’Gata-kulli’ or ’Feto-kulli’

One of these striking expressions is "Gata-kulli". It’s a topic of discussion if Mr. Gülen made a joke or who uttered this first, but one thing is certain: In the scope of the Ergenekon crime gang case, some people think a huge "Gata-kulli" goes on in Turkey and they have concentrated on exposing it. On the other hand, some others believe there is a "Feto-kulli" in everything. They openly and directly say this.

We have known all along that in Turkey there is a "Gata-kulli" in politics, i.e. military intervention in civilian politics. We are discussing the content and degree of it. But the institution we call "military" or the "army" is a closed box and we cannot go all the way to open it. Yet the Fethullah Gülen case is another closed box. For this reason, if Mr. Gülen is involved, the issue is no longer the questioning of military interventions in politics. One cannot find an easy answer to "What is the problem between these two closed boxes?"

The Gülen community insists on skipping all questions and politely tries not to understand the questions. There is no convincing message but "Our master is a harmless man of religion. He isn’t involved in anything. Why do you keep bugging him?" In this country so many people are looking for the hidden threat when it comes to the pious or to religion. But taking shelter in this pretext and constantly denying everything about this worldly-known huge organization is not convincing at all.

I wrote many times. What is the story behind "Turkish colleges" spread around the world by the Gülen community? "We are helping Turkish to be spoken everywhere," is not an answer. It is difficult for one to go abroad and try to open a school in order to spread Turkish language and culture. Is everything fine and dandy in the world so that Turkish philanthropies freely go around and get involved in activities whenever they wish to? Look at Iran, right under our nose. We have strong cultural ties with them and Turkish language is spoken widely. Yet there is not a Turkish college in Iran. Why? Coincidentally, these charity works are not getting a grip outside the United States!

I am not trying to imply anything. I am clearly saying it. But this doesn’t mean that some are used as a tool for U.S. foreign politics. Yet close ties are so very obvious. On the surface, such bonding is nothing new.

At the beginning, it was state policy for Turkey to accompany the United States, let’s say in its attempts to have influence the Turkic Republics in Central Asia during the Soviet dispersion. In that period, the Gülen community had extremely good relations with the state. They kept aloof from the Islamist Refah Party. Moreover, Mr. Gülen in an Izmir speech he delivered in 1989 labeled female students "anarchists;" the students who wanted to attend university while wearing headscarves. This is a long story. I suggest beginner columnists ponder that this is not an allergic reaction to religion, not a neo-leftist (ulusalcı) reflex. To others, I want to say "If we openly talk about all the processes and fights that have been started as the struggle for democracy turns into fights in the deep state, let’s boldly talk about all, including the Gata-kulli or Feto-kulli."


Nuray Mert is a columnist for the daily Radikal in which this piece appeared yesterday. It was translated into English by the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review staff