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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001331 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/03/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SCUL SOCI TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH GULENIST SCHOOLS: "BE EVERYWHERE OR BE 
NOWHERE" 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Daniel J. O'Grady, reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  Gulenist-administered Turkish schools are 
inspired by the same humanistic philosophy no matter where 
they operate in Turkey or the world, according to teachers 
and students at a leading Gulenist math and science school in 
Ankara.  The teachers underscored that these schools must 
adhere to the education system of the host country, while the 
students emphasized the full-time attention the teachers at 
their schools provide them and their families.  The 
opportunity to study and teach abroad is a major attraction 
for many, both students and teachers alike.  The Gulenist 
communities on campuses in cities hosting Turkey's major 
universities are a key source of recruitment for new 
teachers, central to advancing Fetullah Gulen's humanistic 
"movement."  The schools are already well established in 
Turkey, with growth now focused on the country's East. 
Overseas, the schools are concentrated in Africa, Central 
Asia and the Balkans, but are also found in the United States 
and elsewhere.  The Gulenists plan continued growth. 
According to Gulen, in order to open up to humanity, one must 
be everywhere.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) We met recently on two occasions with 
administrators, teachers and students at Ankara's Samanyolu 
High School, one of Turkey's leading math and science 
schools, administered by a Fetullah Gulen 
community-associated foundation.  According to the teachers, 
eight of Turkey's one hundred top math and science high 
school graduates came out of Samanyolu last year, including 
the top math and science graduate in the country.  (There 
were approximately 1.5 million Turkish high school graduates 
in 2007.)  Many Samanyolu boarding students come from 
Turkey's provincial cities, and the school also hosts a 
number of foreign students on exchange programs.  A large 
percentage of Samanyolu teachers, including those we spoke 
to, have taught abroad. 
 
"AFFECTION FOR HUMANITY IS OUR PHILOSOPHY" 
------------------------------------------ 
¶3.  (SBU) The Samanyolu teachers we met with, Mehmet and 
Servet, had previously taught in Ukraine and Vietnam 
respectively, before returning to Turkey.  They emphasized 
that their schools strictly follow the educational system of 
the host countries.  Most programs are taught in English or 
the local language; Turkish history and religion is not 
taught abroad, and Turkish language is only an elective at 
some schools in some countries.  Thumbing through pictures 
from schools in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine, we noted that many of 
the teachers appeared to be local and mixed-gender (unlike 
this particular Samanyolu school, which is all male).  Mehmet 
and Servet emphasized that most teachers are, in fact, local 
residents and not Fetullah Gulen adherents.  The common 
denominator, they said, is a love for humanity. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Both teachers noted that cultural adaptation for 
Turkish teachers is not easy, and often takes time, but they 
stressed their enthusiasm for learning the local culture and 
getting to know students' families quickly dispels any 
prejudices and concerns among the local people.  Servet noted 
that in former Soviet republics, Turks continue to face 
prejudices deriving from the Soviet legacy where Turkey was 
degraded as part of the West and Turkish culture as 
dangerous, but the animosity, he said, is lessening.  Mehmet 
joked about how intelligence officers in Kazakhstan had been 
parked outside a Turkish school each day when it first 
opened, but then went on to enroll their kids there. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) One student, Salum, from Tanzania, recalled when 
the Turkish teachers came to Tanzania in 1998.  There was a 
huge desperation for schools, but a concern existed about 
whether these foreigners would seek to impose a foreign 
culture on the students.  Soon, the school's teachers were 
warmly welcomed and celebrated in the community.  Compared to 
Tanzanian teachers, who he said are often aggressive, he 
found his Turkish teachers to be calm and patient.  Moreover, 
enrollment at a Turkish school meant you could successfully 
complete your exams without having to pay corrupt public 
school teachers for private tutoring.  Salum, who is 23, 
recently completed one year of Turkish language training at 
Gazi University, and intends to begin studying math at 
Ankara's prestigious English-language Middle East Technical 
 
ANKARA 00001331  002 OF 003 
 
 
University (METU).  His experience, he said, has instilled in 
him a desire to serve his country and be a teacher, and 
perhaps even Education Minister one day. 
 
BUILDING A "MOVEMENT" 
--------------------- 
¶6.  (SBU) Salum's experience, along with that of another 
student with whom we met, Bedar, an Albanian graduate of a 
Turkish high school currently studying at Hacettepe 
University in Ankara, illustrated how the schools' graduates 
grow the Gulenist movement worldwide.  University students, 
like Salum and Bedar, coming from provincial Anatolia or 
abroad, are often in need of housing when they attend Turkish 
universities in Istanbul, Ankara and other large cities.  On 
the campuses of these cities there are Gulenist communities. 
According to the Samanyolu teachers, the students lodge with 
these communities, eventually become "members," join "the 
education department," and go abroad as teachers. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Gulenist schools are well established in Turkey and 
the procedures for opening a new school are clear, Servet 
told us; there are about 300 in operation.  The number of 
schools in eastern Turkey is growing, but there is no fixed 
geographic plan, only "to be everywhere," he said.  Local 
businessmen facilitate new school openings.  For example, 
there are numerous schools in commercial centers, like Konya, 
Antalya and Istanbul, whereas in Van there is only one.  But 
the teachers noted proudly that there is now one Gulenist 
school in almost every Turkish province.  Mehmet underscored 
Fetullah Gulen's teaching philosophy that instructs his 
followers to "open up to humanity."  "Whomever is not 
everywhere is nowhere," Mehmet said, quoting Gulen.  "You 
must be globalized to be localized."  Servet added that 
teaching is "an activity that places humanity at its center," 
allowing Gulen's followers to set good examples and implement 
Gulen's philosophy.  The philosophy is more important than 
the technique, said Servet. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) According to Servet, tuition at top-performing 
Gulenist schools in Turkey (about $10,000 per year) is 
generally less than at other private schools in Turkey, even 
as the schools offer instruction in English and their 
graduates generally out-perform other students in Turkey. 
Scholarships are available, and many of the schools target 
underprivileged students and neighborhoods, both in Turkey 
and abroad (though Gulenist schools often educate the middle 
class and elite in countries outside of Turkey).  We met one 
American citizen high school student of Albanian descent who 
is on a three-week exchange, residing with the Turkish family 
of a Samanyolu student.  He described positively his 
experience at a Turkish-run math and science academy in 
Chicago.  His school primarily serves African-American 
students and students of Mexican descent, he said.  He 
emphasized the importance his teachers place on traveling and 
competing in math and science fairs, which he said he and his 
colleagues often win.  Turkish is an elective at his school, 
but other foreign languages are also taught. 
 
NO STRONG TIES BETWEEN GOVERNMENT 
AND GULENIST SCHOOLS 
--------------------------------- 
¶9.  (SBU) The teachers described a lack of official ties 
between their schools abroad, the local Turkish Embassy and 
local representatives of other Turkish government agencies, 
such as the Turkish Agency for International Development 
(TIKA).  The local Turkish Ambassador will often attend 
school ceremonies and graduations, but that is about the 
extent of the relationship.  In fact, in many of the 
countries where Gulenist schools operate, such as in 
Afghanistan, the Turkish Ministry of Education administers an 
official Turkish state school.  Mehmet noted, however, that 
TIKA, for the first time last year, co-sponsored the sixth 
annual "Turkish Language Olympics," which brings Turkish 
language students from around the world to Turkey, indicating 
a renewed GOT interest in these schools' capacity to help 
promote Turkish culture, even if it is not a primary 
objective.  (NOTE:  The GOT will sometimes cite indirectly 
Gulenist schools -- euphemistically known as "Turkish NGO 
schools" -- in their statistics describing Turkish 
development assistance abroad.  END NOTE.)  One exception to 
the non-official nature of these schools abroad is northern 
Iraq, according to Mehmet.  There, the GOT has sought to 
 
ANKARA 00001331  003 OF 003 
 
 
engage more directly with the schools.  He noted that Barzani 
and Talabani grandchildren all attend Gulenist schools in 
northern Iraq, as do Iraqi Arab, Turkmen and other Kurdish 
students. 
 
"THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL MOVEMENT" 
---------------------------------- 
¶10.  (SBU) Asked why suspicion of the Gulenist community 
exists in Turkey, Mehmet replied that those who accuse Gulen 
of surreptitious activities are projecting their own fears 
and intentions on him.  "I am as I look and I will be the 
same," he said, quoting the Mevlana.  There is no evidence of 
Gulen or his supporters trying to direct politics, he 
stressed; this is not a political movement, but a way of 
life.  "It is only a political problem for certain people." 
Mehmet did not shrink away from describing the Gulenist 
movement as an "Islamic movement," but noted that its 
philosophy stands in contrast to radicalism or 
fundamentalism.  For example, the movement is restricted by 
the governments of Syria and Iran from operating schools 
there.  Emphasizing the movement's humanistic aspect, he said 
Gulen's followers do not preach religious teaching; they only 
try to set an example through their lifestyles.  (NOTE:  In 
response to suspicions about the schools, Gulen has said he 
would not oppose the state taking over the financing and/or 
direct operation of (his movement's) educational activities, 
so long as the activities somehow continue.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Commenting on the ongoing political upheavals in 
Turkey, Servet expressed a note of confidence.  The Turkish 
nation, he said, bounces back quickly from every political or 
economic crisis.  A political party (i.e., AKP) might be 
closed, but better days are on the horizon, followed by 
economic growth.  Mehmet added that Turkish society is active 
and lively, while the state is moribund.  This will change 
and democracy will succeed.  If the EU process is pursued 
actively, he said, Turkey will achieve this more quickly. 
The government, he opined, slowed down the EU process; if it 
had not, Turkey would not be facing the problems it is today. 
 Both teachers expressed a sense of admiration for the 
American political system, observing that whichever political 
party is elected, there is a fundamental consensus in the 
U.S. about the country's principles and values. 
 
COMMENT: 
"DON'T TRUST THE MAN WHO ONLY READS ONE BOOK" 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶12.  (C) Samanyolu High School teachers and administrators 
have undoubtedly much to be proud of.  Their students are 
high-achievers; their facility, compared to the average 
Turkish public school, is first rate; and they have promoted 
valuable -- and rare -- cross cultural exchanges among Turks 
and the rest of the world, especially in the developing 
world.  Given this and other Gulenist schools' concrete, 
positive achievements, it is difficult to see how the 
schools, or the Gulenist movement of which they are the 
vanguard, constitute any threat to Turkey's secular 
democratic order.  But suspicions run deep among Turks 
outside the movement, even among those without a strong 
secular pre-disposition.  One Ankara University professor, an 
ethnic Uighur with whom we recently spoke, who is familiar 
with the work of Gulenist schools in Central Asia, offered an 
old Chinese saying:  "Don't trust the man who reads only one 
book."  Gulenist school students, especially those who are 
boarding away from home, have their reading and television 
strictly controlled, he said.  He recalled an academic 
colleague who sent his son to a Gulenist school.  The son has 
excelled in physics, but he now, for example, criticizes the 
father for drinking raki at dinner (a national pastime for 
Turks), and the father laments that he has lost his son. 
Analogies between Gulen and the Ayatollah Khomenei, the 
professor suggested, are misplaced.  Gulenists do not seek to 
dramatically overthrow Turkey's secular order; the change 
they seek is within. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
WILSON