DATE=6/29/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=TURKEY / ISLAMIST SCHOOLS
NUMBER=5-46587
BYLINE=AMBERIN ZAMAN
DATELINE=ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: As Turkey's influential military keeps up its
battle against what it considers Islamic extremism,
one Muslim group - known as the Fetullahcilar - is
coming under increasing pressure. Turkey's military
accuses the group of using hundreds of schools it has
opened in Turkey and several other countries to
promote radical Islam. Amberin Zaman visited one of
the schools - in St. Petersburg, Russia - and filed
this report.
TEXT: Marat Kaymef is a Russian teenager who calls
himself lucky, because unlike most of his peers he
neither smokes nor drinks, and he can speak two
foreign languages - English and Turkish - perfectly.
Marat is among a handful of Russians attending the
prestigious Turkish-Russian Lycee in St. Petersburg -
which is run by the Turkish Islamist group
Fetullahcilar.
/// MARAT ACT ONE - IN TURKISH - FADE UNDER ///
Marat says thanks to the Lycee, he also has learned
how to use computers.
Marat and his classmates at the all-male school
consistently win first prizes in nationwide scholastic
competitions in subjects ranging from English to
physics. Education at the school is free. Many of
the students say that thanks to the school and their
teachers, they have come to know and love Turkish
culture.
But are they being converted to Islam? Absolutely not
say Russian education ministry officials, who all heap
praise on the schools.
Why is it then that Turkey's pro-secular armed forces
view the schools with such suspicion? Analysts say it
is because the schools were founded and are funded and
staffed by members or sympathizers of the Islamic
fraternity Fetullahcilar.
The group was named after its spiritual leader, an
Islamic cleric named Fetullah Gulen. It is among the
wealthiest and most influential Islamist groups in
Turkey. It runs nearly 300 schools worldwide,
including in Tanzania, Australia, and Bangladesh.
The Islamic brotherhoods have always exercised
significant power over Turkish society and politics.
And although they were banned by Ataturk - the founder
of modern Turkey - as part of his drive to secularize
his country, their influence continues.
A Turkish historian who has studied the group, Necip
Hablemitoglu, says Fetullah Gulen and his followers
want to overthrow Turkey's secular system and to
impose Islamic rule.
/// HABLEMITOGLU ACT - IN TURKISH - FADE UNDER ///
Professor Hablemitoglu points to a series of secretly
taped videocassettes that were broadcast on Turkish
television last year as proof that Mr. Gulen has a
hidden agenda. The tapes show Mr. Gulen advising his
followers to infiltrate state institutions - in his
words - "slowly" and "patiently" in order to gain
control of the country.
Scores of officers expelled from Turkey's armed forces
each year because of alleged links with radical
religious groups are widely believed to be affiliated
with the Fetullahcilar.
The videotapes have prompted an investigation of Mr.
Gulen by a special Turkish security court. Mr. Gulen
has since taken up residence in the United States.
Turkey's Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit appears to be
unswayed by the accusations leveled against the group,
saying Mr. Gulen's schools have boosted Turkey's
prestige abroad and especially in the Muslim republics
of the former Soviet Union. A report (released this
week) by Turkey's foreign ministry echoes his views.
Even so, back home in Turkey, Mr. Gulen's schools are
coming under mounting pressure from the authorities.
Impromptu inspections of the schools have increased.
In an apparent bid to project a more liberal image,
the schools are, for the first time, accepting female
students. And, the man responsible for the schools in
Russia, Kemal Sirin, denies that the Fetullahcilar
group has a hidden agenda.
/// SIRIN ACT - IN TURKISH - FADE UNDER ///
Mr. Sirin says their main objective is to foster ties
between the Russian and Turkish peoples in a broad
range of fields.
Listening to young Marat Kaymef speak glowingly of
Turkey, they appear to be succeeding.
/// MARAT ACT TWO - IN TURKISH - FADE UNDER///
Above all, Marat says his Turkish teachers have taught
him to be a good human being. (SIGNED)
NEB/AZ/JWH/RAE
29-Jun-2000 09:31 AM EDT (29-Jun-2000 1331 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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