VZCZCXRO9560
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHIT #0353/01 1171441
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 271441Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6933
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ISTANBUL 000353 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: A GATHERING OF GULENISTS, WITH A SPLASH OF SCOTCH 
 
REF: ISTANBUL 209 
 
Classified By: Consul General Deborah K. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary.  An April 17 gathering of journalists, 
academicians, religious and political leaders either merely 
familiar with, sympathetic to or loyal followers of Fethullah 
Gulen painted a picture of the self-exiled, U.S.-based 
Turkish religious leader as a compassionate and tolerant 
humanitarian committed to reconciliation, both within 
Turkey's various religious and social groups and throughout 
the world at large.  Our sources attributed the evasiveness 
associated with Gulenist visa applicants to a fear that USG 
officials share a prejudice against them similar to what 
they've experienced with the Turkish government.  These 
interlocutors opined that Gulen would have no problem 
returning to Turkey prior to November's parliamentary 
elections if PM Erdogan were to become president (this was 
prior to Thursday's announcement that FM Gul would step into 
that role).  A media glitch may help explain Gulen's rumored 
links to the USG.  End summary. 
 
THE GUESTS 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (C) An eclectic group of Turks knowledgeable of and/or 
sympathetic to religious leader Fethullah Gulen - 
reverentially called "The Hoca" (HO-jah) by his followers - 
joined us for dinner at the CGR April 17.  The guests, 
selected by Nazli Ilicak, herself a rather notorious figure 
in Turkish political life as a Scotch-swilling, Justice and 
Justice and Development Party (AKP) co-founder of 
industrialist pedigree, who was expelled from parliament and 
later exonerated by the European Court of Human Rights, 
included well-known Turkish columnists Mustafa Akyol (Turkish 
Daily News), Fehmi Koru (Yeni Safak), and Ali Bulac (Zaman); 
academics Niyazi Oktem, professor of Sociology at Bilgi 
University, his son, Emre, who teaches law at Galatasaray 
University; Mahmut Kilic, theology instructor at Marmara 
University; sociologist (and daughter of Turkish writer Cemil 
Meric) Umit Meric; and Alparslan Acikgenc, Dean of the 
Faculty of Letters at Fatih University.  Secretary General of 
the Turkish Catholic Episcopal Conference Monsignor Georges 
Marovitch also made the guest list, as did Harun Tokak, 
president of the Journalists and Writers Foundation. 
 
GULEN THE HUMANIST IMAM 
----------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Harun Tokak, described by those around the table as 
being "closest" to the Hoca, recounted his attendance as a 
young man in the late 1960's and early 1970's at a mosque in 
Izmir where Gulen served as imam.  Gulen's preaching was 
unique in Tokak's experience for its vibrancy, warmth and 
genuineness.  Though entirely self-educated beyond primary 
school, according to Niyazi Oktem, the young Gulen talked of 
building schools, not mosques.  Inspired by Gulen's genuine 
piety and depth of character, derived from his developing, 
moderate Sufi interpretation of scripture, Tokak moved to Van 
in eastern Turkey where he opened a school that has since 
served as springboard for the hundreds if not thousands of 
schools that have since followed (reftel).  Today, the 
original "Gulenist" school in Van serves over 1000 students. 
 
GULEN'S THEOLOGICAL BASIS 
------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Our guests placed Gulen in sharp contrast to their 
somewhat stereotypical ideas of strict "Arab (read: Saudi 
Salafist) Islam" and squarely within what they deem a 
uniquely "Turkish" Sufi tradition that emphasizes purity of 
the heart and a realization of one's whole self in God. 
Niyazi Oktem and Fehmi Koru joined others in explaining 
Gulen's appeal to followers drawn to his teaching and the man 
himself because the Hoca addressed real spiritual needs, and 
did not simply repeat Diyanet-prescribed scripts.  His 
interpretive approach to the Koran - freed from strict 
adherence to the Arabic text - provided space for individual 
expressions of piety, and for reconciliation with Christians, 
Jews and even non-believers.  One guest, who chose relatively 
late in life to cover, recounted in terms not unfamiliar to 
evangelical Christians how Gulen's preaching and his 
individualized ministry had changed her life and led to a 
deeper faith.  Imam Gulen "retired" from the Diyanet in the 
early 1980s to begin a ministry independent of Turkey's 
official state-sponsored bureau of religion. 
 
INTERFAITH ACTIVITIES AND MEETING THE POPE 
------------------------------------------ 
 
 
ISTANBUL 00000353  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶5.  (C) Monsignor Marovitch spoke enthusiastically and at 
length about his own efforts to promote Gulen's ecumenical 
agenda, including introductions to other faith community 
leaders and ultimately Pope John Paul II.  Marovitch and 
others confirmed the Hoca's early ties to a wealthy 
Jewish-Turkish businessman, Uzayr Garih, found murdered in a 
Muslim cemetery several years ago, who worked with Marovitch 
to link Gulen to a broader audience in the interest of 
interfaith dialogue and world peace.  Marovitch said he'd 
arranged for Gulen to meet the Pope only to find that 
Turkey's Mission to the Vatican had cancelled the 
appointment.  (Note:  This contrasts with earlier accounts 
that Garih, in fact, introduced Gulen to Abe Foxman, who in 
turn introduced him to the Cardinal of New York, who in turn 
introduced him to the Pope.  End note.)  Marovitch said he 
strenuously reclama'd that decision and the audience took 
place, which raised the GOT's ire.  Marovitch attributed 
later suspicions of U.S. government involvement to press 
inaccuracies in reporting that then-U.S. Ambassador to Turkey 
"Abramowitz" - vice "Marovitch" - had arranged the meeting. 
Istanbul's Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Armenian 
Patriarch Mesrob also met with Fethullah Gulen, according to 
Niyazi Oktem and other sources.  Gulen subsequently traveled 
to the U.S. for medical treatment in February 1999 and has 
stayed ever since. 
 
THE "TURKISH NATURE" OF GULENIST SCHOOLS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) Turkey and its culture feature heavily in the 
Gulenist curriculum, according to Niyazi Oktem.  Harun Tokak 
recounted that a retired but skeptical Turkish military 
general was once persuaded to visit Gulenist schools in 
Central Asia; he came away satisfied the group meant no harm 
to Turkey and was probably a positive.  Our guests in turn 
explained the schools' emphasis on exploring Turkish culture, 
and the historical "melting pot - just like America" 
represented by the Ottoman Empire and its ethnic and cultural 
mix.  Oktem - being "deliberately provocative but accurate," 
noted that Turks are "more Greek than Arab."  In other words, 
there was nothing to fear. 
 
¶7.  (C) Several guests noted that instead of building on the 
reforming and modernizing traditions of the Ottoman period, 
which could serve to guide Turkey in its current situation, 
the Republic's early leaders had chosen to discard 
everything, including the relatively moderate brand of Islam 
practiced during that period.  Their authoritarian approach 
to the "new Turkey" had stifled existing and "natural" 
reforming impulses.  Mustafa Akyol cited, for example, a 
"women's movement" in the late Ottoman period stifled and 
"reformed" by the leaders of the new Republic, who believed 
they needed to prescribe even to the women what they should 
and should not want.  This had led to an artificial society 
and the potential for backlash.  The Gulenist movement was an 
effort to return to Turkey's natural, multi-ethnic, tolerant 
roots, allowing for the spiritual component that has always 
been there. 
 
FUNDING, FOLLOWERS AND GULEN'S CURRENT STATUS 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) In response to our questions about funding, numbers 
of adherents, the Gulenist "organization," if any, and the 
Hoca's personal status and possible return to Turkey, we 
heard alternately straightforward and vague replies, 
suggesting some facts may simply be unknown.  Our guests 
estimated Gulen's followers in Turkey to number between two 
and three million, based in part on the 800,000 known 
subscribers to a Gulenist magazine.  The subscription journal 
Sizinti also serves as the primary means of communicating 
theological tenets to the faithful, broadly supplemented by 
the Internet.  Gulen's speeches also are carried in his 
"Zaman" daily newspaper, printed in Turkey and in the U.S. in 
 English.  Though vague on amounts, our guests asserted that 
the organization itself holds no stockpiles of funds and that 
schools and other activities generally are financed by 
well-heeled businessmen.  With wicked smiles, some of our 
guests noted rumors widely believed among Turks that the CIA 
was funding the Hoca, whom the U.S. reportedly had set up in 
the first place.  When asked why U.S.-bound visa applicants 
appeared almost uniformly evasive about their intent to 
either visit the Hoca or to attend a Gulenist school, our 
interlocutors responded that the applicants - over whom they 
exercised no control - were simply ignorant of U.S. visa 
procedures and feared that U.S. government officials held 
prejudices against the organization similar to the Turkish 
government's. 
 
¶9.  (C) Personal details on Gulen were a bit harder to come 
by aside from the hagiography of his early life; we never 
 
ISTANBUL 00000353  003 OF 003 
 
 
heard a clear answer, for example, regarding his marital 
status. 
 
WILL HE RETURN? 
--------------- 
 
¶10.  (C) We asked why the Hoca remained in the U.S., with so 
many followers here.  Were there security or health concerns? 
 Those closest to him said he would have no difficulty 
returning to Turkey following a presumed AKP (and at the 
time, Erdogan) presidential victory in May 2007, and prior to 
November's parliamentary elections, downplaying rumors of 
outstanding criminal charges or threats from ultranationalist 
factions.  That said, health considerations might preclude 
the elderly leader's being "set upon" by thousands of his 
adherents, according to our sources, and so he might choose 
to remain in the U.S.  In this context, some voiced concern 
Gulen might be asked to depart the U.S. for political or 
immigration purposes.  A few appeared to be very conversant 
with his drawn out immigration case and appeals process. 
(Note:  Having originally entered on a "B-2" visa for medical 
treatment in February 1999, Gulen subsequently acquired an 
"R" (nonimmigrant) visa, as a religious leader, but 
reportedly failed to pay income taxes/maintain status.  An 
attempt to get legal permanent resident status through a 
religious worker petition seems to have been rejected by 
USCIS.  His lawyers reportedly are seeking "O" status, which 
would allow him to remain as an individual of outstanding 
ability.  End note.) 
 
¶11.  (C) Comment.  This impressive group of academic, 
religious and professional admirers and followers offers a 
portrait of Fethullah Gulen that is light years away from 
secularist perceptions of a scheming crypto-Mullah, plotting 
to turn Turkey into a sharia-based Islamic state little 
different than Iran.  They clearly believe Gulen is a model 
of enlightened Islam, amenable to and compatible with 
present-day Turkish life and the modern world, and perhaps 
even necessary to avoid Turkey's exploitation by radicalized 
elements on both sides.  They attribute Gulen's difficulties 
with Turkey's secular state apparatus to the latter's need to 
"control everything," citing the GOT's aversion to the word 
"ecumenical" in the Greek Orthodox patriarchal title as an 
example of this narrow-mindedness.  Most impressive was the 
example of tolerance and collegiality amongst themselves, a 
clearly diverse group some of whom drank alcohol, others who 
abstained, some who covered, others who did not.  End comment. 
JONES