufficient proof that weakens this claim.

The Gülen Movement in Germany and France

Despite the large Turkish population in Western Europe, the movement took hold relatively late from other Islamic organizations and they have been present in Europe since almost 10…

Are there autonomous Hizmet groups?

As someone who has been working on the movement in my academic capacity for more than a decade, I feel responsible to try and set the record straight.…

The Gülen Movement’s Initiatives in Britain

The history of the Gülen Movement in the United Kingdom is fairly short compared to other Turkish faith-based communities or movements, such as Suleymanci, Sheikh Nazim and other…