GYV President Mustafa Yeşil answers questions about the Gulen movement

NEWARK, N.J. - March 26, 2013 - PRLog -- Hizmet does not expect anything from the political authorities. Our only expectations are that the EU process must be kept alive and democratization must be achieved; that rights and freedoms are improved; that the ongoing fight against military tutelage is completed; and that the new constitution materializes. We do not even want to think about this last effort not being successful.

Neşe Düzel of Taraf newspaper interviewed Mustafa Yeşil, Head of the Writers and Journalists Foundation, about the Gülen movement. The interview was published on May 7, 2012. The movement was exposed to another defamation those days. Ms. Düzel asked all the questions anybody wants to learn about the movement and its dynamics. HizmetNews.COM is publishing this long interview in English, as those questions are still asked and it seems that they will be asked in the future.

WHY MUSTAFA YEŞİL

Lately, a much-disputed topic in Turkey has been the government-Movement (aka "Hizmet") conflict. The fact that the head of the National Intelligence Service (MIT) had been summoned for interrogation by specially authorized prosecutors due to the Oslo negotiations with the PKK has further damaged this relationship. As a result, the Movement was compelled to issue two long statements. Previously showing up before the media to discuss its achievements, for the first time it has deemed it necessary to explain itself in relation to the state and politics; to tell where it stands; and to explain what it is trying to accomplish.  We therefore talked with Mustafa Yeşil, one of the Movement's forerunners, about what it is, how it works, its schools and hostels, who its members are, whether some of them can be found among the police and the public prosecutors, appointments to the police force, and the claims of flagging. He was also asked about the Movement's role in the arrest of Ahmet Şık, the summoning of the MIT secretary, state-politics-Movement relationships, the MIT crisis, the government-Movement conflict, why Fethullah Gulen criticizes the AKP and Prime Minister Erdogan, and whether the Movement supports the government's Kurdish policy. Thus, for the first time a newspaper has interviewed someone other than Fethullah Gulen on behalf of the Movement. Mustafa Yesil, head of Writers and Journalists Foundation, one of the Movement's most important institutions, graduated from Marmara University's Faculty of Divinity and was Zaman's representative in London.

What does it mean to be a Movement member?

"Movement member" is not the correct term, and therefore we do not use it. Rather, we use "the person who loves Hizmet," because this movement has no structure characterized by membership records, entry-discharge ceremonies, regular meetings, and similar things.

Don't Movement members organize meetings?

Of course they do. They meet in relation to the institution, unit, or projects with which they are involved, such as a school director with his/her teachers, a businessmen's association with board members, and a foundation with its own management personnel. But this does not mean membership.

Why not?

It is more correct to say "supporter" or "volunteer," because this is a movement built by people who love and are interested in Hizmet. Naturally some people take certain roles upon themselves. However, others only provide material support, or provide no material support or time but love Hizmet anyways. Those in the outer circle take a neutral approach by saying "these people mean no harm."

Is there a hierarchy?

If you are asking whether there is a structure with instructions, announcements, programs, and projects coming down from the top flow and being obeyed word by word ... no, there is no such thing. Maybe there is one related to the institutions and organizations that cooperate with each other on certain projects. Each organization has legal boards and heads of boards. Hocaefendi is a leader of ideas; he is not Hizmet's managerial [or any other kind of] leader.

How many Movement supporters are there?

It is not possible to count all of them. Even if you only think of teachers ... today there are a total of 1,000 schools both in Turkey and abroad. If each one has ten teachers, then there are 10,000 teachers in total. In addition, there are business associations. There are also media people who love Hizmet. Overall, several million people love Hizmet.

What is the Movement's purpose?

The Movement has one local and one global target. Its local target is to help Turkey assume its deserved place in science, economics, politics, and education through well-educated and qualified people.

What is your global target?

Hocaefendi says, "With everything we do in all our projects, we are to form a culture of living together in the world since providing the world with peace and happiness can only be achieved by forming the culture of living together." Hizmet has more than 1,000 schools in 140 countries; about fifteen of them are universities.

It is said that the police force has many Movement members. Do you know how many of your supporters are in the police?

People working for the police are the sons and daughters of this country. They are the children of the Anatolian people coming from the roots of this country. They are our neighbors' children. When we talk about the large numbers of people who love Hizmet ... not only in the police force, they are present in the economy, tourism, agriculture directorates, and also in government administration.

Read the full article: http://www.hizmetnews.com/index.php/interviews/item/859-g...