“Once innocence is lost, it’s not possible to find it again,” says Bauman. When people start to taint their God-given nature with or without intent, being aware of it or not, nothing will be like it used to before. In this respect, infer the following inspired by the verses “Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” (Az-Zumar 9) and “The darkness and the light are not equal” (Fatir 20): Are those who protect their candor, innocence and humanity equal to those who do not? Holy texts are full of examples who betray themselves, their society, nature and ultimately God himself by failing to protect their innocence. I believe it’s enough to remind Lucifer’s disobedience and Cain’s murder of his brother Able.

To comprehend the loss of innocence is the issue. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) defines feeling guilty as “remorse” (Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 30). To feel remorse, one should be aware of its crime; moreover, one should reprimand himself/herself. We see that Prophet Jonah submits to the God Almighty by saying “Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers” (Al-Anbya 87) despite being a prophet himself, while Lucifer constantly avoids facing his crime and loss of innocence through arrogance (Al-Baqarah 34) and trying to justify itself (Al-A’raf 12). This is where the soul and mind become devilish.

FETO’s dogmatism

2 years has passed since the heinous July 15 coup attempt perpetrated by FETO. Turkey was in intensive care for a year, trying to come back to life. Our state, its government (Justice and Development Party, or AK Party for short) and those who backed them both (Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP for short) have implemented meticulous policies throughout this process. We have experienced the individual and societal trauma caused by the attempted attack on the state organization and democratic system. It’s without doubt that some were victimized by false accusations and denouncements motivated by the purple brain or personal ambitions. We see that these wrongs are being corrected incrementally.

The discrepancy between FETO’s apparent facet and hidden agenda, thus it’s extreme form of dissimulation (taqiyya), have inflicted wounds to the minds of all Muslims, especially Islamists, the pious and nationalist-conservatives. Firstly, the treatment of this wound isn’t as easy as it seems. An indomitable will by a resolute political administration is required.

Let’s go back to where it all started. FETO, which was deemed innocent by the public prior to 2012, lost its innocence through the December 17-25 events and the July 15 coup attempt. We are facing a structure characterized by Hoffer’s “true believers” and Rokeach’s “closed [dogmatic] mind.” A mental and emotional rigidity with the potential of fanaticism… Caused by unshakeable belief and utmost devotion, this condition was defined as “being a hashhashin,” referring to Hasan as-Sabbah’s original assassins.

Why? Because with the mind-numbing opium, people transform into mindless drones. It’s possible to talk about Marx’s remark that “religion is the opium of the people.” In FETO’s hand, religion turns into an opiate. For this reason, its members don’t feel remorse about attempting to suspend democracy and infringe the constitution along with killing hundreds of people. According to their belief, remorse is only possible if they disobey FETO leader Gulen, their acclaimed “messiah.”

Considering Fromm described such structures as “authoritarian,” it’s easy to understand how the leaders of fascist organizations are idolized. In this respect, loyalty and trust is only reserved for the leader in FETO. The belief that only the leader represents the truth has invaded every cell of their being. They evaluate every knowledge and information only according to their narrow ideology and purpose. If the provided knowledge and information is compatible with the organization’s teachings, it is accepted easily; otherwise, they will deny. “They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear” (Al-A’raf 179) describes the type of dogmatic and fanatical people in such authoritarian organizations perfectly.

Fanaticism takes only one step from dogmatism. Fanatics possess all the traits of dogmatic thought process and personality. However, they’re more prone to employing violence. Regardless of religious exploitation, rigid authoritarian structures all possess psychosocial issues like seeing the world in black and white, failing to see the grey zones, monopolizing the truth, perceiving the future with a pessimistic outlook, feeling insecure and accepting only other members as their brothers and sisters. All of these could be observed in FETO; yet, there is more: fanaticism. Individual or organizational, fanaticism is characterized by violence and aggression caused by contracting consciousness. In this regard, FETO isn’t only a dogmatic organization, but also a fanatical one.

The December 17-25 events and the heinous July 15 coup attempt has shown that Gulenism believes the ends justify the means and that it is a terrorist organization using violence unfetteredly. Similar to FETO, the PKK with its Marxist and leftist discourse is also a dogmatic and fanatical organization. So, it’s not hard to understand how these two terrorist organizations have found common ground in inflicting harm to the Turkish people and the state. We see that once innocence is lost everything is permitted.

In psychology, such personalities are deemed as morbose and it’s contagious. Brainwashing, inculcation and persuasion  strategies uniform the members, rendering them into one dimensional personalities. Members of FETO and similar organizations always have strong reaction mechanisms; what I mean by this mechanism is that there is a discrepancy between how they appear and what they actually are. Then, lets ask the question again: did the FETO leader and his followers lose their innocence after December 17-25 and July 15? It’s apparent that this organization that employs and encourages dissimulation has used a different language while they speak with pious people, Kemalists, and with a fellow member. This means innocence never existed.

The July 15 resistance is a milestone

There is another question to ask: why does Turkey suffer a coup or a coup attempt, which is backed by external powers, every 10-15 years? The answer should be sought in terms such as trauma, instability and discontinuity. The 1960 military coup traumatized our grandfathers, 1980 coup traumatized our fathers, February 28, 1997, coup traumatized ourselves and the July 15 coup attempt traumatized our children. Could these traumatized generations attempt to develop the country, build a civilization or challenge imperialism and capitalism? They can hardly do it anymore. Due to political instability, development is interrupted. In turn, his interruption creates transitional periods, wasting generations in a decade or so. What needs to be done is clear; we need to be politically stable and achieve continuity in development.

In his book “The Foundations of Civilization,” Will Durant insistently underscores the importance of a resolute state structure, political stability and economic order. Durant also expresses that religion and morality along with advanced scientific researches, literature and arts are indispensable elements of a civilization. It’s high time that we leave our traumas behind, achieve development and stability, and rebuild our civilization. The heinous July 15 coup attempt taught us that coups are history in this country. Nevertheless, the state should be equally distanced from either secular or religious organizations and should try to pull them towards legitimate grounds. Why? “Too much trust is too much indeed,” says Shakespeare.

The Turkish government had commenced to negotiate with the PKK in order to resolve the most prominent issue that it inherited since the very first years of the Republic: the “Kurdish issue”. As a result of Erdoğan’s initiative in 2009, negotiations between the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the PKK started. After a while, transcripts of proceedings between MIT and the PKK in Oslo were published in a daily. At the time, nobody knew that these were leaked by FETO, which had infiltrated the state and established a parallel structure over 40 years. Only two things were known about this organization then: firstly, it was a religious congregation with a significant financial power that opened schools all around the world and possessed multiple media outlets and business associations. Secondly, they had racist tendencies towards Kurds that were made apparent by their media outlets and speeches by Fetullah Gülen.

Known for being comparatively more sensitive towards Islam than western parts of Turkey, not many in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions really liked Gülen’s congregation due to their racist tendencies. Moreover, the majority of Kurds who still preserved the medrese and dergah traditions (traditional educational and religious institutions) inherited from the Ottomans didn’t perceive the said congregation as “religious” and didn’t find its leader’s residence in the US ordinary. Even though FETO infiltrated the bureaucracy, military and universities in the region, they were only able to gain a few followers among the people.

On February 7, 2012, during the early hours of the day, a news flash: Istanbul’s Specially Authorized Prosecutor Sadrettin Sarıkaya who was conducting an investigation into the PKK-linked KCK organization, requested MIT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan to come to the courthouse on Thursday. I have to repeat this as it isn’t a situation that could be comprehended at the first. Try to think of this event occurring in the UK. The then Prime Minister Erdoğan and his government initiates a reconciliation and peace process and a prosecutor in Istanbul calls the head of MIT to the courthouse as a suspect!

http://thenewturkey.org/fetos-civil-administrators-and-their-trips-abroad-before-the-coup-attempt/

Istanbul’s Specially Authorized Prosecutor Sadrettin Sarıkaya personally called MIT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan, former Undersecretary Emre Taner, former Deputy Undersecretary Afet Güneş and two other former MIT employees and demanded they give statements as a part of the KCK investigations. The prosecutor was accusing Fidan and his colleagues of having committed a crime for being part of the negotiations with the PKK in Oslo. There was another interesting situation. On the same day, the Prime Minister was in Istanbul to undergo a medical operation, which the public did not know about. However, due to security concerns, the time of the operation was changed. For this reason, when Hakan Fidan called the Prime Minister he was able to talk with him. Erdoğan sensed something foul about the situation and told Fidan not to go to the courthouse and give a statement. Even though Erdoğan said on TV after the incident, “They would first arrest the head of MIT and then me. I had authorized the head of MIT. So, they should personally call me to the courthouse”, nobody – with the exception of those who were interested in the Kurdish issue – cared much about this statement. It was widely known that the prosecutor was close to FETO. However, the incident was perceived by many as the group’s exaggerated sensitivity towards the Kurdish issue rather than a Gülenist attack on Erdoğan and the state.

The Gezi Park incidents in June 2013 followed this event. The protests were initially started by people whose concerns were environmental and who objected to a construction project that was to take place in a park in Taksim. Yet, it didn’t stay as a protest by environmentalists. After a little while Kemalists, later joined by the Alevis, joined the protests alleging that “their lifestyle was under threat.” It became apparent that FETO had a finger in this incident. Gülen and his organization tried to provoke the protesters with their associates within the police force through the use of violence. Zekeriya Öz, a fugitive Gülenist and a former prosecutor, tweeted the following on this subject: “If the PKK had participated in the Gezi Park protests, those who are governing now wouldn’t be in their seats. I don’t know who ordered them, but the PKK didn’t join.”

There were other prominent Gülenists that were trying to spark new conflicts by provoking the protesters that were completely organized over social media. For instance, a renowned Gülenist fugitive Emre Uslu, who now lives in the US, tweeted that PKK militants turned a car over which had female passengers with headscarves in Maltepe, Istanbul (however, such an event didn’t transpire). Efforts to evolve street protests into a civil war through constant provocations were apparent. While Gülen’s media outlets openly supported the Gezi Park protests, the Gülenists changed their tune towards the end when a group in İzmir vandalized their school. Participating in the Gezi Park protests with various reasons and motives, the majority of the youth seemed unaware of this effort to exploit the situation.

We started to hear that a new wave of street protests similar to the Gezi Park protests were to take place in November. These could’ve been just a rumor, of course. Still, I had heard this from an academic who lived in the US and from a journalist that had ties with FETO. The Gülenist journalist had said “I don’t know if 10 or 15 soldiers will be killed, but something will happen and Erdoğan will go.”

6 months after the Gezi Park protests, on January 9, 2013, three women including Sakine Cansız, who was one of the founders of the PKK and who supported the peace process, were killed at the Kurdish Information Bureau in Paris. These killings took place right after the government announced that they were negotiating with Abdullah Öcalan for the resolution of the Kurdish issue. This incident pitted the two sides against each other. It was a sensitive and fragile issue as after all there were negotiations with a terrorist organization and the Turkish public’s top enemy Abdullah Öcalan. The person who was caught by French security forces had a trace of gunpowder on his coat. His name was announced as Ömer Güney. According to the information gathered from the French security forces, Güney was close with the terrorist organization to an extent that he could be deemed a PKK sympathizer. This information consolidated the theories that it was an intra-organizational execution. There was great outrage and this outrage poured onto the street. The funeral of Cansiz in Diyarbakır was attended by tens of thousands of people.

Eleven months after the murder, the December 17-25 operation that was conducted by the Gülenists within the judiciary, security forces and media aiming to depose the government with the accusation that it was corrupt took place. For the first time, regardless of their political views, all witnessed and became aware of the intimidating operational capacity of FETO. During those days, Gülenist media outlets started to spread disinformation that MIT was responsible for the murder in Paris. Moreover, they alleged that Ömer Güney was actually a member of MIT. Yet, almost nobody cared about this subject as there were more pressing issues present.

In January 2014, PKK-affiliate KCK stated that the murder of the three women was carried out by FETO’s members within the state and that Ömer Güney was actively engaged with Gülenists. Ömer Güney, who was to be tried after a two-year long investigation by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, was taken to a hospital for an ailment in his brain. In January, just one month before his trial, he died. It was later discovered that Ömer Güney was visited by three individuals from Turkey and that those individuals were FETO members.

Then, the terrible event known as the Kobane incident took place. Using Daesh’s attack on Kobane and the alleged inaction by Turkey as excuses, the leader of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş and his colleagues called for countrywide streets protests on October 7. I said to myself “this must be the second Gezi Park protest that was being discussed.” Protesters built barricades and engaged with the security forces. 50 died and 682, 139 of them police officers, were wounded. 1,113 buildings, including 25 district governor offices, 67 police headquarters and 29 political party offices, were damaged.

One of FETO’s media outlets, Zaman Daily’s Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı visiting Diyarbakır’s Mayor Gülten Kışanak and their open support for HDP while the aforementioned events were taking place were intriguing. When news of the visits by HDP deputy Ahmet Türk and former HDP deputy Nazmi Gür’s paid to Fetullah Gülen in 2014 in Pennsylvania was heard, it astonished many. There were many news pieces on FETO providing intelligence to the PKK and deciphering the code names of state operatives within the PKK. How the PKK dug trenches in many cities, especially in Diyarbakır, in order to start a war despite the people’s objections was made clear after the July 15 coup attempt. The FETO-member military officers and pilots bombed the Parliament with F-16s that flew from Diyarbakır. FETO militants did whatever they could to both provoke the public and enable the PKK.

Two years after these events two HDP deputies, one of them in prison, made two statements. These two statements are unprecedented, considering HDP’s disposition in the last two years. In his interview with journalist Ruşen Çakır, HDP deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder said the following: “October 6-8 Kobane events might have never taken place, because the ‘prevalent state perspective’ [AK Party] was foreseeing solidarity with Kobane. I will be extremely clear about this; the said solidarity was obstructed by FETO-affiliated generals whose roles in the July 15 coup attempt is apparent. They put an extreme pressure on Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. Now, generals who commanded the units in Sur, Nusaybin and Cizre are being tried as the perpetrators of the coup attempt. I have seen how these generals obstructed the solidarity between Turkey and Kobane-Rojava.”

Accused of “being a member of a terrorist organization,” “inciting to commit crime” and “inciting the public to unlawful meeting and demonstration,” HDP deputy Ayhan Bilgen made a similar statement very recently during the session of his trial at Diyarbakır 5^th Heavy Penal Court:

“October 6-8 was a demonstration of a civil war in this country. Who incited these conflicts must be investigated thoroughly. It should be investigated whether these were the same people who wanted to depose the elected government on July 15.”

The fog of war is slowly fading, yet unfortunately it isn’t possible to talk about a social base that would support the reiteration of a peace process, not in the short-term. FETO is an important component of this issue and so is the PKK. How these two terrorist organizations came together after years and their role in all that transpired must also be taken into account.

Being a dervish is a crown of dignity, a mark of untarnished morality. Sufism offers nothing but modesty. Modesty is centered around the humbleness of astaghfirullah (may the Almighty forgive me). Despite Yunus Emre’s saying, whilst having so many possessions troubles of the heart won’t go away, the former congregation and the current Gülenists (FETO members) buried its secretive facet into the cold waters of politics, while shedding its mystical facet by becoming a social phenomenon.

They overlook the fact that everyone has the ability to think, but only a fraction has the ability to reason. Those who have a mind that learns the moral of the story will have a falling out with the people. They don’t feel the need to ask where the vessel they’re on is bound to; they don’t pay any attention to the fact that those who’ve asked never boarded the vessel. They don’t care about whom the true reigns belong to. They never think that some stations don’t and won’t accept dominance. The Gülenists aspire to everything, yet they never take responsibility for what they aspire to.

They make a mountain out of a molehill and an ocean out of a drop. They act in accordance with the expression keep your friends close and your enemies closer. They seek for a road in a road-forsaken land. They laugh at the renowned couplet Our own water and bread crumb is better than worldly possession / Our own corner in a ruin is better than a stranger’s mansion. They turn a deaf ear to the saying to know another, one should know oneself.

Being others, they never find a chance to be themselves. They submit their yokes to another’s hand. When malevolence becomes concentrated, it leaves no room for benevolence. Consequently, Gülenists turn into storeowners that drop the price towards the sunset. Whichever order addresses your malice, that is your order; whichever disposition humors you, that is your disposition is the expression they embody. Order is replaced by disposition. They never put their cards on the table. They wear a different face while talking to each individual or to each group. They try to manage all facets simultaneously. Hypocrisy is their keyword.

They are the incarnation of Voltaire’s saying “duplicity is the virtue of the cowardly”. While building the metaphysics of imposture, they establish friendly relations on toxication and intoxication. Their revenues never meet their expenditure. They sow wheat, but reap the straw. They transform everything to anything. As they don’t abstain from acting both like believers and deniers, what they spell out is neither a word, nor carries any meaning. They don’t believe that lifestyle determines the thought and that the thought determines the lifestyle. They trade the truth for a figment and the figment for the truth. They ravage the virtue of wisdom. They fulfill the saying nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught.

Thoughts and actions don’t guide their words. Gülenists know politics by heart. They use Islam for negotiation. Moreover, they sow the seeds of infidelity in the soil of Islam. They spread a word and then try to gather them from others. They never think that all they hold dear will crumble when they distribute the concept of justice to their own members. They embrace the saying may eyes that cry for others be blinded. They turn a blind eye to the fact that there is no greater recommendation than merit. They never want to remember that the world turns because of justice and that those who don’t comply with justice will pay the price when the righteous wrath of the Almighty is incurred.

They don’t want to be reminded that the unjust will be brought to justice by being given a punishment on par with the injustice they have caused, thus everyone will get their just dues. Gülenists act in a way that enables the downfall of the state just to depose those who they perceive as opposition. While they should be the last in a line of succession, they try to be the first. They create such an image of the country that allows foreign inspection and supervision. They render the sphere of congregations and religious orders unreliable and incredible. It is the story of a crumbling ideal. Words and promises lose their value. Every confession becomes a deceit. The sayings of Walter Benjamin and Dostoyevsky, “there is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism” and “have you noticed that it is the most civilized gentlemen who have been the subtlest slaughterers” respectively, are once again confirmed.

Even though the tail always wants to wag the dog in every era, the fire of sedition will have to be extinguished with the water that has tempered the sword of politics. The state demonstrates that its power is something to be reckoned with; “a ferocious murderer could be sentenced by a cowardly judge and hanged by a Romani.” Hence, it’s revealed that what is assumed as a power is the very weakness itself; once again, it is once again realized that those who overreach their position will be doomed to annihilation. It is reiterated that the traditions of an adolescent congregation can never destroy the millennia-old tradition of the state and the ties to the state can never be encompassed by ties to a faction.

It will be seen that the state isn’t a sword that could be wielded by any singular faction. It will be inscribed into history that the future of those movements which don’t use Turkey as a yardstick is non-existent. It will be reminded to all around which center the system revolves. It will be once again demonstrated that peace will be maintained by preparing for war and distinguishing those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Let’s end it all with a couplet by Müstakimzâde: “A stranger wouldn’t know the savor of a conversation with the beloved/Would one converse with another if their beloved was truly loved”.

Even if Fetullah Gülen did not examine and take after Hassan-i Sabbah and his Hashashin – which is very possible – it’s definite that he uses the same strategy and methods in his campaign for power veiled by religion. Some may argue that they don’t share any similarities as Sabbah and the Hashashin are known for their zealotry and for coining the term “assassin” for the Western civilization; however, the Hashashin weren’t only an association for assassins that killed just for profit. Indeed, as it has been underscored by many articles written on Gülen’s organization, the Hashashin were attributed with many terms such as state, cult, faction, sect, order, organization, movement or a school in the historical literature. As multifaceted organizations, they are inevitably seen in different – contradictory, even – lights.

While Sabbah vied for power with its da’is (who invites people to a cause) who appeared like dervishes that were sent from Alamut Castle to the Seljuk Empire, Gülen sought to possess power through his “Hizmet volunteers” that first originated from Erzurum and then from Pennsylvania. Gülen is more successful than Sabbah in terms of conveying synchronized messages to his followers and using various overt and covert systems simultaneously. On one hand, he tries to overthrow the state by establishing another state within it, on the other hand, his organization appears like a civil society movement that peacefully spreads their belief. They seem the same!

Hassan Sabbah’s base of operations, Alamut Castle, which was used against the Seljuk Empire, was built at a fortified location, on a mountain with an altitude over 2,000 meters. According to some reports, Sabbah didn’t leave his room much, let alone the castle, until his death in 1124. Historians extract that Sabbah would devote much of his time to reading and writing and that he maintained his appearance as an ascetic throughout his life. Even now, when you google Fetullah Gülen’s name, you may find hundreds of articles in numerous languages about his tolerance, intellectual capacity and piety.

While the Hashashin captured the Alamut Castle and its surroundings through various trickeries, Gülen and his so-called Hizmet Movement captured the metaphorical castles in Turkey (and also many other countries) following the same methods with success. The Hashashin benefited from the lack of an intelligence organization in the Seljuk Empire; Gülenists, on the other hand, infiltrated the most confidential state institutions of Turkey, especially the Turkish army, and festered over the years.

The Hashashin were divided into five segments; similarly, Gülen’s organization also has a strict hierarchy. As it was the case with the Hashashin, Gülenists conducted their operations through an organization based on “imams”; there were imams for each city, district, neighborhood and even occupation. While the Hashashin served at houses to propagate their belief and recruit new members, Gülenists served at the so-called “light/radiant houses” for 40 years. “Hizmet volunteers”, just like da’is, befriended young people, engaged with them at evening talks and lastly invited them to the cause. Analogous to the Hashashin, the Gülenists also forced the member who vowed secrecy to pay a regular fee correlated with their income. Unlike the case of the Hashashin, becoming a member of an organization in Turkey was a great advantage. Gülenists were unrestricted and unbound, so to speak; regardless of occupation, it meant you had a free pass.

Even though Gülenists were affiliated with certain assassinations in Turkey, the most important being the assassination of journalist Hrant Dink who was of Armenian descent, many weren’t convinced. Yet, as Turkey experienced on the night of July 15, the Gülenists’ target was President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, similar to the Hashashin’s assassination of their greatest enemy, Seljuk Vizier Nizam al-Mulk. Just like the zealots of Sabbah, Gülenists lived an inconspicuous life and waited for decades to receive an order.

The Hashashin were known for their ability to blend in and do whatever the situation necessitates. According to the occasion, they dressed like sufis, beggars, the rich or scholars. Indeed, Nizam al-Mulk was killed by an assassin that dressed like a sufi. On the other hand, the Hashashin didn’t assassinate only prominent figures and state officials; they also killed anyone who were a perceived threat or opposed them. Unlike Sabbah and his zealots, Gülen and his followers also resorted to character assassination. They have carried out these character assassinations through various means: by employing their own media outlets to commit slander, by blackmailing, plotting against individuals or plainly threatening their targets.

Austrian orientalist Joseph von Hammer’s description of the Hashashin (1818) also accurately describes the contemporary Gülenist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ): “… that union of impostors and dupes which, under the mask of a more austere creed and severer morals, undermined all religion and morality; that order of murderers, beneath whose daggers the lords of nations fell; all powerful, because, for the space of three centuries, they were universally dreaded, until the den of ruffians fell with the caliphate, to whom, as the centre of spiritual and temporal power it had at the outset sworn destruction, and by whose ruins it was itself overwhelmed.”

As it can be traced from Gülen’s books and his followers’ discourses, they were defending a conservative, orthodox Islam and were nationalist to the degree of being racist against Kurds during the first 20 years. Gülen, at the time, was a religious leader who criticized Turkey’s ultra-secular policies and had rigid rules about the interactions and relations between men and women. Moreover, he was abasing the West, defining it as the source of all evil and the devil himself.

Regarding this discourse, conservative circles believed Gülen headed a run-of-the-mill religious congregation in the Middle East. Gülenists’ practice of taqiyya (deception) – that they hid their beliefs and acted like Kemalists, leftists or Alevis – wasn’t unknown to conservative circles, if they didn’t hide it, it would be impossible for them to exist within the judiciary, police force and bureaucracy. They were living a double life perforce.

Their deception wasn’t a secret to Kemalists as well. The Kemalists’ approach was a bit different. They believed the Gülen Movement was a part of the US’ moderate Islam project; however, they thought that Gülenists were only acting like moderates. In reality, Kemalists thought, that they would one day execute a revolution like Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran and overthrow the regime in Turkey. Hence, after the investigation by the Chief Public Prosecutor of Ankara State Security Court in 1999, a trial against Gülen was commenced on August 22, 2000 with the charge of attempting to overthrow the secular regime and to instate theocracy. Yet, Gülen was long gone; he left for the US in March, 1999.

Gülen’s anti-Western discourse faded when he stepped foot in the US. The evil West turned into the holy West. He had to appeal to the Western public opinion; otherwise, financial resources and the schools he commanded to be opened in all around the world, including the US and Europe, would be at peril. For the West, this international organization was reminiscent of sects like Moon and Scientology; however, at the same time, it had an Islamic appearance. Especially after 9/11, it wasn’t easy to exist in the West. Gülen would adopt a new discourse after going to the US, insomuch as including the following section in his book titled “Fasıldan Fasıla 5 (Chapter by Chapter V)”:

If they told me at the gates of Heaven that the East and the West merged without losing their own particularities and are in complete harmony, I would consider it as one of the greatest tidings I was given in this life.

In another of his statements, he became more than a religious figure who thought about hell and heaven. Even though Gülen became a subject of investigations by security forces, prosecutors and secret services of the US and Germany, he was able to influence public opinion successfully.

With his positive discourse about the West and the permission for university students with headscarves to “remove their headscarves,” he also won the hearts of secular circles in Turkey. Those who were previously suspicious about Gülen started to follow the way of the former Prime Minister and the Democratic Left Party Chairman Bülent Ecevit (Gülen and Ecevit always held each other in high esteem) and trusted Gülen. After all, Gülen and his followers “weren’t threatening; moreover, they were acting in the interest of the nation and the state, as they were teaching children abroad the Turkish language in their schools.”

Even though it’s a bit late, today everybody is aware that Gülen is targeting Turkey, just like the Hashashin targeted the Seljuk Empire. Yet, could they have other aims? Prof. Dr. Hilmi Demir, who has been conducting research on Gülen for 20 years, has investigated Gülen’s statements in his books. What does the reincarnated Hassan-i Sabbah say? Those who are suspicious about it should read Gülen’s books, listen to his recordings and see what he says. For instance, in a book he says the following:

“Time is definitely ticking away in our interest. We may be lacking certain dimensions, aspects at the moment; however, one can predict how a fetus will grow in its mother’s womb. Our situation is similar to that. Labor is drawing near seemingly. Reconciliation of hearts is important in this matter. If not today, tomorrow a congregation has to seize the power of this world from those who are irresponsible.”*

“… one of the most important issues is to know the enemy very well. This is only possible through a functional intelligence organization. (…) While getting to know the enemy through a perfectly functional intelligence organization, we should not allow the enemy do the same to us!”*

“Then, those who embrace the future should become a footman for it, instead of waiting the time to come. So, when the future comes, it could take the lead of the army.”*

There’re many other instances of these kind of statements directly quoted from Gülen’s own book called Fasıldan Fasıla I (“Chapter by Chapter I” in English); so, you should read them and reach a conclusion. What affair does a religious congregation have with intelligence, who holds the power of this world and why would a congregation aim to possess this power? Maybe Turkey isn’t their only target!

* M. Fethullah Gülen, Fasıldan Fasıla 1 (İzmir: Nil Yayınları, 1996).

Men claiming to be the Messiah or the Mahdi – including Fetullah Gülen – are not a new phenomenon.  Since the earliest decades of Islam, many have built a following around them, using charisma and exploiting societal and political upheaval to convince followers they are the promised saviors, and their community is destined to herald the final utopia before the current world ends. Faruk Yaslıçimen talked with Dr. Ahmet Yaşar Ocak, professor of History at TOBB University of Economics and Technology, about the striking commonalities between modern day “Messiahs” and the phenomenon seen throughout centuries. Prof. Ocak is a prominent historian with his numerous pioneering books and articles on Islamic heterodoxy and heterodox communities in the Ottoman Empire.

---

Prof. Ocak, you believe that there are common characteristics of Messianic movements in history. How far can we take this? Can you give us a few examples?

Messianic movements usually emerge under similar conditions and with similar characteristics. Historical trajectories both in the West and East attest to this. One should keep in mind that any attempt to understand such Messianic movements by focusing merely on ideology and theology would be incomplete. These movements are, indeed, the products of their time and political, social, economic, cultural, ideological as well as geographical factors play their roles. Messianism is actually a mentality that was largely created by these conditions.

I should emphasize that one should search for theological and political explanations only after studying the sociological and psychological dimensions of these movements and their leaders in detail.

Do you think Messianic movement can be categorized?

Well, actually it is possible to categorize these movements into two groups: in the first group, there are Messianic movements that result from political and economic strains. In the second group, we see such movements emerging out of political ambitions. Messianic movements are found not only in the Islamic world or in the pre-modern societies, but also today, in any part of the world. These movements are closely linked to several political, sociological, economic, and ideological factors and have many characteristics in common. To give but a few examples, almost all the leaders of the Messianic movements in history argued that the existing order was corrupt and the political leader was unjust and cruel. These Messianic figures claimed themselves as the creators of the fair and ideal socio-political order.

Well, how does this process work in practice?

There are several ways. A self-claimed Mahdi might see himself as the chosen one, entrusted with the mission to cure prevalent socio-political crises, and imposes this idea on those around him. He sometimes sincerely puts forward some suggestions to construct his ideal society. Messianic figures may also engineer a systematic propaganda mechanism to satisfy their political ambitions. Some of them perpetuated this propaganda very successfully, with incredible methods. That’s exactly where the problem begins. Why does a person claim to be a “Mahdi” and how does he become a candidate for solving the problems he believes exist and formulate his propaganda accordingly?

You have mentioned earlier a socio-psychological factor.

Yes, I think it is possible to explain this factor in two stages. In the first stage, the person who puts forward the claim of being a Mahdi questions the troubles that he had experienced in his inner world, thinks about their reasons, and finally finds the political authority responsible for all the troubles. In the second stage, he starts believing that he is the one chosen by a divine power to end injustice. It is this two-stage process that we call the “socio-psychological factor.” What one needs to be aware of here is that this process leads the individual with the mindset of the “Mahdi” to an inevitable psychological position.

I wonder, which individuals come to your mind first in this regard?

Several such figures emerged in almost the same manner in the Islamic world and in Europe.

The case of Baba İlyas is one of them. To put it briefly, one begins to believe that he is responsible for removing injustices. Or, as in the second group of Mahdi movements I mentioned earlier, the politically-motivated Mahdi acts as if he is the one chosen by the divine power to offer a remedy to the prevailing problems. He believes in his mission and begins to convince the others.

There are several Mahdis in history that achieved their aims. The oldest messianic claim in the Islamic world, for instance, was put forward by Muhtar es-Sakafi, who rivaled the Umayyad power in 684. He aimed to satisfy his political ambition and became a headache for the Umayyad government.

As you can see, there are similar psychological factors in the first and second group of the Messianic movements. To be able to understand these factors correctly, we must have recourse to psychological analysis, which is largely lacking in Turkish historical studies. As far as I know psychological biographies of historical figures and political leaders – except for a work on Atatürk – have not received the attention they deserve in Turkey.

Do we have any example of messianic movements, which emerged in Anatolia?

Of course, the Babai revolt, which took place in 13th Century Seljuk Anatolia under the leadership of Baba İlyas, is a typical example of these movements. I studied this revolt for my doctoral dissertation and looked into what were the main motivations for people who took part in the revolt. I asked the question of why Baba İlyas and his followers felt the need for opposing the political authority in such a self-sacrificing manner. Historical accounts in our hands indicate that Baba İlyas sincerely believed that God guided him. There were several reasons behind his revolt: the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Gıyasettin Keyhüsrev II’s unfair and incompetent administration, oppression of the Turkmens, and heavy taxation. The revolt started when a tax collector insulted Baba İlyas in Adıyaman. Another typical and tragic example, which the leftist circles in Turkey are more concerned with, is the revolt of Shaykh Bedreddin in 1416 during the early Ottoman period.

So, what were the fates of Baba İlyas and Sheikh Bedreddin?

When we look at the historical accounts, it seems that Baba İlyas really believed that God appointed him. He sincerely believed Gıyasettin Keyhüsrev II was a cruel ruler, that his government must be overthrown, and that it was himself who would do it. When Amasya was besieged by the Seljuk forces, Baba İlyas received a fatal wound between his shoulders. He felt he was dying. When people around him asked, “Why are you injured and about to die although you told us that you are immortal,” he said, “I will consult with God and ask why this misfortune has come to us.” Baba İlyas died in seclusion. His followers did not find his body immediately. They chose to believe that he did not die but went into the presence of Allah to bring help to them. They continued to fight until their last strength. The same process also took place in the revolt of Sheikh Bedreddin.

Then what happened?

The Seljuk forces found the body of Baba İlyas, they desecrated it, dangling it over the walls of the city. Their goal was to convince the Turkmens to believe that Baba İlyas died and thus to put an end to the revolt. In the case of Sheikh Bedreddin, his opponents hanged him at Serez in front of his disciples.

Let me remind you here once again that the figures who initiated and directed these movements were those who sincerely believed in their missions. It is necessary to distinguish these figures from the ones who revolted against the authorities out of their political ambitions.

You mentioned that the Mahdis are usually charismatic people. How does charisma work? In what stage does the charismatic person proclaim himself as a Mahdi? When do his followers begin to believe in this claim?

Max Weber had several interesting observations on how charisma works. Suffice it to say here that charisma is partly related to the nature of the person in question. Some people have inborn reactive qualities to certain physical, behavioral, and external factors. Most importantly, they are persuasive figures. Their words and deeds have an influence on those around them. A person who believes that he is the “Mahdi” and who is regarded as such in his circles uses his charisma to increase his followers and controls them psychologically to achieve his goals. The “Mahdi” becomes ready for his mission when he feels it fully. Those people around him are already mentally ready to accept it. Of course, this is a simplified version of the events. This process is not as easy and simple as I narrate it here.

You are saying that these movements reconstructed exclusive worldviews and historical perceptions. How does this process take place? How do they build legitimization processes, rationality, and a different way of thinking, believing, and perceiving than the rest of the society?

It was the political, social, and economic turmoil and crises, which helped these movements to build their legitimacy and discourse. A disrupted socio-political order leads people to search for an idealized world. This search inevitably asks for a new worldview and a different perception of reality. It also requires a virtual sense of history based on an ideal “age of happiness” (asr-ı saadet) and a “golden age.” The so-called Mahdi and his followers focus on how to bring about this “age of happiness” in their lifetimes. This is a very strong psycho-social motivation behind the Messianic movements. Without such a strong motivation, it would be hard for the leaders of these movements to set their followers into motion.

Do these movements have primarily a political or a religious motive?

Since the aim of these movements is to remove and replace the existing political authority, which they accept as the cause of the prevailing political and socioeconomic crises, their motive primarily is a political one. To explain his cause to his followers and to ensure legitimacy for the movement, the Mahdis use religion, which is the most valid argument. Historical accounts show us that the leaders of messianic movements and their followers believed that a divine authority appointed them for a special mission. They were convinced that they would succeed in their actions with divine support. Without this belief and hope, it was impossible for these movements to emerge and pursue their claims.

Politics is starting to get into the business after a while.

Of course, their goal is to remove the political authority that they oppose, to exercise power in person, and to establish their idealized “worldly paradise.”

Do these movements have certain characteristics that are specific to the Shi’ite or the Sunni world?

Shi’ite influences and efforts of the Sufis played a great role in the spread of these movements in the Sunni world. There are many hadiths attributed to the Prophet Muhammad in this regard, but neither their chains of narration (sanad) nor their texts (matn) are authentic. These hadiths are revealed in books written after 950 AD, when the Abbasids took power. It was the same time period when the Shi’ite ideology emerged with a claim that the imamate, or the leadership, belongs to the Shi’ites. The term “imam” means here the person appointed by God to rule the society. He is an infallible figure who takes his knowledge directly from God via inspiration. According to this ideology, the imams are the deputies of the Prophet Muhammad. The Mahdi concept of the Shi’a, with all these characteristics, has a reflection in the Sunni world, especially in the mystical circles. So, there is not much difference.

You are talking about the Mahdi belief in Shi’ite…

Yes, this is the position of the Mahdi in the Shi’ite ideology. The 12th Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi, the son of the 11th Imam Hasan al-Askari, is believed to have disappeared in Samarra. It is held that he will emerge at a date close to Doomsday. Today, historical studies show us that Hasan al-Askari had never had a son. But the Shi’ite theology created a fictional 12th Imam to have an everlasting idea of the imamate in its ideology and to keep the Mahdi belief alive among the believers. Although Muhammad al-Mahdi was a person who never really existed nor ever lived, the Shi’ite doctrine chose to maintain the Mahdi belief in the form of a virtual imam.

At first, there was not any place for the idea of the Mahdi in the Sunni doctrine. With the intensification of Sufi influences in the beginning of the 10th century, however, we see the emergence of this motive in the Sunni world. Many leading Sufis such as Hâkim Tirmizi and Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi played a role in the spread of this idea. In the 14th century, Ibn Khaldun felt the necessity to point out that the idea of Mahdi was not a part of Islam and had nothing to do with it.

In fact, the origin of the term the “imam of the universe,” which was attributed to Fetullah Gülen by his disciples, has its roots in these centuries. This Shi’ite expression has become widespread among the Sunni people through mysticism.  Although there is no such thing in the Sunni doctrine, people chose to believe that a Mahdi would emerge in times of troubles. This idea was widespread both at the time of the Seljuks and the Ottomans, and to some extent, even today. From the 10th century on, people fabricated some hadiths on the emergence of the Mahdi at a date close to the end of the times. These hadiths, some which were included into collections of reliable hadiths, narrate the characteristics of the Mahdi in detail. There were and still are several Sunni scholars who have rejected these hadiths. Although this is the case, refuting the idea of Mahdi in Islam might cause trouble even today. The fanatics of this belief will immediately prepare a place for you in hell.

Do we have any example of counter-propaganda by political authorities against the Messianic movements in history? If so, what is the nature of it?

Yes, there is counter-propaganda against the messianic movements. We can give the example of Firdevsi-i Rumi in making propaganda for the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II (r. 1481-1512) in his Kutbnâme against the Şahkulu Baba Tekeli rebellion in 1511.

Şahkulu Baba Tekeli proclaimed himself as the Mahdi and rebelled against the Ottoman government. He gathered around 30-40 thousand men – there are different numbers in the chronicles – and defeated the Ottoman forces more than seven times. There was intense Shi’ite propaganda in Anatolia at that time, initiated by the newly emerged Safavid state. The belief in the Mahdi was also widespread among the Sunnis because of this propaganda. Firdevsi-i Rumi, one of the leading authors of the period, claimed that the true Mahdi was Bayezid II. He wrote his Kutbnâme to support this claim. This was a counter-movement aimed at reducing the pro-Iranian messianic movements in Anatolia to an illegitimate position in the eyes of people, thus ensuring the security of the Ottoman state. Similar movements and rebellions continued during the reign of Süleyman the Lawgiver (r. 1520-66), when the Ottoman army was enjoying great victories on the Western front. Melami circles, for instance, took an opposition stand. They engineered a different type of propaganda and implied that the Ottoman sultans were cruel, they were not able to govern the people, and their sheiks, whom they called “Qutb,” had to take over the administration. The Melami movement was, in fact, a messianic movement. Although it is hard to find it in their sources unequivocally, one needs to read between the lines to find this.

Well, does this really have anything to do with the lack of political foresight, or with the military and economic losses the state experienced at that time?

Of course, these factors played a significant role. These movements emerged after severe political, economic, and military crises. Think about the battles that the Ottomans fought on numerous fronts, in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The Ottomans were also fighting with the Safavids in the east and with the Mamluks in the south. Military activities mean a loss of money, property, and human resources. It also means that society cannot be sure of its future. The state levies extraordinarily high taxes, called avârız, on people to finance the military expeditions. It is even said that Yavuz Sultan Selim (r. 1512-20) received loans from Jewish bankers to meet the expenses of the Egypt campaign. These initiatives created a disturbance among the people.

The tax issue is very important. The heavy taxes that the Seljukids demanded from the Turkmens also created an important reason for the Babai to revolt. It is known that the Turkmens were not willing to pay taxes throughout history. If you impose extra taxes during a war to meet military expenses, it will spark a further reaction. The propaganda of the Shi’ite Safavids and the heavy taxes caused a series of messianic rebellions during the reign of Suleiman the Lawgiver. As historian Cornell Fleischer said, some Ottoman intellectuals engaged in propaganda on behalf of the Ottoman Sultan, saying he was the true Mahdi, to suppress these revolts.

How did the society react to this claim?

It is possible to argue that people accepted this claim. The historical sources, however, do not provide us many details of their reaction.

The sultans are considered “blessed” people. Does it have anything to do with it?

Yes, these two are related. Since the Middle Ages, Turkish rulers were seen as divinely blessed. It is written in the Orkhon inscriptions that “Bilge Kagan, who found kut [favor] in the blue sky.” According to the pre-Islamic Turkish tradition, God blesses the ruler. The one blessed by God has the right to rule. Other members of the dynasty have no such right. That is the reason people had not interfered with the power struggle among princes in Turkish history. Turkish princes had their support base among bureaucrats and soldiers, not laypeople, since laypeople believe that whoever God wills, it is he who will rule. Tursun Bey also refers to this belief in his Tarih-i Ebu’l-Feth. Whoever wins, that is the will of God. Obeying him is, therefore, considered obedience to God.

If we talk about the present, do you think that Fetullah Gülen’s case is the most recent messianic movement in the Islamic world?

We know that Gülen has received his early education and training in the Nur movement (also called Nurculuk). As an academic working on religious movements, I was following the publications of various religious circles in the 1980’s. It was at that time when I read Said-i Nursi’s Sikke-i Tasdik-i Gaybi and understood that Said-i Nursi, the founder of the Nur movement, had a belief in the Mahdi. I also listened to and watched some the sermons of Gülen – I even owned around 10 cassettes belonging to him – I wanted to know and to get an idea of this movement. Although his sermons gained popularity in the 80’s, I never believed in the sincerity of Gülen. Some television stations used to broadcast his sermons. I carefully watched these sermons and examined his gestures. It seems to me that he was doing theater. He was crying and acting hectically and in a tumultuous way.

On the other hand, Gülen has his own charisma. What does this mean for his alleged Mahdism?

Gülen is a charismatic figure and I think we should mention him in the first group of Mahdis. In other words, Gülen is a sincere believer in his mission. He claims that he communicates with the Prophet and even with God. Remember the case of the Babais I mentioned earlier. Baba İlyas too claimed that he was having a conversation with God. Gülen was able to gather around hundreds of thousands people due to the rigid Kemalist government, which pushed religious people to look for ways to survive or, better, to find ways of ending the cruelty. These were the main political and sociological factors that prepared the ground for Gülen’s messianic movement. Then come the other factors, like the personal one, I mean the one related with the leadership of the movement.

Recently, Gülen was claimed to be a Sabataist, actually a crypto-Muslim disguising his Jewish faith and that his Messianic mission was linked to this culture. You know, such claims are occasionally made and it’s not possible to prove them. Yet, it is well-known that when Sabbatai Zevi, founder of the Sabbatean movement and claimed to be the long–awaited Jewish Messiah, appeared in the 17th century during the time of Sultan Mehmed IV, he was able to find many followers from Ottoman Jews. Zevi disguised his Jewish faith by pretending to be a Muslim and there is an abundant literature and information, both speculative and scholarly, on Sabataists in the Ottoman Empire.

Do you see it as a kind of schizophrenia that the leaders of such movements have?

I do not know that. But when we look at the other examples in history, it is possible to argue that these types of Mahdis are usually schizophrenic.

How?

For example, they say that “the Prophet came to me tonight, I chatted with him, and he said to me this and that,” or “Khidr came to visit me after the Isha prayer,” “Khidr performed the Isha prayer behind me,” etc. We can give many other examples: “After performing the Fajr prayer Khidr took me with him. I traveled with him through the seven skies. On the first level, I chatted with the Prophet Moses. On the second level, I chatted with the Prophet Idris.”

Many Sufi sources, particularly the hagiographies, are full of these and other similar stories. In some modern publications, the Prophet Idris was portrayed as a Qutb rose to the second heaven to command all the celestial / empyrean affairs. Some studies refer to the God Thoth in ancient Egypt as the figure who has the power and privilege of commanding the celestial affairs. These studies establish similarities between him and the Prophet Idris.

In short, there is a need for creating a “Mahdi” typology based on examples in history. While doing it, we should do historical, theological, sociological, and especially psychological analysis and put them into good use. I think this is an important job not only to understand what happened in history, but also to understand similar cases today.

Thank you very much Prof. Ocak for this very illuminating interview.

Fethullah Gülen’s seemingly Islamic modern cult emerged in such an environment and spread over the years. He claimed to be a follower of Said-i Nursi, who Gülen never visited because he was a Kurd, as Gülen states in his own memoirs of youth, and was seemingly fighting against communism during the Cold War. Using the prestigious name of the persecuted Said-i Nursi, Gülen persuaded both Turks and Kurds that he was working for the benefit of Islam. Even though Gülen’s movement was criticized by other religious congregations for its depreciatory approach towards them and isolation from even the other disciples of Said-i Nursi, it was received rather well by both the society and the state.

Gülen supported and praised all military coups aiming to restore Turkey to its “factory settings” and preserve the status quo.

Gülen supported and praised all military coups aiming to restore Turkey to its “factory settings” and preserve the status quo. When the strictly secular Army deposed Erbakan and his government in 1997, Gülen praised what came to be known as the post-modern coup. Despite the harsh criticism of certain Islamic groups, some of the Muslims who weren’t followers of Gülen also believed that he was forced to make such statements against his own belief due to Turkey’s political environment.

Relocating to the US in 1999 and becoming famous for his schools all around the world, Gülen didn’t face any hardships after 9/11, which was suspicious for some, but not for the whole. Alongside conferences on interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance, Gülen started to pose as an admirer of Rumi and write about him, a strategy for the consumption of a Western audience; just like using Said-i Nursi had been for a Turkish audience. Even though the Rumi Center in the US was obviously named after Rumi, it was always Gülen’s name that was being propagated.

While certain individuals of the Kemalist Left in Turkey claimed that the Gülen Movement was a project of the US against the USSR in the Cold War, their allegations weren’t taken into consideration as these individuals opposed all religious groups.

So, the question is how the members of the Gülen Movement were able to infiltrate the most secular institution, the Army, to an extent to even attempt a military coup in a country that was ultra-secular until the near past? Against the practices of military school administrators, who examined the knees of young applicants to find and eliminate the ones that prayed regularly, Gülen advised his followers to do whatever is necessary, not to pray, and to drink alcohol, the end goal being to enter these military schools. Gülen and his followers used the same methods to infiltrate the judiciary, academia and the media.

Gülen advised his followers to do whatever is necessary, not to pray, and to drink alcohol, the end goal being to enter these military schools.

From the 1970s onward, they infiltrated every ideological movement in Turkey’s sociological structure, while concealing their true beliefs. None was aware of this function of the Gülen Movement; moreover, not every member was aware of each other. The truth is that they had become a widespread organization which was able to reach the elites of countries through their schools, media outlets, holdings and relief organizations. When the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power after weathering multiple storms (Erdoğan’s sentence, two trials to close the party down, the opposition of the whole media), the party was forced to open the door to this organization by assuming that at least they wouldn’t have any issue with their Muslim identity, unlike the Kemalist-secular ideology dominating the state. “Give them an inch and they will take a mile,” as the saying goes, but this wasn’t known at the time.

This seemingly Islamic modern and armed cult first revealed its true face, even if a little, while Turkey and the PKK were engaged in the reconciliation process. Targeting the process, Gülen started an operation through his members within the judiciary to make the head of the National Intelligence Organization stand trial for his role in the negotiations. However, first with the events of December 17-25, 2013 they tried to depose the government by claiming that it was corrupt, and then with the July 15 coup attempt, the organization was completely deciphered. Since then, Turkey has been working on cleansing the institutions of Gülenists and analyzing this cult.

Social scientists, political scientists and psychiatrists’ association are all trying to analyze and explain the leader and the members of this cult according to their own specializations. These analyses are one of the hottest topics in the media and everyone is trying to understand the organization. “Why did my arrogant but helpful neighbor change immensely after the coup attempt?” “They were our relatives and we knew their son was a Gülenist. However, we were shocked when we saw him on TV, among the putschists.” “Two sons stopped seeing their own mother as she is against Gülen, I really don’t understand it”. “The man [a Gülenist] fired his weapon and killed two people right before our eyes. Then recited bismillah before drinking water and then said that the ones he killed just moments ago went to heaven. What kind of a person does this and says that?” These are the questions that have emerged, which puzzle people when they are trying to understand the organization.

“The man [a Gülenist] fired his weapon and killed two people right before our eyes. Then recited bismillah before drinking water.”

I spoke to one of my friends, who was sentenced and was a member of a far left organization in the 1970s. “I know almost all kinds of leftist organizations around the world. We grew and lived within these organizations. Yet, I have never seen an organization giving its member an order, saying ‘you will stand here for 20 years and when the time comes, you will emerge’, let alone hearing of this order being carried out,” he said in utter bewilderment.

The members of this organization, with the instructions of their leader, stole the examination questions to infiltrate state institutions and became prosecutors, judges and teachers by usurping the rights of many thousands. Any threats to their organization were eliminated by slandering them, covering these slanders on their news channels, sentencing them via prosecutors and judges who are their members, and upholding their sentences in the higher courts once again with their own members. When they couldn’t achieve this, they sought vulnerabilities of these people to exploit and blackmail. Moreover, the members were ordered by their leader to “criticize or slander Gülen,” otherwise they may be exposed. Each and every one of them had experienced being untouchable.

They went from ultranationalism to being an international extra, ultimately to treason. How did they commit all these acts and how did they justify it to themselves?

Psychiatrists are explaining this situation as a “frenzy as a result of excessive narcissism.”

With outside observations and confessors from within, the Pandora’s Box has finally opened. Just like all other cults based on modern messianic apocalyptic scenarios and saviors, the Gülen Movement is also a cult. The members’ interactions with those who aren’t with the cult are limited, even if it’s their families. A narcissistic leader and a cult of narcissism. Most of them entered as they were mere children; however, these people, even the adults, have forsaken their own “selves” just to become a huge and singular “Self”. With harsh punishments (to be beaten by the leader himself, dismissals, threats) and rewards (being praised by the leader, receiving gifts, being exemplified), the bond between the leader and the members was strengthened. This narcissistic structure and its members seemingly didn’t have much problem with justifying all the amorality they were a part of. They claimed all of their amoral actions, which even an average person would abstain from committing, were to save the world. There wasn’t any illegal and amoral act left for them to commit. Moreover, they never believed they would lose; for them their leader is “the holy savior” and they are “the chosen.” What differentiates them from Daesh?

On the other hand, our experiences show that resorting to violence or committing massacres does not have anything to do with being a member of a terrorist organization which emerged from a Baath-ridden, post-American occupation Iraq; white and blue collared members of such a cult are also capable of committing these atrocities. We have seen this on the night of July 15, 2016. Psychiatrists are explaining this situation as a “frenzy as a result of excessive narcissism.” The questions regarding Gülen’s national and international connections and targets are yet to be answered.

Even though this was a small-scale operation compared to the others, the structure of the Gülenist Organization in Turkey was first revealed through the said operation in the following years. Targeted by Gülen himself and accused of being an Al-Qaeda member, 66-year-old Mehmet Doğan was a retired imam. He had a small congregation gathered around him in Muş, a city in the southeast part of Turkey. His congregation consisted of followers of Said-i Nursi, one of the most influential religious figures of the 20th century in Turkey. This group, which also had a publishing company named Tahşiye (Annotate), had been criticizing certain Islamic statements by Fetullah Gülen. The group’s criticism wasn’t known by anyone in Turkey, except for the members of the group and Gülen.In a speech made online on April 6 2009, Gülen talked about a subject only his followers could understand: an organization, which was named Tahşiye. Listening to the speech, you may think that the Tahşiye members are terrorists, or you may think that there is a group named Tahşiye, which consists of innocent members who are to be framed! As Gülen’s followers understood his ciphered messages, the operations commenced immediately. The investigation conducted after the revelation of this scheme uncovered some interesting details: two days after Gülen’s speech, his media outlets, even series being aired on his TV channels, started to cover Tahşiye.First, the Zaman daily covered the group, which was followed by Tek Türkiye (“One” or “United” Turkey) three days later, a TV series being aired on the Gülen-affiliated Samanyolu TV channel. In the series, the gathered “Dark Council” had mentioned a group named Tahşiye. Moreover, on Gülen’s TV channels, the segments from the said TV series were used on news bulletins while covering Tahşiye, as if it was actual footage. While the subject was being covered by the Zaman daily every 3-5 days, another Gülen-affiliated newspaper, Bugün, was publishing news pieces stating that Tahşiye was an armed terrorist organization which had links with Al-Qaeda. Ultimately, 7-8 months later Mehmet Doğan and more than a 100 of his disciples were put into prison by Gülenist loyalists in the judiciary and security forces on charges of being Al-Qaeda supporters.

Even Daesh, which is known to be skillful in employing media and technology, is almost nothing when compared to the Gülenist Organization. While the Gülenist media conducted the usual media business on one side, they were working for the elimination of figures or organizations, which are critical of them or may disrupt their short-term, midterm or long-term targets. A short time after the news on the media, the Gülenists within the security forces and the judiciary were starting to operate and make comments on the issue which enforced the ideas been propagated by their own media outlets.

Thousands of Gülenists were able to fill posts in the judiciary, security forces and bureaucracy; sometimes they openly said they were Gülenists, sometimes they just assumed other identities, concealing their own identities: leftist, extreme leftist, right-wing, agnostic, deist, laic or Islamist, etc. This is also true for their members within the ranks of the media and the academia. To camouflage their identities like a chameleon until the time is right is the characteristic of this organization, which differentiates it from the other terrorist organizations.

It was recently revealed that they were also stealing the answers to various exams, including the military, civil service and university entrance exams. It should be expressed that these people, Gülenists, weren’t just waiting for the answers to the exams; they were also hard-working and diligent. In politics, they infiltrated not only the ruling party, but they have infiltrated almost all existing political, social and religious movements, including many NGOs.

Not all of the Gülenists have been found and put to trial yet, as it is an organization, which has been active for 40 years. The majority of the people of Turkey had at least an acquaintance, neighbor, colleague or even family member which was linked with this organization. This is another characteristic of the organization; none of the members of other secret organizations could have such day-to-day interaction with the people. Moreover, none of the other organizations’ members could look so ordinary to the surprise of the people.

The leadership of this terrorist organization, which resembles modern Western sects like the Moon or Scientology is also different from the leaders of all existing terrorist organizations. You can’t see any PKK or Daesh leaders speaking from different points of view on a singular subject, as if they have numerous different personalities. Gülen, on the other hand, can act as if he is a great humanitarian, the leader of a violent terrorist organization, a slanderer or just an ordinary person. He doesn’t even speak to his followers in a singular voice. It isn’t possible to cover each and every example; however, there was a speech of his to his followers that was uncovered recently:

“If I am to bring harm to Hizmet [“Service” – what the organization calls itself] and my annihilation is a way to protect my institutions, I’m ready to sacrifice my life. Even if it is a cardinal sin, I’m ready to face it. Considering this, you may think about what I’m further willing to do. (…) God willing, we’re ready to face every challenge for the Service. If such sacrifice is necessary, we will let the flames consume us. If we are talking about this issue extensively, all of our friends out there should also do so.”

In short, Gülen is saying commit suicide instead of endangering the organization, even if it means going to hell. Expressing this idea in longer sentences is not a coincidence; it is a method, of course. Looking at these speeches as a whole, it is easy to realize that he is trying to show that everything he says is consistent, while, in fact, it is contradictory.

It took a long time for Turkey to recognize and understand the threat of this organization,  which was thought to be comprised of friendly and charitable people. Even after the realization of the threat they pose, if the state could have made a propaganda film out of the events transpired on the night of July 15, get on to a time machine and show it on the night of July 14, one still would have had a hard time believing that the Gülenist Organization could be that brutal or bloodthirsty.

Moreover, if one had seen putschists firing on the elderly, who begged the putschists to give up their guns and stop this madness, in this hypothetical movie, one would have still said that the Gülenists were being demonized. However, all of this was not in a film; there never was a film. It was the cold harsh reality. The Parliament was bombed, the Chief of Staff was held hostage, and National Intelligence Organization was strafed by helicopter gunships. More than 2,000 people were wounded. All of the people in Turkey felt that this was more of an invasion than a coup. Even today, this harsh reality seems as unreal as a science-fiction film. As it was covered by foreign media outlets, not only do the supporters of the government believe that the coup was perpetrated by this organization; even the government’s fiercest critics are of the same mind with the government in this matter.

Who killed Karlov, the Russian Federation’s ambassador to Ankara? According to the initial findings, there are many signs, ranging from the schools the shooter went to, to his contacts, which suggest that he is a Gülenist. On the other hand, it isn’t a secret that Gülen had established his game with external parameters through his schools all around the world. His ambition and attempts to shape Turkish foreign policy aren’t also a secret anymore. Two years ago, the organization commenced an operation with its infiltrators within the security forces and the judiciary, accusing the government of being corrupt, which actually targeted Turkey’s relations with Iran and the Kurdish Regional Government in Northern Iraq. While the Ergenekon and Balyoz trials targeting the military allowed the organization to open space for their own members, it also eliminated military personnel, which argued that Turkey should prioritize the Russia-China axis. The “demonic Iran” propaganda, which was being propagated by the organization’s supporters, has also been deciphered, as the relations between the US and Iran entered a new phase. Now that the US is opening up to Iran, Gülenists aren’t even mentioning Iran anymore, even while talking about Syria.

Suspecting that the assassin was a Gülenist right from the beginning isn’t without reason. No one would be surprised if he were a Gülenist masquerading as an Al-Nusra militant. Turkey knows very well that Gülenists are like chameleons, always masquerading. This was experienced by everyone ranging from highest-ranking bureaucrats to the ordinary people, in every part of life, from ordinary events to foreign policy.

At first glance, this may appear to hold some truth, given the Gülenists’ overt allegiance to liberal-democratic politics and in general to Western ways of doing things. Yet, below the iceberg, Gülenism has a real face, a dark obscurantist zeal for world domination, in terms of its goals, and the path chosen to achieve them contradicts almost everything that is Western. Gülenism is rather a radical nihilist subject, which is antagonistic to liberal modernity.Indeed, in the process of transition from a traditional to modern society, there emerge three generic types of subject. All of these types of subject are alternative responses to the question of how to handle the relationship between man and the outside world. In traditional society, the subject was conceptualized as an organic part of society and in which society was understood to be a transcendental and unchanging moral totality. The shift to the modern era has resulted in the loosening of society’s grip on the subject. The subject has become morally autonomous and free of society, but only at the cost of alienation. In other words, collective societal values have become optional, not a necessity for the subject. The subject has become “homeless” and is required to find meaning in order to continue its moral integrity on its own.Thus, in the modern era we have three generic types of subjectivity. The first is the Nietzschean “Last Man.” The Last Man is the subject that approaches alienation with open arms. Its motto is “world without values.” It rejects the values or collective responsibilities that overcome the individual for the sake of the bodily pleasures of the material world. The politics of the Last Man, the subject of negative nihilism, consists of apathy towards politics, therefore succumbing to individualism and limitless hedonism.The subject of radical nihilism, on the other hand, goes in the opposite direction. Its motto is “values without world.” It lives for higher values and is always ready to sacrifice its life for transcendental values that cannot find space in the world. It has a tense relationship with the outside world. Hence, its politics is shaped by either becoming introverted, like post-Ancient Greek stoics or the Dostoyevskian “Man of the Underworld,” in order to ease the pressure of worldly existence, or by becoming extroverted to destroy the world, like the fundamental terrorist groups such as Daesh in the modern era, for the sake of values.

The last form of subjectivity rests on positive nihilism. The motto of a positive nihilist is “world with values.” It embraces both values and the world by redefining the relationship between them. It follows not transcendental values, which are rather given and ahistoric, but immanent values, which are socially constructed and historical. So, it embarks on creating new values from scratch. It approaches the world as neither a valueless place nor a place antagonistic to its values. It strives to create itself and a world by constantly creating novel values. Its politics, therefore, hovers over the search for human emancipation, seeking more humane life here and now.

Who is a Gülenist?

Today, one can come across both negative nihilists and positive nihilists in the West. The ideal is to make positive nihilism the norm while the default comes to be negative nihilism. Despite their sheer differences, both positive and negative nihilistic types act open-heartedly in society. They strive for power and participate in political life, but only through legal and democratic political channels.

What about Gülenism? With what type of nihilism is the Gülenist affiliated? What are the basic tenets of Gülenist politics? In fact, a typical Gülenist is a radical nihilist, blending its offensive and defensive forms. It attaches itself to a set of transcendental values, which it thinks of as alien to this materialistic and ungodly world. With its fellow Gülenist members, it withdraws from the world and builds up a parallel universe, at the center of which the Messiah figure of Fethullah Gülen resides. Like a typical stoic, it rejects the world for the sake of its own values and for an unfettered moral life within its community. It rejects the outside world to enjoy inner freedom in its cosmic world. Up to this point, Gülenism is similar to any other collectivity of hermits, or a typical religious group that is disenchanted with modern life. Indeed, this is the image the Gülenists strive to present to the general public.

Unfortunately, there is more to Gülenism. It might sound odd, but the Gülenists act with a motivation to conquer the whole world. Hizmet (to be in the service of the whole of humanity) is a key word that defines the movement. It should be noted that the Gülenists operate in more than 100 countries across the globe. Gülen establishes his sermons on the theme of entering the hearts of the local people by offering various kinds of service, such as education and health, and talks highly of those “soldiers of Hizmet.” The mission of the soldiers of Hizmet is not only made up of helping people where they operate but also to marry the daughters or relatives of local notables to garner political influence for the cause. In each country, by enlarging its clout in civil society and infiltrating state apparatus, the Gülenists strive to control the strategic posts of power. This amounts to amplifying the Gülenists’ parallel world step by step and society by society towards the outside and, in the end, uniting the whole world under its own parallel world.

To achieve this, Gülenists pose a Janus-faced personality. This hypocritical personality speaks two separate and somewhat contradictory “languages.” With the “outside people” (a generic label given to non-members by the movement), the Gülenist talks like a typical individualist liberal-democrat; within the boundaries of its closed community, it communicates through an esoteric language that incessantly reminds the members of their collective responsibilities and the importance of self-sacrifice for the cause. It praises the society of free and equal individuals in its media outlets as it interacts with the general public, yet within the boundaries of its community it is allowed nothing but a very strict hierarchical structure that has formed around an infallible and omniscient Messiah figure.

Moreover, it talks around the importance of dialogue and tolerance among individuals and societies in the public sphere but does not hold back from resorting to build up exclusive and closed areas of control for itself in society behind closed doors and to use all kinds of violence against those whom it thinks of as an obstacle to its sacred mission when the opportunity presents itself. Hence, it abides by two completely different registers of morality. It does not hesitate to act completely in contrast to its value-system or pretend in order to hide its real self in the outside world. In Gülenism’s lexicon, this act of dissimulation and infiltration is of central importance, and is known as takiyye or tedbir.

Thus, eventually, Gülenism has grown from being a collective of introverted stoic-type radical nihilists to a collective of extroverted Daesh-type radical nihilists. It has slowly evolved from a figure that turns its back to the world to enjoy inner freedom and repose, to a figure that embarks on destroying the world of others for the sake of its own parallel world. This evolution from defensive to offensive radical nihilism has gradually progressed and reached its prime on the bloody night of July 15. Indeed, Gülenism is a clandestine terrorist organization acting outside the legitimate boundaries of democratic politics, attacking the very values of freedom and equality upon which the West was built. In short, it is remote and detrimental to the ideals of the West.

Why should not the West support the Gülenists?

As this Janus-faced structure of the Gülenists unfolds, the interests and ideals of the West will fall apart. The growing discrepancy between the faces, therefore, will put pressure on the West to make a hard choice between its interests and ideals. Until now, the West has seemed to side with interests, putting ideals on the back burner. Indeed, to recover the emergent contradiction between interests and ideals after July 15, the media outlets have been inundated by coverage that struggles to carve out a convenient narrative of the event. This has encapsulated various forms of coverage, such as denying the reality of the coup attempt, turning a blind eye to the Gülenists’ involvement in the coup and putting the spotlight on the purges of the Gülenists by state apparatus after July 15.

Nevertheless, in the long run, protecting the Gülenists will inextricably harm Western interests. Political actors are supposed to perform their identities through their actions as long as they want to maintain the existing definition of who they are. Therefore, sacrificing ideals to interests to such an extent may unleash an identity crisis and disrupt the actors’ ethical integrity. This may deepen the thriving problem of democratic deficit, which has been instigated by the ever-growing distance between the elite and the common people in the West. The rise of right-wing populism that is underway across the West may find more room to flourish and finally lead to a wave of political instability.

Moreover, not living up to its own ethical-political standards will also significantly erode the West’s moral standing in the international arena. True, hard power calls the final shot; however, soft power is a necessary ingredient for an efficient foreign policy and determines success in international politics. The loss of moral superiority and prestige will enervate the West’s leadership in world politics. In a nutshell, Gülenism is the fatal dagger to the very heart of the Western worlds’ ethical-political ideals and to its strategic interests as well.