Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Anyone who pays really close attention to what I say and write will note that the things I say about Turkey are often contradictory. This is not because I can't make up my mind. It's because Turkey has to be the most contradictory place on the planet.
Case in point. Last week I published an article--and I stand by every word--about the dangerous contraction of press freedom in Turkey under the AKP. I mentioned the concentration of news outlets in the hands of Fethullah Gülen's media empire, and I described the variety of opinions on offer in the Turkish press as increasingly monolithic.
Predictably, Bülent Kenes, the editor of Today's Zaman, one of the newspapers in Gülen's media group, denounced me as a slobbering racist. No surprise there, you might think. What else are they going to say?
But today, Andrew Finkel, a columnist for the same paper, came out on the pages of that very paper to defend me--mildly--and to agree--mildly--with my criticism of Turkish foreign policy.
Let's be honest: That just couldn't happen in a country where the press was under Soviet-style control. Kenes not only gave space to an opposing point of view, he gave space to someone criticizing him, in particular. That's fair and that's commendable. It's also the most effective rebuttal he could have made to my argument. And let me just irritate Mr. Kenes further with my pathological Orientalism by adding that man, that is subtle, too. Chapeau!
The weird thing is that everything I wrote is still also true. That's Turkey. And it's one of the reasons I love the place, no matter how crazy it makes me.
Anyone who thinks he has the place figured out completely just hasn't lived there long enough.
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Jun '10
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
I get the impression that the one thing that Turks are reflexively prepared to defend is their ambiguity. "Don't tread on my murkiness!"
Jul '10
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Would it be racist of me to observe that Kenes can't write worth squat?
He brings an entire new dimension to turgid.
Aug '10
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Claire, are you familiar with the so-called Gulen charter schools in the United States? I hasten to add that even calling them "Gulen" schools may not be fair because nothing (at least that I've seen) has established that he's running them, but it is beyond doubt that there is a large patchwork of charter schools operating in many states that are run by Turks under different names. See, e.g., http://www.actforamerica.org/index.php/learn/email-archives/1069-fethulla-gulen-infiltrating-us-through-our-charter-schools/.
I ask because our kids are enrolled in one, and we've been fairly pleased with it so far and have seen no evidence of attempted brainwashing or what have you.
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Marc--familiar with these schools, yes. Not sure what to make of them. Glad your experience has been positive. I'd be curious to hear more.
Jun '10
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Mac Sledge: Claire, are you familiar with the so-called Gulen charter schools in the United States? I hasten to add that even calling them "Gulen" schools may not be fair because nothing (at least that I've seen) has established that he's running them, but it is beyond doubt that there is a large patchwork of charter schools operating in many states that are run by Turks under different names. See, e.g., http://www.actforamerica.org/index.php/learn/email-archives/1069-fethulla-gulen-infiltrating-us-through-our-charter-schools/.
I ask because our kids are enrolled in one, and we've been fairly pleased with it so far and have seen no evidence of attempted brainwashing or what have you. · Sep 5 at 8:21am
From what I've read about some of their schools in the Midwest, they do a great job of teaching math, reading, and the basics, but they also push a Turk-centric view of European history. Maybe that's a small price to pay, but there may be an educational price.
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
I'd be pretty impressed with any school teaching European history in such depth that it prompts debate about whether the viewpoint on offer was excessively Turk-centric, actually.
Jul '10
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Isn't Gulen the mysterious guy who lives in a fortified compound in the Pennsylvania Pocono's? Surrounded by machine-gun toting thugs and surveillance helicopters? With $25 billion in mysterious funding?
Turn your kids over to him for education? Why, okey-dokey.
And I understand the hallal meals in the cafeterias are yummy.
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Kenneth: Isn't Gulen the mysterious guy who lives in a fortified compound in the Pennsylvania Pocono's? Surrounded by machine-gun toting thugs and surveillance helicopters? With $25 billion in mysterious funding?
Turn your kids over to him for education? Why, okey-dokey.
And I understand the hallal meals in the cafeterias are yummy. · Sep 5 at 9:57am
That's the one! But again--Turkey's full of contradictions. I'm completely willing to believe Marc's kids are getting an excellent education. It wouldn't surprise me a bit.
Aug '10
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Facts about Turkey may not contradict, just coexist. Isn't literacy low in Turkey - or, more likely, spotty? A media mogul could be just one big frog in one of many small ponds, and I wouldn't overestimate his influence or the number of people susceptible to it. Turkey can seem cerebral but I think that's just the unusual (and invigorating) demands its language places on the visitor. The country is still Islamic, which is to say anti-intellectual bordering on anti-mental. Mr. Kenes, with his rant about Turcophobia, is as fantastical as the Turks who instantly asked me to take them back to America with me or the ones who said they had worked in Europe but were unable to tell me where. Turks really don't get the outside world, and they either have nutty ideas or no ideas.
Jul '10
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Claire Berlinski
Kenneth: Isn't Gulen the mysterious guy who lives in a fortified compound in the Pennsylvania Pocono's? Surrounded by machine-gun toting thugs and surveillance helicopters? With $25 billion in mysterious funding?
Turn your kids over to him for education? Why, okey-dokey.
And I understand the hallal meals in the cafeterias are yummy. · Sep 5 at 9:57am
That's the one! But again--Turkey's full of contradictions. I'm completely willing to believe Marc's kids are getting an excellent education. It wouldn't surprise me a bit. · Sep 5 at 10:54am
Claire, Claire...
Gulen flees Turkey because he's too Sharia for the secularist military.
Suddenly, a penurious Turkish cleric becomes wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice and uses that wealth to establish a network of schools in the US.
The guy is obviously funded by the Saudis, who also fund every mosque in America.
Education is indoctrination. And although Marc's kids might be getting competent instruction in math, it obviously comes at the expense of Wahabbist mind-bending - creating little Islamophiles in the belly of the Beast.
Aug '10
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Kenneth: Isn't Gulen the mysterious guy who lives in a fortified compound in the Pennsylvania Pocono's? Surrounded by machine-gun toting thugs and surveillance helicopters? With $25 billion in mysterious funding?
Turn your kids over to him for education? Why, okey-dokey.
And I understand the hallal meals in the cafeterias are yummy. · Sep 5 at 9:57am
If you have evidence that Gulen is running these schools, I'd sincerely love to see it. I make no claim that he's not, but I've seen no proof that he is beyond a lot of conclusory allegations. That's point one.
Point two -- let's assume that someone, Gulen or otherwise, is behind these schools and has a hidden, nefarious agenda. Wouldn't there be some evidence of said agenda? Because what we have in this town is a school with a large contingent of female, Hispanic, Roman Catholic (or otherwise Christian) teachers. At least those are the teachers my kids have had. The administrators are educated Turkish males. And we live in an area that is 95% Mexican-American and commensurately Catholic. Do you really think this is a likely foothold for subversive Islam?
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Kenneth
Claire, Claire... Education is indoctrination. And although Marc's kids might be getting competent instruction in math, it obviously comes at the expense of Wahabbist mind-bending - creating little Islamophiles in the belly of the Beast. · Sep 5 at 11:13am
Oh, Kenneth! I have failed to convince you of the infinite complexity of Turkey. Yes, the money may come from the Saudis--or it could come from Turkey; don't forget he owns a huge media empire there. Or maybe from the 'stans. He's all about Turkic nationalism. Second, if you object to sending your kids to schools funded by the Saudis (not that I'm sure his are), you've ruled out half of America's institutions of higher education. Third, I'd be astonished if they're getting indoctrinated in Wahhabism. That would be so un-subtle, so un-Turkish. Beats me what's going on with those schools (someone should investigate), but it's totally possible that they're just good schools. I mean--Ataturk airport is just a good airport (despite that weird camel-sacrificing incident). Turkey cannot be predicted! Neither can the Turks!
Aug '10
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Oh, come on. Turkey unpredictable? In any situation, just ask yourself, "What would a guy gutted by his mommy do?" and you'll probably guess, if not the substance, then certainly the flavor, of any Middle Easterner's next ten moves.
Aug '10
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
I'll also add that part of the reason I was comfortable with the school -- knowing at the time that we applied for spots in the school of an obvious Turkish influence but knowing nothing of Gulen -- is because I had spent a military tour in Turkey in the late 1980s and returned to the United States favorably impressed. And while I am dismayed over what appears to be happening in Turkey nowadays, nothing I've experienced personally with the men who run the school or with regard to my kids has changed my comfort level.
Jul '10
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Claire Berlinski
Oh, Kenneth! I have failed to convince you of the infinite complexity of Turkey. Yes, the money may come from the Saudis--or it could come from Turkey; don't forget he owns a huge media empire there.
I speculate that his money comes from Saudi because $25 billion is their kind of money and a humble cleric tends not to miraculously build a business empire. Truth is, no one knows where the money comes from.
But we do know that Gulen was an acolyte of Sheikh Sa'id-i Kurdi, who rebelled against Ataturk, demanding an Islamic state.
Gulen carried on that tradition, undermining the secular authorities, until he was forced to flee in 1998.
He has been outspoken about his plan for creeping Sharia and the establishment of a global Caliphate. He advocates taqiyya as his followers "...move in the arteries of the system without anyone noticing your existence until you reach all the power centers."
He has established Gulen schools in many countries, but most are here in the US. This gives him a vehicle to import male Turkish school administrators. Hmmm.
http://docstalk.blogspot.com/2009/04/fethullah-gulen-infiltrating-us-through.html
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
The problem with this comment, as far as I'm concerned, is not that it's politically incorrect, it's that it's wrong. No one familiar with Turkey would call it "predictable." If you assume it is--or that it will behave as other Middle Eastern states do--you'll be making a lot of terrible foreign policy. But don't take my word for it, put it to the test. Predict Turkey's next ten moves. Let's see how you do.
Re: Outfoxed by Turkey, Yet Again
Kenneth--
What you've said is true, and also incomplete. I'm absolutely no apologist for Gulen--I'm quite suspicious of him--but the fact that he was prosecuted for seeking an Islamic state does not necessarily mean that he was in fact doing so. This is Turkey. No matter who's in power, it's a basically authoritarian country where the legal system is used as a tool of persecution. People get prosecuted for all sorts of insane things. I've slogged through tons of these kinds of legal documents; more often than not they make no sense at all. So the fact that he was accused of this should raise suspicions, yes, but it would also be plausible to me that he was persecuted by secularist paranoiacs, because Turkey is full of them. He claims that famous quote attributed to him is a fraud, and again, this is Turkey: That's perfectly plausible. The key point is that we just don't know, which is extremely weird. The US media's lack of curiosity about Gulen is shocking. There should be teams and teams of US journalists trying to answer these questions in a serious way.