4

Hizmet Intercultural Dialogue Trips to Turkey

NANCY GALLAGHER

Toward the end of March zoog, I received an email message from a
colleague inviting me to join a group traveling to Turkey under the
auspices of the Pacifica Institute, based in the Westward neighbor?
hood of Los Angeles, California. We would only have to pay our
airfare and would be hosted by Turkish families in various Anatoli?
an cities. While the prospect of travel with colleagues to one of my
favorite countries was intriguing, what was the Pacifica Institute
and why would it want to sponsor a trip? I immediately checked the
web.

Pacifiea Institute

According to its website, the Pacifica Institute was established in
zoo 5 by ?the Turkish?American community of California as a non?
profit organization with 5or(c)(3) status (a tax?exempt non?profit
organization)? Formerly known as ?Global Cultural Connections,?
its mission was ?to promote cross?cultural awareness within the di?
verse communities we live in and help establish a better society
where individuals love, respect and accept each other as they are.?
The institute announced that it organized conferences, panels, public
forums and other activities to bring together people from different
communities and ethnic backgrounds. The mission was ?to promote
cross?cultural awareness, in order to attain peace and diversity with
our neighbors, [and] help establish a better society where individuals
love, respect and accept each other as they are.? Its vision was ?a
community in which people from all walks of life interact with each
other and cooperate to serve their comr?nunilies, thereby strengthen?
ing civil society and promoting the development of human values?
(Paci?ca Institute 2008a).

The Pacifica Institute had branches in Los Angeles, Orange
County, San Diego, Silicon Valley, Sacramento and Las Vegas. The
Los Angeles branch was located in near the University of
California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and held lectures, Turkish classes,
cooking classes and other cultural activities. The website explained
the motivation behind the sponsored tours of Turkey:

75

THE GULEN HIZMET 

Throughout the history of nearly 80,000 years, many great
civilizations lived and left their legacy within the lands of
Anatolia, modern day Turkiye [the Turkish spelling of
Turkey]. The Intercultural Dialog Trips to this ?cradle of
civilizations? explore the rich culture that [has] matured
ever since and extends the bridges of friendship between
the people of the United States and Turkiye. These trips
enable understanding through interaction and give the par?
ticipants an opportunity to make new friends and invalua?
ble connections. The trips feature a unique experience of
not just the touristic sites but the people and culture of
such as the dinners at our hosts? homes. (Pacifica
Institute 2008b)

The thought of a trip that did more than visit the usual tourist spots
was appealing. But what was the driving force behind the Paci?ca
Institute?

The Paci?ca Institute proved to be part of a network of similar

institutes throughout the US and Canada, some of which were ex?
plicit about their affiliation with (a certain M. Fethullah Gulen, a
Turkish cleric. The Pacifica website mentioned him but did not dwell
on his role. The websites of similar institutes in other cities were
more explicit. That of the Niagara Foundation, Nebraska branch,
proclaimed in ringing tones:

74

Niagara Ftiiundation?s honorary president Mr. M. 133-
r/mZZa/J Gar/m is a world renowned Muslim scholar and
leader whose message of love, tolerance, and peaceable
coexistence inspires Niagara Foundation in contributing
something meaningful?albeit small?to this great mes?
sage. The world ?rst heard Mr. Gulen?s name when he
met Pope john Paul II in 1998. His visit came at a time
[when] Samuel Huntington?s idea of the alleged ?clash of
civilizations? was gaining prominence. [Mr Gulen] saw
the need to further efforts to establish dialogue to stave
off People of different religions, [for the]
first time, realized that they can work together regardless
of their religious background for one common goal,
namely global peace. Especially now, when hatred is
widespread and the clash of civilization is predicted, Mr.

N. GALLAGHER

Gulen?s efforts are of paramount importance for modern
humanity. (Niagara, accessed October IO. 2010)

People of varying religious backgrounds have, of course, been
coming together to work for peace for a long time, but in the atmos?
phere of increasing fear and Islarnophobia of the post?September I I
era, many were looking for such reassuring statements from a Mus?
lim organization.

A Solution to Islamic Radicalism?

The hope in the United States and elsewhere was for a moderate
Islam that would eschew the violent and hostile tendencies of the
small minority that carried out militant attacks on its opponents in
Muslim and non?Muslim societies. The increase in militancy that for
Americans culminated in the September I I 2001 attacks had resulted
in an avalanche of books with titles like ?toward a Muslim refor?
mation,? ?new voices in Islam,? and ?Islamic reform movements.?
Leading public intellectuals and activists such as Tariq. Ramadan,
Mohammed Arkoun, Fatima Memissi, Abdulkarim Soroush, Akbar
Ganji, Zainab Anwar and Amina Wadud were calling for new inter?
pretations of the Qur?an and Hadith. The hope was for an Islam that
would live comft73rtably in a multicultural, democratic, pluralistic
world and that would advocate moral and ethical values that con?
formed to international human rights laws. Conferences on the
?clash of civilizations,? the challenge of ?Muslim communities in the
West, or ?women and gender and the scarf controversies? in Eu?
rope and North America proliferated in response to increased immi?
gration and the attacks. Entire academic programs were founded to
deal with questions such as the integration of thslim communities
in Europe and North America, Islam and pluralism in the Middle
East, and Islam, democracy and human rights. The Gulen movement
seemed to exemplify an Islam that was fully compatible with democ?
racy and pluralism and in addition had a well?developed infrastruc?
ture throughout the US. The mainstream media, for example, was
favorable to the m{.3vement.

In 2008, for example, the New York Times published a lead article
about the work of Fethullah Gulen. The article, which was titled
?Turkish Schools Offer Pakistan a Gentler Vision of Islam,? by
journalist Sabrina Tavernise, began by stating that since 9/11, US
policy makers had come to consider madmms or Islamic schools to
be a major source of indoctrination into militancy. Yet here was a

75

THE GULEN HIZMET 

different sort of Islamic school. According to the article, Muslim
teachers from Turkey were teaching an Islam that was ?exible, toler?
ant and humanistic. The teachers were like a Muslim Peace Corps
with in more than 80 I?vIuslin?i and non?hiuslirn nations. The
Turkish which had been established in seven cities in Paki?
stan, offered an alternative approach to Islamic extremism, with
classes in Math, Science and English Literature, including Shake?
speare, taught in English. There was only one course on Islam and
then only to conform to state requirements. Students lived in dormi?
tories where teachers, who wore ties and were clean shaven, set an
example by their modern Muslim lifestyle. According to the article,
?The model is the brainchild of a Turkish Islamic scholar, Fethullah
Gulen. A preacher with millions of followers in Turkey, Mr. Gulen,
69, comes from a tradition of Su?sm, an introspective, mystical
strain of Islam.? The article noted that Gulen currently lived in the
United States and opposed fundamentalist Islam. Tavernise noted
that Gulen?s followers were sometimes compared to Jesuits who had
famously established to educate future elites in correct doc?
trine and practice with the covert purpose of eventually taking pow?
er. Gulen?s followers, hmvever, insisted that they only wanted a tol?
erant, democratic, secular society where citizens were free to practice
any religion they like, not to take power. The article presented the
Gulen?inspired as being an alternative and a solution to the
threatening and hostile radicalism of the Islamic madrasas in Pakistan
and elsewhere (Tavernise 2008).

Turkish Immigrants and the Cultural Institutes

There are some 6 million Muslims in the US, of which at least
500,000 are from Turkey. Turkish immigrants, like other immigrants,
had to find ways to live in a new environment. A recent study of
Turkish immigrants, Tarkiri: ild?gmz?z'm the [Mixed States: From Orio-
may: Timer :0 the Prerem?, edited by A. Deniz Balgamis and Kemal H.
Karpat, concluded that,

[U]ntil quite recently, the nucleus of the Turkish immigrant
community was the mosque, where everybody who shared
the same culture, religion and language could meet, ex?
change information, and celebrate holidays as a 
[DIuring the past few years, however, a new type of Turk?
ish community represented by the vakif (foundation) has
begun to emerge. The foundations embrace the modernist,

76

N. GALLAGHER

national, democratic and multicultural teachings of Fe?
thullah Gulen, who has made his home in the United
States for medical [B]y appealing to broader,
more diverse audiences, the foundations complement, ra?
ther than compete with the mosques. Their leadership and
?nancial support comes from members, who tend to be
the proprietors of small and medium size businesses.
(Karpat 2008, 186)

Gulen had established himself in the US in 1999, for medical reasons
and to escape political persecution in Turkey, with little media atten?
tion. His followers may have been mostly interested in ?nding a safe
harbor for their leader, but after the September I I attacks, began in
earnest engaging in interfaith work and other activities to confront
rising lslamophobia. They and other Muslims in the US. faced an
uphill battle.

A new survey taken just before the eighth anniversary of 9/11,
conducted by the Pew Research Center, found that ?a majority of
respondents place Muslims as the most persecuted religious
group in the United [Fjifty?eight percent of Americans
polled said that people of the Muslim faith faced ?a lot? of discrimina?
tion? (Uprising Radio 2009). On the other hand, the survey found
that the number of Americans who believe Islam promotes violence
more than other religions do fell 7 percent from when the same sur?
vey was taken two years before, though a majority of conservative
Republicans still held the notion to be true. According to the Council
on American?Islamic Relations, public opinion was responding to
the efforts by Muslims about their religion, but there had been wor?
rying incidents including the harassment of two women wearing
headscarves at a gas station in New York and the detention and
questioning at the airport of the famous Indian actor, Shahrukh
Khan, who had come to the United States ?to ?lm a movie on dis?
crimination against IV-Iuslirns in the post?9/ 11 world? (Uprising Ra?
dio 2009). In 2010, a controversy erupted river a proposal to build a
cultural center for local Muslims several blocks from the site of the
9/11 attacks. Anti?Muslim pundits raged against ?the mosque at
Ground Zero? and made every effort to exacerbate tensions. That
nearby mosques were overcrowded, that the building site owned by
the center project was vacant, and that the law was entirely on the
side of the project made no difference. Many political ?gures sought

77

THE GULEN I-IIZMET 

to reassure Muslim citizens and residents that they were welcome
and to dispel the hostile atmosphere.

Public figures such as Bill Clinton, James Baker, and Madeline
Albright have spoken at Gulen movement events. Dalia Mogahed,
appointed by US President Barak Obama to the White House Advi?
sory Council on Faith?based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and
the first Muslim woman to be a member of the council, said in an
interview with Sa?dcgy?s Zamora newspaper that the Gulen movement
was ?a model and inspiration for all those working for the good of
society? (Yilmaz 2009). She said that Gulen?s followers are ?highly
admirable and impressive? and that they ?have done a phenomenal
job by working on interfaith dialogue.? She added that the Gulen
movement offers a model of what is possible if a dedicated group of
people work together for the good of society, and that it has a lot to
teach Muslims and non?Muslims, but that it ?needs to broaden its
membership It has moved beyond Turkey in its very be?
nevolent projects and [while] it serves people from all around the
wt.)rld of all it is still made up mostly of Turks. That is
what I feel is in need of expanding.? When reminded that some
speculate the movement has a hidden agenda, Mogahed told Zamora:
that ?she usually does not attach any importance to such allegations
put forward without evidence. ?And I have not seen any evidence so
far?? (Y llmaz 2009). Interviewed by a newspaper that is owned by the
Gulen movement, Mogahed was being diplomatic but also sympa?
thetic in her comments, indicating a high level of U.S. government
awareness and acceptance of the movement.

The Intercultural Trips

Resriilving to learn more about the Gulen movement, I accepted the
invitation and in June 2009 traveled to Istanbul with a group of ten
lV-Iiddle East specialists, church representatives and elected officials.
While we were happy to visit the famous tourist sites, the sponsored
dinners and meetings were of particular interest to the group.

The first dinner, in Istanbul, was at a Gaziantep?style restaurant
(Gaziantep is a city in southeastern Turkey known for its superb
Armenian, Assyrian, and Arab in?uenced cuisine) (.iwned by a sup?
porter. The second dinner was outside Istanbul at an af?uent country
home where two sisters lived with their families. Our sponsors, local
businessmen in shipping, jewelry shops and textiles, were present.
Initially the men and women were hosted in two separate r?o?oms, but
at dinner all were together. After dinner, we introduced ourselves

78

N. GALLAGHER

and had a discussion about the role that Turkey could play in mediat?
ing between East and West.

In Istanbul, we visited St. Anthony?s Church at Taksim, and the
Jewish Museum in Karakoy in addition to Sofya, Sultan Ahmet
Mosque, and the Byzantine cistern. In Izmir we had breakfast at the
home of sponsors and were again treated to a warm family atmos?
phere with lots of guests including a forensic physician who had
studied at UCLA. We had a longer discussion about the ideas of the
Gulen movement. We then visited Ephesus and h?Iary?s House, of
special significance to Christians. In Antalya we relaxed by the Medi?
terranean before visiting Aspendos and a new religious garden that
opened in December 2004. The garden, in Belek (a township in An?
talya Province), featured a miniature mosque, church and synagogue.
We visited a local school built and run by the movement and in
Konya went to Rumi?s (the thirteenth?century Persian poet and Su?
mystic) tomb. We then drove to Nigde, where we had a meal at Gu?
len?supported Sungur{.3glu High School, and a demonstration of 316m
(paper marbling), followed by a gala reception at the spacious coun?
try home of Celal Afsar, a retired furniture dealer. We spent the night
with local families, and returned to Afsar?s home for breakfast. There
he told us his life story, htjiw he rose from an impoverished back?
ground to become a wealthy furniture dealer able to donate vast
sums to the Gillen movement.

We then traveled to Cappadocia where we visited underground
caves and churches built into the mountains, and on to Kayseri.

Back in Istanbul we visited Zawwz? newspaper, Fatih University,
the Journalists and Writers Foundation, the philanthropic organiza?
tion Kimse Yok (Is Anybody There?), and the 
Atlantic Association of Cultural Crmperation and Friendship
(Bogazici Atlantik Knead Dostluk ve Isbirligi Dernegi, or
BAKIAD), all part of the Gulen movement. At Kaynak, the move?
ment publishing house, we were given copies of books on the
movement.

I returned on a second sponsored trip in 2010 and visited Bursa,
Ankara, Mardin and Hatay. The tour culminated in an academic
conference at the Journalists and Writers Foundation in Uskudar. We
all wondered what our hosts were expecting of us. Were we to advo?
cate a new version of Turkish Ottoman history? The guides consist?
ently depicted the Ottoman Empire as a pluralistic and successful
multicultural society in which there was religious freedom, in con?
trast to the secular nationalist ideology of the Turkish Republic, and

79

THE GULEN HIZMET 

we had visited many churches. I interviewed the trip organizers in
Turkey and the US, asking them why they would want to spend so
much time, money and energy hosting numerous groups of Ameri?
cans.

Bulent Irigun, a ltjingtime supporter of the movement, had
founded an educational institute, Bogazici International Business
Development and Educational Consulting and Promotion Ltd.
(Bogazici Danismanlik), to send Turkish students who were part of
the movement to the United States. It placed the students in Eng?
lish?as?a?second?language courses and when their English was profi?
cient helped them apply to MA. and programs, and in general
to make their way in the US. In turn, the students founded local
associations and, with the support of local Turkish immigrant busi?
nessmen, the cultural institutes. The students also made contacts
with the wider US society through their university experiences and,
especially after the September II attacks, through their interfaith
activities. They recommended individuals who they thought would
be receptive to exposure to their vision of Turkish history, society
and culture through visits to Turkey. Irigun recalled that students
active in the cultural institutes would suggest names to the boards of
the institutes, mostly people they had met through university connec?
tions or interfaith circles. At ?rst most were religious leaders, but
later academics predominated because most of the organizers were
students, whose daily contacts were with professors and university
officials. Those who seemed likely to be receptive to a sponsored trip
were formally invited to a preliminary meeting followed by an orien?
tation where the connection with Gulen would be explained in detail
(Irigun 2010).

Goals of Turkish-based Trip Coordinators

I learned that the trips were crxirdinated by BAKIAD, which was
established in 2006 to oversee and crxirdinate the trips, festivals and
other movement activities in North America. According to its web?
site, BAKIAD was founded by ?professionals and academicians in
the fields of education, business, human resources, and the 
to promtjite intercultural dialogue, consolidate common values and
crmperation and organize cultural, social and business trips in order
to understand diverse cultures and perspectives, which are prescribed
in the principles of its constitution? (BAKIAD 2006). In addition to
the trips, BAKIAD planned to organize academic and professional
conferences in Istanbul and North America.

80

N. GALLAGHER

lrigiin was a founding member of and its first vice
president. According to his records, the following numbers of peo?
ple have participated in the sponsored trips:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year Visitors
2005?2004 Less than 100
2005 500

2006 700

2007 1,163

2008 1,808

2009 1,950

2010 (Estimate) 1,900

 

 

 

 

BAKTAD has therefore sponsored more than 7,000 visitors to Tur?
key in the past seven years. If each trip costs about $2,500 (for ho?
tels, meals, ground transport, tour guides, and admission fees), the
total cost is roughly $17,500,000 for the trips, from 2005?2010. While
Turkey?s economy is ?ourishing, it is not a wealthy nation. lrigiin
explained that in each Dawn to be visited the local Gulen organiza?
tion raises funds for the visitors so that the expenses are distributed
throughout the C(j?l?tI?Y. Visitors travel several routes to lighten the
burden on donors in each locale. Fundraising is continual, with do?
nations (1)111ng from the very wealthy and from small businesses,
lower?income families, and even students. The funds are also for the
hospitals and other mtgivement establishments (lrigun 2010).

lrigun noted that after the September 11 attacks, Turkish stu?
dents wanted ?to show Americans that Muslims are not terrorists.
The trips are so important to erase negative stereotypes.? At that
point Ahmed Dastan, assistant secretary general, BAKTAD inter?
rupted to say, ?We sell friendship.? He added that the most im?

81

THE GULEN HIZMET 

portant part of the trip was meeting Turkish families. lrigun said that
in the beginning the thought was that the visitors should not meet
with those who had donated money to fund their trip because the
visitors might feel awkward, as if they owed something, but they
proved to be interested in the sponsors? views and backgrounds and
the meetings became a routine part of the tuours (irigun zoro).

When we visited Ankara during the 2010 tour, Naci Bostanc1,
Dean of the Faculty of at Gazi University (public
university established in 1926 by Mustafa Kemal), gave his analysis of
the movement?s success. He explained that Turkey had changed
when Turgut 02a] came to power in 198 3:

He opened markets and enabled the conservative Anatoli?
an?based elite to advance economically. Turkey became
more open to the outside, to global markets. Gulen, who
was active at the time, was the right man at the right place,
with his message of intercultural and interfaith tolerance.
(Bostanc1 2010)

If Gulen had been preaching in the I 950s, according to Bostanci, few
would have listened to him, but from the 1980s to the present the
new Anatolian elite was receptive to his message. He commented,

Turkey is far better off today than in the 1930s or 1960s,
when there might be three cars on a street. Today the
street is a car park. People own a house and a second one
to rent out. They travel and want their children to be edu?
cated in Science, Math and Religion. They want to be
global but in touch with their own identity. Gulen?s mes?
sage ?t their new aspirations. (Bostanc1 zoro)

Bostancl emphasized that he was not a part of the movement but
had a scholarly interest in it.

Yasin Aktay, Director of the Institute of Strategic Thinking
(Stratejik Dusunce Enstitusu) in Ankara, likewise not part of the
movement, specializes in political and religious movements. He had
traveled to Utah to study the Mormons and found much to compare
with the Gulen movement. He had studied alienation and the lack of
trust and moral and ethical values in Turkish society. Like the Mor?
mons, the Gulen movement developed social capital. Members of
the movement had close connections, trusted each other, and devel?

82

N. GALLAGHER

oped a sense of community. The ?Anatolian Tigers,? or the new
elite, were much in?uenced by the Gulen movement. They not only
learned to invest and produce capital but to trust others in their net?
work. This was the key to Turkey?s economic success. Aktay thought
that Turkey was a unique model, an inspiration to other Middle
Eastern societies, with its strong civil society and women?s rights
organizations, and liberal Islam, its social capital. For him the Gulen
movement was interesting because it motivated people to help oth?
ers, work abroad, become global, learn new ideas and change the
society:

The Gulen movement had been underground because of
political repression in the 1970s and early 1980s, but after
Turgut Ozal came to power it opened up and went beyond
establishing schools, it went from being nationalist to
global and Turkey was being transformed by this human
capital. Now am: (hijra or pilgrimage in a religious sense)
meant leaving the rural areas for the industrial areas and
then with prosperity, philanthropy and volunteer work.
Turkey had problems, with high unemployment; it was a
society in transition. There were many Islamic organiza?
tions in Turkey, but the Gulen movement was by far the
largest and most successful. (Aktay 2010)

When we returned to Los Angeles I asked similar questions of
the US?based movement vt?unteers who were responsible for the
trips.

Goals of US-based Movement Volunteers

Ibrahim Barlas, President of the Los Angeles branch of the Pacifica
Institute, is from Diyarbakir, from a Zaza?speaking family (Zaza is a
Kurdish dialect). He recalled that in july 2005, Global Cultural Con?
nections, as Pacifica was formerly known, took its first group to
Turkey. The ?rst group consisted mostly of clergy and interfaith
activists. He explained that Paci?ca representatives invited people
they had met when they visited churches and held Iftar dinners. At
that time they were located in Culver City where they held interfaith
programs with church people. The American invitees were commit?
ted people, he said, because at the time the U.S. was at war with Iraq,
right next to Turkey. Turkey was near Iraq, then at war with the US.
The ?rst group went to Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya and Cappadocia.

85

THE GULEN HIZMET 

Nigde, where visitors spent the night with host families, was added
to the itinerary in 2006 (Barlas 2009).

Barlas had taken ten groups to Turkey. He commented that be?
fore he was active in Paci?ca, he was isolated from US society; he
felt like he was in an aquarium, with no time and no opportunity to
meet Americans. And in Turkey, the host families commented that
these Americans were different: ?All the people you bring are nice,
different from the ones we see in Hollywood movies, on CNN, in
Iraq. The hosts believe they are serving humanity by inviting foreign?
ers into their home, they are doing it for love of God, they are doing
it for hizmet or service; that is pleasing God. They are not expecting
heaven in return? (Barlas 2009).

Atilla Kahveci, Vice President of the Paci?ca Institute and trip
coordinator, explained that to select people for the trips, the Pacifica
board would work out an agenda at the start of each year. Members
would suggest people. In 2005?06 it was mostly religious leaders with
a few academics; in 2007, 2008 and 2009, elected or appointed of??
cials, academics, people in public education and law enforcement,
business people.

We invite elected officials, but with the budget crisis, there
is little time and they are concerned with accepting gifts.
Gifts can?t be worth more than 50 dollars for state sena?
tors. We introduce ourselves, talk about Paci?ca Institute,
which has 501C status, and we describe some activities, fu?
ture events, and our At that point they listen
and some ask questions if they are familiar with the region,
but mostly they listen. From there we try to build relations,
we invite them to events, annual dinners, to understand
the movement, we show videos, have keynote speeches,
Sometimes 250?500 people show up for
dinners. (Kahveci 2009)

He concluded, ?We invite people to Turkey to learn about Giilen,
but we get to know Americans as well, people we did not know be?
People in Turkey want to host more (Kahveci
2009).

Sibel Kocoloner Mujgan, a Master?s student in Sociology at Cali?
fornia State University, Los Angeles, had escorted five groups to
Turkey (hiujgan 2009). She found that most of those invited on the
trips worried about how to repay their hosts. They questioned why

84

N. GALLAGHER

they were chosen and what the expectations were. She felt that those
who went on the trips were not chosen but rather were part of a
bigger plan. Upon their return they should do whatever is in their
heart regarding their hosts and sponsors. For her the best outcome
was new friendships with Americans. She had been feeling that it was
hard to get to know Americans, unlike in Turkey where it does not
take long to get to knt.)w new people. She concluded that,

In Turkey, people were surprised that Americans were crit?
ical of their government. The trips take a lot of effort but
have a big outcome. People?s minds are changed, there is
real understanding, and suspicions are allayed. You think
that you are different, but after the trip, after sitting around
a table, you find that people are the same. (Mujgan 2009)

Mujgan studied intergroup contact theory on how to reduce preju?
dice; it teaches that traveling together reduces prejudice. She noted
that Gulen also recommended traveling together as a means of dis?
pelling negative stereotypes (Mujgan 2009).

The goals of the movement activists based in Turkey differed
somewhat from those of the U.S.?based vtiilunteers. All wanted to
introduce the Gulen movement to the visitors from the US, but
those based in the US spoke of their desire to get to knt?)w local aca?
demic and religious leaders, participate in interfaith dialogues and
intercultural activities, make contacts among Americans and become
part of the wider society.

Returnees or alumni were nearly unanimous in their favorable
impressions of Turkey and the movement. They were a carefully
selected group who had already participated in events sponsored by
the G'ulen movement or were receptive to learning more about the
movement. Many had already traveled to Turkey and had visited or
lived in Muslim countries. A disproportionate number were special?
ists in Islam and the history and cultures of the Middle East. There
were, ht,)wever, criticisms as well as favorable comments.

Returnees? Impressions

The Pacifica Institute produced a brochure featuring the testimonies
of returnees, nearly all of which were glowing. The first testimony
was by Bishop Dean W. Nelson, Southwest California Synod, Evan?
gelical Lutheran Church in America, who had traveled to Turkey in
2008. He commented, ?In an era where the word ?Muslim? is too

85

THE GULEN HIZMET 

easily equated with ?terrorist,? trips like this one go a long way in
helping us to break down stereotypes and grow tolerance and under?
standing.? Darryl Tippens, Provost of Pepperdine University, com?
mented on the richness of the cross?cultural dialogue. Professors of
Religious Studies commented on the hospitality and long conversa?
tions within the group and with the hosts. A university president and
his wife commented that they felt closer to Muslims they met in
Turkey than to some members of their own church. The dean of the
Graduate School of Education at Portland State University appreci?
ated meeting a ?group of activists in Turkey who are working to
improve democracy and freedom primarily through education.? Pat?
rick Howell, SJ, Vice President for iN-?ssion and Ministry at Seattle
University, commented, ?The Islamic faith in Turkey was vital, liber?
ating, and integral to modern Turkey. It contrasts to the rest of the
Middle East, especially those countries where the fundamentalist
version or Wahhabism rising out of Saudi Arabia, dominates. True
Muslims believe in peace and justice, not in terror.? A member of the
Arizona House of Representatives was impressed with the spirituality
experienced on his trip. Mohamed Jawad Khaki, Vice President of
Microsoft, became interested in learning more about the work of
Fethullah Gulen and the ?dedicated and devoted progressive Mus?
lims of present day Turkey? (all quotes from Paci?ca see also
Rumi Forum 2009).

John Haughey, SJ, a Catholic theologian at Georgetown Univer?
sity, went to Turkey on a sponsored trip in 2008. He recalled being
most impressed by seeing students in tutoring sessions at their
school in Nigde:

We were visiting a school at about 9 pm at night. On the
third ?oor, a door opened and there were about twelve
kids, all at their desks studying. They stood up and greeted
us as little boys would, quietly and modestly. There was a
huge case of trophies for prizes in Mathematics and other
subjects that had been won by the school. (Haughey 2010)

The sight of boys standing up and greeting the visitors perhaps re?
minded him of parochial that are now closing in many parts
of the US and Europe. Upon his return, Haughey visited Gulen at
his home in and was profoundly impressed with him,
?nding him to be a Godly man of great wisdom (Haughey 2010).

86

N. GALLAGHER

Daniel Skubik, Prrgifessor of Law, Ethics and Humanities at Cali?
fornia Baptist University, and his wife Bernadette part in a 2007
trip that included academics and law enforcement officials from
Southern California, Nevada and Arizona (Skubik 2009). They went
to Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Konya, Cappadocia and Kayseri, and
were warmly welcomed with meals and in Nigde stayed overnight
with a local family. Skubik had attended an Iftar dinner at the River?
side Islamic Studies Center, where he had met two Turkish doctoral
candidates at the University of California?Riverside (UCR) who
shared his interest in interfaith dialogue. The two students were ac?
tive in Global Cultural Connections (GCC, later renamed Pacifica
Institute) and invited Skubik to join dinners at UCR sponsored by
GCC. These encounters led to an invitation to travel to Turkey. Sku?
bik commented,

While we have had the opportunity to travel to and live in
many countries around the world, we had never been to
Turkey. Our desire is never just to travel as a tourist,
?itting from one commercialized site to another. We seek
to spend time meeting with, being in the company of, and
learning from those whom we meet. This journey seemed
to offer just such a chance, especially as it was stylized a
?dialogue? journey rather than a vacation?(jiriented tour,
and we were delighted to discover that our hopes were far
exceeded. Everywhere we went, we were welcomed with
open arms?often quite literally, as we were received like
king?lost relatives for whom they were waiting. This recep?
tion was evidenced most vividly in Nigde, where those
waiting for us to arrive by bus waved and ran alongside as
the bus slowed and came to a stop in front of a local
school?even before we stopped they were ?ocking to us
and letting us know we were welcome. (Skubik 2009)

Skubik continued to work with the Pacifica Institute, attending Ram?
adan dinners, cooking classes and luncheon seminars at the Irvine
and Los Angeles branches. He also spoke at the first dinner spon?
sored by the Las Vegas, Nevada branch of the institute in October
2008, and was on the editorial board of the East and West Encoun?
ters Conference held at the University of Southern California in 2009
(Skubik 2009). His account exemplifies various aspects of the trip:
the initial encounter with local Turks affiliated with Gulen?inspired

87

THE GULEN HIZMET 

networks, participation in interfaith meetings, an interest in Turkish
history and culture, and attendance at institute events. In general,
liberal Protestant, Catholic, jewish and Muslim religious leaders were
receptive to the interfaith outreach efforts and the meetings and
dialogues experienced on the trips. Academics were fascinated by the
movement and by the rapid changes in Turkish society.

While most returnees? accounts were very positive, there were al?
so substantive criticisms. And some assessments were mixed.

Critical Analyses

The most common criticism voiced by returnees was the lack of
women in leadership positions in movement organizations and insti?
tutes in Turkey and the US. One trip alumnus felt that the money
spent on the trips should be used to alleviate poverty in Turkey and
that political interests would trump the person?to?person ties that
were established during the trips. Another commented that the pur?
pose of the trips was simply to make Americans like Turkish culture.
Some felt that the guides, who were mostly chosen by BAKTAD,
depicted a rosy view of Ottoman and Turkish history that was at
considerable variance from that taught in US universities. Others
mentioned that mtwement volunteers spoke of ?family values? and
?social conservatism? too much and that the movement was homo?
phobic and misogynistic. And several who were generally impressed
with the movement and the trip experience expressed reservations
about the secrecy of the movement. They felt that some of their
questions about the movement were not dealt with in depth.

Joshua Hendrick, in his dissertation on the G'L'llen movement,
argues that the trips are a means of establishing ties with US academ?
ics, officials and professionals in order to enable the movement to
establish legitimacy in the face of hostile criticism in Turkey:

Institutional legitimacy prrwides necessary political capital
when the GM [Gulen movement] is accused of infiltrating
the Turkish police force, or in?uencing Turkey?s national
mhese resources proved useful when for the
purposes of the Bush administration, Fe?
thullah Gulen was able to rely on the character witness
support of twenty?seven noted scholars, intelligence offi?
cials, religious leaders, and political dignitaries to eventually
receive his green Many people who later present at

88

N. GALLAGHER

conferences are first introduced to the GM
during a recruited interfaith trip. (Hendrick 2009, 327?29)

Hendrick found that Gulen movement representatives invariably said
that the trips were to promote interfaith dialogue and conflict resolu?
tion. Those wht?) work with the movement but are not part of it,
however, suggest that the purpose of the trips is to build ties through
Turkish culture in order to survive in the globalized world. A Turk?
ish newspaper editor who was opposed to the movement told him
that the trips were ?a show? (Hendrick 2009, 335). Hendrick con?
cluded that the overall goal of the movement was to promote Tur?
key?s national interests, culture and businesses around the world.

Some academics, political leaders and others invited on the trips
refuse to participate. They may suspect that a hidden agenda is pre?
sent. Persons in high?profile positit.)ns may refuse all sponsored trips
because of the political implications: acceptance may be taken to
mean support. Some refuse because they are wary of the m{.3vement,
which has been criticized for its secrecy, its support of conservative
causes, its advocacy of Ottoman rather than Kemalist Turkish na?
tionalism, its support of creationism rather than evolution, its disap?
pr{.3val alternative life styles, its religious as opposed to secular values
in general, and its long?range goals for Turkey.

The Politics of Sponsored Trips

Sponsored trips are of course not unique to the Gulen movement.
Many groups have organized sponsored trips and there are many
types, both private and public. Many governments have invited legis?
lators, politicians and interested persons of varied backgrounds and
ages to visit their country in order to further their foreign policy,
cement business ties, expand scientific or scholarly ties, or share or
spread religious or cultural views. Governments have sent students
abroad and religious groups have sent missionaries abroad. Some?
times the thinking is that wars could be prevented if people got to
know one another and understood their shared humanity. They
would not fall for dehumanization schemes that vilify the enemy.
The Peace Corps was established to demonstrate the idealism of US
foreign policy or at least of US youth. Tourism itself can be part of a
country?s foreign policy or business interests. Tourist sites, museums,
monuments and markets are staged to make political, economic and
cultural statements. Of?cial tour guides often act as foreign policy

89

THE GULEN HIZMET 

agents. Tourists and other travelers are sometimes considered to be
ambassadors.

Very few Muslim governments or private Muslim groups have
sponsored and organized trips for ordinary Americans but there are
exceptions In 2005, for example, I visited Saudi Arabia on a trip
sponsored by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and organized by
the National Council on U.S.?Arab Relations. Our group of about
twelve academics, religious people and businessmen was taken to
Dhahran, Riyadh and Jedda where we met outspoken journalists and
scholars. We also met with the US ambassador. The purpose was to
improve the image of Saudi Arabia in the post?September 11 era.
The line repeated everywhere was that after the famous meeting of
Ibn Saud and Roosevelt 1n 1945, the US and Saudi Arabia had had a
close relationship, but after September 1 1, 2001, it became dysfunc?
tional. The Saudis were anxious to reestablish ties and begin sending
Saudi students to the US again. After our return to the US, we were
encouraged to write favorable accounts of Saudi Arabia in local
newspapers and alumni magazines and give talks to community
groups. The sponsors were private but closely aligned with the Saudi
government.

Israel has long invited persons of Jewish descent and others and
has taken far more elected representatives and politicians from the
US, Canada, Europe and elsewhere than any other country in the
Middle East. Trips to Israel are sponsored by various non?
governmental organizations and wealthy individuals (Saxe and Cha?
zan 2008; Kelner 2010). The American Friends Service Committee
has sponsored trips to the West Bank, though on a very small scale.
Taiwan has invited elected officials and business people to see its
progress and achievements and hopefully to support its political and
commercial interests.

The proportion of government versus private funding varies, as
does the level of government support. Going on sponsored trips can
be problematic, especially for elected of?cials.

A British councillor was invited to a peace conference in South
Korea in 2007. According to her local online newspaper (Pickard
2008), she subsequently declared the trip a gift (as required by British
tax law), worth ?2500. She was invited because of her volunteer
work with local peace groups and she insisted that the sponsoring
group she went with did a lot of good. She met senators, archbish?
ops, people from all over the world and from all faiths and cultures
on her trip. The trip, however, turned out to be sponsored by the

90

N. GALLAGHER

International Universal Peace Federation in New York and the Na?
tional Universal Peace Federation in London, both of which are
associated with the Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, and she was roundly
criticized for going on such a sponsored trip. In her defense, she
commented, ?If [critics are] trying to say they?re the Moonies from
the 1960s, that?s not right. It was about bringing communities to?
gether to learn about each other and work alongside each other?
(Pickard 2008). One reader commented that the councillor was ?very
naive,? that it was

classic tactic of these cults to in?ltrate other, respecta?
ble organizations, appear to do good work and to ingrati?
ate themselves with those who have some in?uence in
public life, thus gaining respectability. The fact remains
that the Mmginies were founded only as recently as 1954 by
a man who claims to have had a visionary encounter with
Jesus Christ on a Korean mountain top, calls himself
?Messiah of the Second Coming,? has conducted mass
marriages for up to 500 couples chosen by himself, and
who went to jail in America for tax fraud. (Pickard 2008,
reader comment, accessed August I 2009)

The organizers of Gulen?inspired trips also seek out elected of??
cials (who may pay their own way to avoid presenting the appearance
of a con?ict of interest, peace and interfaith activists, academics, and
in general persons of in?uence in their communities. Like the Uni?
versal Peace Federation, the Gulen movement is faith?based, engages
in interfaith dialogue, and has a controversial, charismatic leader.
Unlike the Universal Peace Federation, the Gulen movement leader?
ship has not run afoul of US laws and has been effective in develop?
ing its social capital in the US.

Conclusion

Social scientists have long recognized the importance of building
social cohesion in community development and have studied the role
of networks of mutual support, caring, trust and goodwill in the
advancement of personal and community success. Such networks
result in a sense of shared interests, social cohesion and communal
actions, and are the basis of a well?functioning society. Multicultural
or pluralist societies seek ways to integrate people with disparate
backgrounds through building social capital. Ties may be built

91

THE GULEN HIZMET 

through shared communal celebrations, festivals, religious and cul?
tural events, visits to homes and communities, public education,
military service, workplace activities, sports or travel. The formation
of social capital can have negative consequences. It may lead to the
of gangs and patronage networks through the exclusion of
outsiders. Successful societies and movements will find ways to limit
this. The Gulen movement is seeking to develop social capital
through many avenues, one of which is invited travel to Turkey.
Through visits to families and shared meals, followed up with con?
ferences, talks and cultural and social events, ties of respect and
friendship are built between the Turkish volunteers and the Ameri?
can participants. While other Muslim non?governmental organiza?
tions have invited small numbers of visitors to their countries, the
Gulen movement has broken new ground by inviting many thou?
sands of visitors from the US and elsewhere, and the numbers are
likely to increase in the years to come. It is a remarkable example of
the formation of a new network based on mu?
tual trust and understanding that is rapidly becoming an integral part
of wider US society.

References

Aktay, Yasin. 2010. Presentation, Institute of Strategic Thinking, Anka-
ra,July 27.

Barlas, Ibrahim. 2009. Interview with the author, Pacifica Institute, Los
Angelcs, August 2 1.

Bosporus-Atlantic Association of Cultural Cooperation and Friendship
(BAKIAD). 2006. About Us. 
us-l.html (accessed October 6, 2010).

Bostanc1, Naci. 2010. Presentation, Gazi University, Ankara, July 27.

Haughey, John. 2010. Interview with the author, Georgetown Universi-
ty, Washington, DC, April 28.

Hendrick, Joshua. 2009. Globalization and Marketized Islam in Turkey:
The Case of Fethullah Giilen. dissertation, University of Cali-
fornia, Santa Cruz.

Irigiin, Bulent. 2010. Interview with the author, BAKIAD, Uskiidar,July
21.

Kahveci, Atilla. 2009. Interview with the author, Pacifica Institute, Los
Angeles, August 28.

Karpat, Kemal H. 2008. The Turks Finally Establish a Community in
the United States. In Tween/9 int/Ignatius #96 [mated 5:53:65: Pram Orzo-

92

N. GALLAGHER

ware Timer :0 5/93 Prarem?, ed. A. Deniz Balgamis and Kemal H. Karpat.
Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Kelner, Shaul. 2010. T021121 That Bind: Diaspora, Figured-(g3, Md 1.1mm? Bart/9-
??ng Train/211772. New York University Press.

Mujgan, Sibel Kocoloner. 2009. Interview with the author, Paci?ca Insti-
tute, Los Angeles, August 2 1.

Niagara Foundation. 2009. /nfon.org/about.html (accessed Octo-
ber 10, 2010).

Pacifica Institute. 2008a. About Us. http:Humvmpaci?cainstituteorg/
1 1 0
(accessed October 6, 2010).

. 2008b. Dialog Trips. 
1 13&Itemid= 142 (accessed
October 6, 2010).

N.d. Inter-cultural Dialogue Trip to Turkiye (brochure).

Pickard, Michael. 2008. Trip Was Not a ?Moonie? Junket. Way?rd 0/9-
.remer, June 1. http: mavwatfordobservercouk/ news 2307299.
(accessed August 1,
2009).

Rumi Forum. 2009. When I Was in Turkey. Washington, DC: Rumi
Forum Publications.

Saxe, Leonard, and Barry I. Chazan. 2008. T1372 Days Irrae? A
2'22 Yomgg Adm? [de?fi?h Waltham, MA: Brandeis University
Press.

Skubik, Daniel. 2009. Email communication, September 7.

Tavernise, Sabrina. 2008. Turkish Schools Offer Pakistan a Gentler
Vision of Islam. New York Timer, May 8. 
2008 05 04/ world/ asia/ (accessed October 6,
2010).

Uprising Radio. 2009. The 9/ 11 Legacy: Persecution of Muslims Con-
tinues. September 1 1. http: uprisingradio.org/ home Pp: 10066
(accessed October 6, 2010).

Yilmaz, Mustafa Edib. 2009. Gulen Movement an Inspiration for All,
Says Obama?s Muslim Advisor Mogahed. 2517215122, June 19.
http: /umrw.sundayszaman.com/ sunday/ detaylardoPload:detay&li
nk= 177999 (accessed October 6, 2010).

 

95