Social scientists’ FETÖ test

One of the most important reasons for this is the excessive involvement it has in the tendency of the literature of the movement, its direction and the content that makes it up. The level of involvement has turned most of the literature on Fetullah Gülen into a praise of Gülen. Some of this research is financed directly by FETÖ and some is deception created by researchers who want to portray the Gülenists differently from what they are.Şerif Mardin had expressed a difficulty the Gülen Movement experienced in the work field with the same attitude. He stated that people who were members of the movement did not leave the social researcher to work for himself, did not open up to the researcher or did not express themselves properly and instead gave answers that aimed to manipulate the researcher.

Such attempts to manipulate would probably give the social scientists an impression, but this would certainly create difficulties for making a sociological inference from a group with more than a million members.

Most social science research made on this issue lost its validity after the movement appeared as FETÖ. The movement wanted to market itself to the world through this research and it was successful in reflecting itself as a civil society and volunteering movement, which was based on tolerance and dialogue and far from politics.

Those who conducted this research now need to throw out all their observations and detections after seeing that it was not based on tolerance and dialogue, but instead was about zero tolerance, had no civil aspect to it (even if it had a voluntary side to it), was focused on power and worked like a military intelligence organization with full discipline. In return for the preordered emphasis of its civil and voluntary side, how would these social scientists feel after realizing that they were working for Europe’s (and even the world’s) most powerful mafia and crime organization?

F. Fukuyama, a Japanese-American social scientist, who argued that the 1990s was the end of history, approached the trust relationships civil societies, cooperation and social organizations produced as social capital. Social capital is one of the most important resources a society’s power has. When he explained how good civil society organization was, especially some people, he came across the question of how to deal with the problem of these civil society organizations staffing within the state. Using the American society in his analysis, Fukuyama says he is aware of such a problem, but civil society organizations or religious groups cannot be suspected of threatening a society by staffing in government organizations. Obviously Fukuyama is not aware of what FETÖ did on Dec. 17, 2013 and especially on July 15, 2016. If he was a little more aware of FETÖ’s performance on July 15 and Dec. 17, he would have realized how groups like FETÖ had already taken over the U.S.

Do you think the division in the U.S.’s foreign policy today which inflicts self-harm and the inconsistency as well as the manipulations of lobbies directing its foreign policy prioritizing their own interests instead of American interests have no effect? Who can say that the U.S. conducts consistent and beneficial politics in the Middle East today?

The U.S. is actually already dead, but no one seems to care. Or do you think that the U.S. which continues to increase its number of enemies by the day is doing this to itself?

How many FETÖ-like organizations directing the U.S.’s internal and foreign policies do you think there are? Which Jewish lobby directed U.S. President Barack Obama to assist Israel with $38 billion despite the growing hatred in the Middle East for the U.S.? Socializing with these lobbies in the U.S. for quite a while now, FETÖ attempted to try these plans on Turkey. Although its cunning plans in Turkey were uncovered, FETÖ is continuing to move according to these plans in the U.S. and unfortunately the American system – deliberate or not – is unarmored against any possible movement.

See how the focus of the topic moved from FETÖ as a case study for social scientists to the security of the U.S.!

Obviously, FETÖ’s new image is thirsty to shift the topic to security. Still trying to give the image of a religious leader to the world, certain media is ready to buy this image Gülen portrays. But let’s wait and see if he will do the same PR to academic circles.

*Yasin Aktay is the vice chair of the ruling Justice and Development (AK Party) in Turkey.

(Published in Yeni Şafak Turkısh newspaper on Monday, Oct. 3, 2016)