The article challenges the common perception of Fethullah Gülen and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as former allies, arguing that Gülen, an Islamic scholar focused on education and interfaith dialogue, has consistently advocated for democracy and opposed political Islam, even when Erdoğan's party initially pursued pro-democratic reforms.
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Gulen - Erdogan History in 2 minutes
Nowadays, most articles about Turkey, Erdogan and Gulen have a default sentence:
“Erdogan and Gulen were former allies”.
It is said and written so many times that eventually became a fact.
However, the reality is not that simple.
Gulen is an Islamic scholar and preacher who is influenced by Said Nursi,
one of the most important figures of civil islam in the last century.
Like Nursi, Gulen has always opposed turning religion into a political ideology
and supported democracy and freedoms without stressing a specific party.
Having no interest in politics personally,
Gulen dedicated all his time and efforts to education and service.
Being highly concerned about increased polarization in Turkish society,
he initiated a dialogue and tolerance movement in 1990s.
He came together with many Turkish politicians, from right and left, as part of the dialogue efforts.
His gatherings were not limited to politicians only.
He also met with athletes, movie stars, singers, Christian and Jewish leaders.
In 1998, he visited Pope to move the dialogue efforts to an international level.
In spite of his efforts in dialogue, Gulen intentionally stayed away from Political Islamists.
In 1996 Erbakan, the major political Islamist leader in Turkey, became prime minister.
Erdogan was Istanbul’s mayor from his party at the time.
Erbakan was calling EU a Christian union and trying to move Turkey away from it.
Gulen publicly opposed him and said “No turning back from Democracy”
and suggested stronger ties with EU would help Turkey integrate with the world and promote peace in the region.
In 2002… after a loong series of events, Erdogan left Erbakan’s party
and announced that he abandoned political Islamism in favor of a more democratic approach.
This was not only a claim. His party, AKP, prepared
prepared the most pro-Democracy, pro-European program in Turkish history,
which attracted many important figures from central right…
and even from left.
As this program was implemented successfully,
Gulen inspired media and organizations supported the progress.
Not surprisingly, most liberals and democrats in Turkey were also supporting Erdogan during this period.
In addition to these and many other domestic approvals,
AKP policies received strong support from western leaders, as well.
When Erdogan signaled that he would go back to political Islamism, Gulen was first to oppose.
A famous example of this was Gulen’s disagreement to Gaza flotilla in 2010.
So, where this “former ally” perception comes from? We will cover it in another video.
In addition to these and many other domestic approvals, AKP policies received strong support from western leaders, as well.
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