Harmony Science Academy featured at Turkish Olympiad in Texas thank you posted by Gulen Movement

This video of the Harmony Science Academy was posted by the Gulen Movment
It was filmed by Gulen's ERBU TV.  Enjoy American kids singing and dancing in
Turkish

Gulen Charter Schools in the USA: Gulen Charter Schools in the USA, more on the low ...

Gulen Charter Schools in the USA: Gulen Charter Schools in the USA, more on the low ...: "To the School Districts in America and abroad, the next time the Gulen Movement tries to propose a charter school in your area and claims th..."

Harmony Science Academy, A Global Turkish Islam and schools by Kurdish Aspect

Is a Turkish Astronaut in the future for the USA?

First Class Revolution: From Medina to Mecca

Kurdishaspect.com - By Dr. Aland Mizell

A Global Turkish Islam

How can Gülen and his movement become a universal religion and how can they replace capitalism and become a global power? Gulen is using the same method that Muhammad used to conquer the Arabian Peninsula. From three people to more than a billion Muslims, his movement advances Gulen’s doctrine that the only way they can become powerful is to stand on their own feet, which means by gaining economic independence from the West and from non-Muslims. How can they become economically independent from the non-Muslims or West? He encourages his followers to get the positive things from the West, America, and other developed countries, such as technology and education and to leave the negative things, such as religion and social norms. For example, as they are now doing in America, they have placed so many of their followers in large engineering firms, for example, Raytheon, Boeing, and Aerospace; in universities; NASA, Hollywood, and even the White House. They made a decision to replace laid-off American workers with Turks and to negotiate contracts with factories in Turkey. They are also trying to negotiate with President Obama’s administration to use one of the Turkish Astronauts in NASA’s next mission into space.  In return the Turkish government will buy more Boeing airplanes.  Further, he is negotiating with U.S. companies and foundations to give money to Gulenist charter schools. They teach children to be Turkish: to think Turkish, to see history through the Turkish perspective, and to learn their way of life and version of Islam. This is happening around the globe. His movement has infiltrated all state institutions, mastering all politics behind the scene, with the support of the European Union, the United States, and some other global powers.  In Turkey Gülen has taken control of seats of power by securing the supremacy of their version of religion over politics, government, education, media, business, and public and personal life.  Education for Gulenists is a means to more political, social and economical power, not an end. Some academics, like Helen Rose Ebough, professor of sociology at the University of Houston and author of a book on his movement, have become the propaganda tools of Gulenists, since their recruitment and courtship by the organization. Recently Dr. Ebough wrote a book entitled Gülen Movement: a Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam, praising the Gülen movement for its tolerance and service to humanity. One has to wonder at how much research besides their script she read.

Chief among its goals is shaping the world’s image of the movement. The Gulenists’ political, social, and religious movement is now very controversial all of over the world with so many questions being raised but few being answered. To those who think Turkey is becoming a more liberal democracy, they should consider the truth that Turkey has replaced one of its untouchable organizations for another: the military for the Gülen’s community and the AKP party.  Rather than being tolerate, they are dangerous. Those who criticize Mr. Gülen’s movement get burned.  For example, the new Constitution—highly advocated in his media-- significantly reduces the power of the military after its charge against Gülen. A more recent and highly illustrative example is Hanefi Avci, the former Turkish police chief who was arrested and charged with being affiliated with an illegal organization “The Revolutionary Headquarters,” a charge he denies. Avci published a book in 2010 alleging that Gülen’s community had covertly taken control of the state and that the government had illegally used wiretaps. Avci was taken into custody but gave a statement to the media that he would not succumb to any of the tactics of the Gülen community. Another example of retaliation for speaking out against the organization is Nurettin Veren, formerly Gülen’s close ally. Mr. Veren disagreed with Gülen, resulting in the destruction of his career and his family.  In a fourth example, the head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, responded to Mr. Gülen’s remark regarding the vote for a constitutional amendment, “I wish we had a chance to raise the dead from their graves and urge them to cast 'yes' votes at the referendum.” Bahceli retorted to Gülen that he needed to come back to Turkey to vote himself first rather than calling on dead people to vote.  Consequently, Gülen’s newspaper Zaman and others attacked Mr. Bahceli, who had also criticized the ruling party’s role in terrorism in the Kurdish region, and claimed that the AKP “is a political subcontractor at the global level.” The Fethullah Gülen website now leads the opposition to Bahceli.

Avoiding confrontation until the right time has been seminal in the movement. Since his coming to America, Gülen has avoided confrontation with the US.  because Muslims are not yet strong enough militarily nor economically to stand against American interests. Rather than opposition, Gulenists used the status of American power to achieve his goals in Turkey, and in the near future he will do so globally. But this tactic of relying on American strength could change once

Gulenists accrue enough power globally, and Turkey could become the biggest threat for American interests in the region. An important characteristic of the movement is its surface adherence to policies while covertly using whatever means is necessary to advance its cause.  One of Gulenists’ schools in Uzbekistan was closed because it did not have a permit, custom clearance, or renewal of its staff’s work permits and visas, etc.  But unveiling the guise of legality of the school in Uzbekistan is not the only reason why schools are being closed. Public pressure in a few places in America has drawn attention to the façade. The Turkish Olympiad is teaching the Turkish language, dancing, and singing in charter schools, and then providing the better students with a trip to Turkey for a grand finale to show internationally how Turkish is the language of love and peace. Some parents and teachers are looking deeper into the curriculum to see the true agenda behind the schools. In the interim, however, the Gülen movement continues to advance rapidly. If it continues on its present course as first in Turkey and then in America, the wave of Gulen’s Islamic revolution will soon reach the entire world. Gulenists easily manipulate the public by propagating rumors and conspiracy theories, by establishing Islamic centers, charter schools, and non governmental organizations ( such as

Interfaith Dialogue), by sending graduate students from Turkey to teach in

universities, and by establishing a strong lobby in the U.S.

Tactics Then and Now

In his first conquest of Arabia, Muhammad was able to send missionaries among different clans for the propagation of Islam, some of whom accepted and some of whom did not with the consequence of facing heavy sanctions and taxes. Is Gülen not using the same method today? Particularly in US- Turkish relations and in other countries, not many people have focused on the work of the Gülen movement or the political impact of the movement. The adherents will tell you that they are non-partisan and do not affiliate with any party, but, nonetheless, when you talk about the newspapers, media, NGO, TV stations and his followers, it seems that in Turkey they are owned by the AKP party. If, however,  you go back and look at the archives of the Zaman newspaper or any other of the Gülen movement’s media, you will not see much open support of any particular politics, and especially you will never ever see any open criticism of the army , but instead Gülen praises the army as almost holy. Why did Gulenist at the one time praise the army, when they also argued that the army and its leader were engaging in secret affairs? Then the Gulenists demanded that the Kurdish people should apologize to the Military, because the one time Kurdish leader Leyla Zana said the military was responsible for all the illegal activities and kidnapping of people in southeastern Turkey.  However, if you look at the same newspaper, the same spokesperson, and the same leaders of movement, you will discover that they seem to target the military and declare the identical military a public enemy. 

I am not defending the military but showing the Gulen group’s public support the army and its praise of the military’s past clandestine operations, but its underlying opposition to the power formerly wielded by the military. 

Another example of Gülen and his followers’ denying that they are supporting one particular party but actively working in politics is their involvement in the campaign to change the Turkish Constitution.  Gulen’s media announced that “The 58 percent ‘yes’ outcome in the referendum pleased Gülen very much.” Gulen commented on the result, “If they asked me to name one positive thing our nation has done in the last two centuries for the future of the country, it is to change the constitution,” resulting in the end of the military era through a peaceful revolution. Gülen even admitted, as mentioned above, if he had power to bring dead people to vote yes for to change constitution, he would. Instead, he ordered many of his followers who are involved in mission work abroad to return to Turkey to vote yes.  Innumerable examples of the movements’ methods and tactics to gain the power are available but only after searching and analyzing the clandestine activities and statements. For example, they are not telling the truth to the American public, declaring that the network of more than 135 publically-funded charter schools that they control have no connection to Gülen and his followers when it is irrefutable that they do. They are manipulating the press, buying politicians, and courting academics. Even a casual perusal of the Niagara Foundation, the Raindrop Turkish Houses, or the Rumi Foundation will show accurate information. Most Americans, Asians, and Westerners think these Turks are just nice people from a foreign country, never pausing to consider their ulterior motive. Many people do not have any idea that the Gülen movement exists and know nothing about Gülen and his global mission, so that thousands of Americans,  Asians, and Westerners have been manipulated into taking Gulenists-led trips to Turkey, attending Gulenists’ dinners and events, writing books, becoming propaganda tools, and accepting awards and Noah pudding from them. Many academics, diplomats, and students do not seem to have any awareness of the propagandist nature of the trips that are very carefully and skillfully choreographed by the members of the Gulenist organization. They are taking people to only select places, where people stay strictly on script.

People think that everything seems so natural, so convincing, and so kind, that they believe it is all sincere. The people who organize the trips are the charter schools, NGOs or InterfaithDialogue, and they have the plan down to a routine because they have orchestrated these efforts on numerous occasions and for many years. This kind of trip is often paid for by the BAKIAD, Bosporus- Atlantic Association of Cultural Cooperation and Friendship, which is also linked to the Gulenist organization. Many people think they received a free trip to Turkey, but they do not realize that they just paid their benefactor back by publicizing exactly what they wanted them to say for them. Many people discuss the Gulenist education model, understanding only the barest of its goals, but not the education model of chosing super intelligent youth, students from rich families, or intelligent but poor kids. For a long time they used the same recruitment among the Turkish people. Gulenists’ history is repeating itself.

Conclusion: Toehold to Stranglehold

The Gulenists are conducting a first class revolution, one that emulates Muhammad’s movement from Medina to Mecca in every detail. All the while they claim they are apolitical. In the case against the army in Turkey, they vehemently argued that they were not involved in politics and did not have any secret agenda-- until they got power, and now many of the military are in jail.

Currently, they are doing the same thing in Western and American cities, claiming all the while that they are outside the political arena and do not have any secret agenda.  Just as in Turkey when Ekrem Dumanli, editor of the Zaman newspaper, writes an article in Gulen’s newspaper that influences the political process, are they not using the very weapon they disclaim?  When Husyin Gulerce writes in the Zaman newspaper, against the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and for the referendum on a new constitution, is he not impacting the political process? Because they believe followers do not have to tell the truth every time or in every situation, they are fooling the Turkish military and secularists alike, and now they are fooling the West and America as well.

In his home country Gülen and his followers had very different experiences than in America. There the people initially reacted very harshly to his followers and his teaching. Gülen’s conversions were slow and limited to certain people, and even then the movement were under scrutiny. Before the 1997’s alleged coup plot, the military made a series of attempts to close Gülen‘s schools and topple other Islamic activities. The military also kicked out more than 250 of Gulen’s followers who had infiltrated the high ranks of the military. In 1999, after an incident involving the confiscation of his sermon tapes in which Gülen spoke of changing the secular government, Gülen left Turkey and emigrated for alleged health reason to the US to continue his mission activities there and to increase his power base. Now having opened schools in each of the fifty states, business companies, cadres of followers in universities, the Ebru TV station, the Zaman Today newspaper, the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA-a USA political action committee established to shape the American view of Turkey through public education), the Turkish PAC, the Turkish Coalition New Jersey Political Action Committee (TC- NJ PAC), and the Turkish Coalition California Pac(TC- CAL PAC), he has moved from having a toehold to a stranglehold in America. Even a preliminary glimpse at the TCA website would confirm the agenda of this concerted Turkish Islamic movement to assert control over the American political process. Gülen brings thousands of his students from Central Asia and the Balkans to the US to set up sister coalitions.  He and his followers are challenging even the Jewish and Armenian lobbyist in the US. They have opened charter schools with the audacity of purchasing churches to convert them to Islamic charter schools, like the conversion of the Hagias Sophia Church in Istanbul to a mosque. These schools and teachers promote one thing-- Turkish nationalism--and indoctrinate students in the Turkish brand of Islam. They boast about winning awards, but the only ones they win are in contests that the Gulen movement and their own foundations sponsor, for example, the Turkish Olympiad, the Science Olympiad, and Math challenges. The educational initiative of charter schools is a platform and business for them because they can manage it very cheaply and make the numbers look good. Many naïve people who do not take the time to investigate the under workings think the schools are all about cultural understanding, sharing, and acceptance, but they actually advocate the opposite values. I am asking those Western professors who have become Gulen’s and his movement’s outspoken representatives in the US and around the world, did you ever do research on was Gulen‘s view on the Vatican? Did they ever let you listen to one of his speech accusing the Vatican of being the mother of all evil and scum responsible for bloodshed around the world? Gulenist are only wearing the clothes of democracy, tolerance, justice, and equality for the sake of getting total power around the world. In Turkey they have already toppled the secular government in the media and the military in the judiciary, and now their dream is global power. Those who do not see this are living in a fantasy.

Harmony Science Academy - MORE fake advertisement "100% graduation rate"

The schools say they have a 100 percent graduation rate.”

Harmony Science Academy, Houston: The class of 2008 started out in 9th grade with 47 students. In 10th grade it was 44, 11th grade 35, and by the 2007-2008 school year the class was down to 31 twelfth-grade students. Many education researchers would argue that this implies a graduation rate of 31/47 = 66%. In fact, some would say that an additional correction should be made for the fact that the total enrollment in the high school increased from 129 to 151; making such a correction would give an even lower graduation rate.
This is not an isolated example:
Harmony Science Academy Houston – class of 2009. Started with 47 9th graders in 2005-6, ended with 37 12th graders in 2008-9 (79% graduation rate).
Harmony Science Academy Austin – class of 2009. Started with 24 9th graders in 2005-6, ended with 13 12th graders in 2008-2009 (54% graduation rate).
Harmony Science Academy Dallas – class of 2009. Started with 44 9th graders in 2005-6, ended with 14 12th graders in 2008-2009 (32% graduation rate).
(All enrollment numbers came from the National Center for Education Statistics.)
Clearly these schools have a large amount of attrition.

. Why didn’t more of those ninth graders stay in the schools through 12th grade? Where did they end up – as dropouts or in another school? The claim is that the schools’ goal was to get all the 9th graders into college; a necessary step towards that goal would be getting them through 12th grade.
We would also have appreciated an independent confirmation of the claims regarding the waiting lists. The schools have a powerful incentive to inflate these lists, and there is no outside agency checking on them

Harmony Science Academy- Mentioned in USA Today Article, "Turkish Ties to Charter Schools questioned"

Gulen not in his Imam prayer robes, remains in seclusion

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-17-turkishfinal17_CV_N.htm

Excerpts from USA article:

Top administrators say they have no official ties to Gülen. And Gülen himself denies any connection to the schools. Still, documents available at various foundation websites and in federal forms required of non-profit groups show that virtually all of the schools have opened or operate with the aid of Gülen-inspired "dialogue" groups, local non-profits that promote Turkish culture. In one case, the Ohio-based Horizon Science Academy of Springfield in 2005 signed a five-year building lease with the parent organization of Chicago's Niagara Foundation, which promotes Gülen's philosophy of "peace, mutual respect, the culture of coexistence." Gülen is the foundation's honorary president. In many cases, charter school board members also serve as dialogue group leaders.

Education officials who are familiar with them say the schools aren't trying to proselytize for Gülen's vision of Turkey. While Turkish language and culture are often offered in the curriculum, there's no evidence the schools teach Islam.

But questions about hiring and academics also have arisen in Arizona, where Daisy Education Corp. runs five schools and has received certifications for 120 H-1B visas for foreign teachers since 2002, records show. In Texas, the Cosmos Foundation has filed 1,157 H1-B applications since 2001. It operates 25 Harmony schools statewide. Since 2001, Harmony has imported 731 employees using H-1Bs, surpassing all other secondary education providers nationwide. Parents last year also accused one Harmony school of "pushing out" underperforming students — a charge the Texas Education Agency confirmed.

Ed Fuller, a University of Texas-Austin researcher, found that Harmony schools throughout Texas had an "extraordinarily high" student attrition rate of about 50% for students in grades six through eight.

Crossing the line?

At minimum, the rapid growth of the Turkish-affiliated schools shows how the freewheeling world of charter schools has changed the face of K-12 education in the USA.

In most cases, charters are loosely regulated in exchange for improved performance. A few schools are affiliated with religious groups or offer programs that others can't. But in several cases, a school's orientation has forced it to show that it's not crossing lines and endorsing religion.

 Unlike PBS and other publications, the USA Today doesn't accept $Money to write a "Fluff" piece on the Gulen Charter Schools. 

Harmony Science Academies rehearse for Gulen's Turkish Olympiad

http://www.click2houston.com/video/18754200/index.html

Does the School District know that the American Students are practing over at Turquoise Council's office.  How clever to always stand in front of the Turkish Flag.  Did you know the winners of this will compete in Turkey at Gulen's International Turkish Olympiad?  Children from other schools like Indonesia, Pakistan, Albania, etc., all know about Gulen and freely talk about him.  While the American participants have no clue. Who(m) pays for this elaborate show?  Your bond money at work.

Once again, the predictable advertising of Hizmet. 

Harmony Science Academy- Islam and Secularism the fight for Turkey's future

Stratfor intelligence report talks very openingly about the Gulen Movement's influences inside and outside of Turkey.
Ironically the Stratfor Intelligence is based in Austin, TX.
http://www.brighteningglance.org/on-turkey.html
pg. 7 of this intelligence report specially talks about the Gulen Charter Schools in the USA.

Harmony Science Academy-Testing scandal may leave schools in Turkey without teachers

Professor Yusuf Ozcun, head of YOK and Gulenists
suspects cheating

This paper Hurriyet is one of the few in Turkey not owned and operated by the Gulen Movement.  Teachers in Turkey are complaining that the Gulen Movement has inflitrated the teaching institutes up to and including key posts like Professor Ozcun - that non-Gulenists teachers are being pushed out of their jobs.  Sound familiar?

Testing scandal may leave Turkish schools without teachers

ERISA DAUTAJ ŞENERDEM
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Thursday, August 26, 2010

Hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren risk not having a teacher on their first day of classes as education officials try to sort out allegations of cheating on the placement exam for civil servants.

“We believe the Education Ministry must postpone the deadline to nominate teachers by a week or 10 days,” İsmail Koncuk, the chairman of the Turkish Education Union, or Türk Eğitim-Sen, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in a phone interview Thursday. He said a delay would allow the ministry to see the results of the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office investigation into the cheating allegations.

Though the country’s top educational authority has not yet concluded its own inquiry into the accusations that some test-takers had access to the questions before taking the Public Personnel Selection Examination, or KPSS, it has said the claims might have merit.

“The questions might have leaked out,” the Higher Education Board, or YÖK’s, Board of Auditors said in a declaration Thursday. The statement, however, does not represent a final finding as the auditors have yet to meet with officials from the Student Selection and Placement Center, or ÖSYM.

As the YÖK and Ankara prosecutor’s inquiries continue, union representatives are saying the authorities must act rapidly and thoroughly.

The cheating allegations focus on the KPSS10, the exam according to which teachers are selected and placed throughout Turkey. Though the deadline set by the Education Ministry for applications is Friday and the placement decision for 30,000 teacher positions is due to be announced by Tuesday, any appointment decisions risk being canceled if the KPSS results are determined to be invalid.

“The [KPSS] exam must be canceled if it is proven that a large number of people have cheated,” Koncuk said, adding that such a possibility was high.

The Presidency’s press center has also released a statement saying the allegations on cheating or leaked questions were being followed and have been brought to the attention to the State Supervisory Council.

“The Education Ministry refused to postpone the deadline for placement of teachers,” Mehmet Bozgeyik, the secretary-general for the Education and Science Personnel Union, or Eğitim-Sen, told the Daily News. He said the union had presented all the information they possessed to help the investigations of people who registered perfect scores. He also said that they had proof that most of the candidates with perfect scores had close marital, family or housemate relations with each other.

The Education Ministry must postpone the placement of teachers until it gets the results of the ongoing investigations lest it “support this messy situation,” Bozgeyik said.

Aydın Doğdu, one of the owners of the Kadıköy Çözüm Education Institution, who has been instructing graduates who take the KPSS since 2003, told the Daily News that it was impossible for even a few people to get perfect scores on the exam.

“Even [KPSS] experts found some of the questions in this years’ exam difficult to understand and solve,” he said, countering claims that some 350 candidates were able to get perfect scores because the test had been very simple.  

According to Doğdu, the fact that the number of people with lower scores had decreased was another indicator that there had been cheating. “Normally, the people who get high scores are fewer [in number] than those with low scores,” he said, adding that this year’s results showed the opposite pattern.

He added, however, that it would be difficult to properly punish the responsible persons if the cheating claims proved to be true, saying there were gaps in the Turkish Penal Code in this respect.

Koncuk disagreed, saying that if the allegations are proven, the responsible parties could be punished for “misconduct of duties” and for harming the future of innocent people.

© 2009 Hurriyet Daily News
URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=kpss-scandal-will-teachers-be-appointed-2010-08-26

 



More on Educational shortfalls in Turkey

http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action;jsessionid=9FF1BCE65B6F8B94358FA4E4D9100E96?newsId=221395

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=suspicion-of-a-new-education-scandal-2010-10-10

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=state-exam-cheaters-under-technical-surveillance-2010-08-31

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INDICATORS SHOW BIG INADEQUACY IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN TURKEY

http://www.ejmste.com/v3n2/EJMSTE_v3n2_Ozden.pDF  

Excerpt below:

National and international indicators show that there is a big inadequacy in science and

technology education in Turkey as compared to other countries. This important problem

affects the young students’ structure of thinking perspective and perceptions of nature in a

wrong way. The problems in science and technology education will block creative and

critical thinking, curiosity and positive attitudes towards nature. In order to determine

attitudes towards science and technology education program and the reasons of low

achievement in science education, a questionnaire with 20 items about science and

technology lesson, has been prepared and applied to 84 science and technology lesson

teacher in elementary schools in two different cities (Adıyaman and Malatya) of Turkey.

According to the result of this research, the main problems with science and technology

education are insufficient number of science and technology teachers’ taking active role in

the preparation of the programs, the insufficient in-service training of the science teacher

in the transition state of a new program, the huge numbers of the students in the class,

the informational education orienting students towards only exam achievement, the

broken link with other lessons (e.g. mathematics program) and insufficient physical

conditions of schools (less laboratory opportunities

Discrimination in Primary Education in the

Slums of Turkey: Problems about Equity of

Education

http://www.waset.org/journals/ijhss/v4/v4-2-13.pdf

The results of the research demonstrate that the children getting education in the

slums of Ankara can not experience educational equality and justice.

The results of this study show that the opportunities of the schools in

the slums of Ankara are very limited, so the individuals in these

districts can not equally benefit from the education. The families are

aware of the problem they are faced with.

Educational Problems in Turkey

http://www.amazon.com/Educational-Problems-Turkey-Uralic-Altaic/dp/0700708863

Harmony Science Academy- Gulen keeps beating the same drum

Harmony Science Academy- Another Fluff piece in Houston's PBS - Cosmos, Raindrop Turkish House,Turquoise Council et al further admission of Harmony's links to Gulen

January 21st, 2011

The Gülen Movement

LUCKY SEVERSON, correspondent: His name is Fethullah Gülen. He is a 69-year-old Turkish Islamic scholar and author, apparently in poor health, who came to the US seeking medical treatment. He lives a secluded life at a retreat in Pennsylvania. So why was he voted by his admirers in a survey by Foreign Policy magazine as the most significant intellectual in the world? Among those admirers are Kemal Oksuz and Alp Aslandogan. Correction Lucky, Gulen is no scholar and has a 5th grade education.  No admirers except the Gulen Movement who has a voting and letter writing campaign going on to further Hizmet.
KEMAL OKSUZ (President, Gulen NGO Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians): Kind, modest, humble, generous. We see him as a source of information, inspiration, but never prophet. He would be the one who would be troubled the most if he hears that followers or inspirers see him kind of prophet. Kemal has never met Gulen as the exiled leader of the movement lives as a prisoner on his 25 acre compound in PA.
ALP ASLANDOGAN (Institute for Interfaith Dialogue): Personally, he is definitely very knowledgeable, very sincere in wanting the best for the people—not just Turkey, but for all humanity. Not knowledgeable about life outside of Islam, as Gulen has never lived among others and only has a 5th grade education.  Not sincere, Gulen wants domination of the world and Turkey - Please note the Islamic Flag of Turkey next to Texas and America's Flag in front of an American Tax supported School.  The one thing Gulen and his movement want to do is promote Turkishness and Islam as acceptable to young children worldwide.  Nice Try Aslandogan, do you want to talk about your recent talk with Dr. Joshua Hendricks and why the Harmony Science Academy and other Gulen Charter Schools should come clean?
SEVERSON: Gülen has inspired his followers to build schools, provide humanitarian aid and engage in interfaith dialogue. University of Houston Professor Helen Ebaugh, who wrote a book on the Gülen movement says the movement got its start when Gülen was an imam in Turkey. Lukewarm admission
of the Schools affliation, remember Dr. Ebaugh is a paid speaker and researcher for Gulen.  Dr. Ebaugh (See Video Below) has stated "Gulen has 25 Schools in Texas, they are Charter schools and they are causing problems."
PROFESSOR HELEN EBAUGH (Dept. of Sociology, University of Houston; Author of “The Gülen Movement”): When Fethullah Gülen began preaching in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s in Turkey, his message was we don’t need more madrassas. We need schools that would promote science and math and secular subjects, and his contention was that one can be modern and one can be scientific and still be a good Muslim.  What is your point Dr. Ebaugh?  The schools are hardly performing well.  Turkey was 32 out of 34 countries in the OCED Education ranking - BELOW AVERAGE above Chile and Mexico.  If these Gulen Charter Schools are not about Islam and gaining Turkish sympathizers, then take down the Turkish Flag and stop the Turkish Character Classes and Turkish Olympiad.  American money should not be paying for this. 
SEVERSON: Bill Martin is a senior fellow in religion and public policy at the James Baker Institute at Rice University. He says the Gülen movement is different from fundamentalist Islam because they respect all faiths and believe religion is compatible with science. Religion is compatible with science?  Then why does Turkey perform so low on worldwide Math, Technology and Science Scores?  Why are the Gulen Charter Schools only earning awards at Gulen Foundations/institution OWNED contests like: Science Olympiad, Math Matters, Consef, Turkish Olympiad and more.  It is hard to lose an award or honor when the Gulen Movement is sponsoring it. 
WILLIAM MARTIN (Senior Fellow, James Baker Institute at Rice University): I think it’s fair to say that Islam has had difficulty in coming to terms with modernity, and in that I think that the Gülen movement offers a much more positive picture of what Islam can be.  The Gulen Movement is loosely based on Sufism, this is not the majority in Turkey - Sunnis is.  The Gulen Movement has proven no positive picture and is currently under investigation in Turkey for 194 counts. 
SEVERSON: Gülen-inspired volunteers from Turkey bring Turkish language and culture with them. In Houston they sponsor a Turkish Olympiad where American Harmony Science Academy students compete in Turkish dance and song. The winners compete in an annual competition in Ankara, Turkey. There are more than a 1000 Gülen-inspired schools and universities in over 100 countries. American tax Dollars pay for this
MARTIN: Gülen has always emphasized education, and that really lies at the core of this movement. To be a good Muslim meant to be well educated, and to be a good Muslim who participated in modernity meant to be conversant and well educated in science, math, and technology.
OKSUZ: Education helps you overcome ignorance, poverty, corruption, hate, extremism, racism, whatever, all the illnesses of the society. Because of that education is very important. Oksuz HONESTY is also important - not "Keeping Secrets" as instructed by Gulen.
SEVERSON: In Texas there are 33 nationally recognized public charter schools with over 16,000 students grades K through 12. They’re called Harmony schools, and the Turkish superintendent insists they are strictly secular and in no way connected to Gülen. They are all connected to Gulen and the teachers brought in From Turkey and other Turkic countries have two criterias 1- Must be a member of Hizmet (mostly men) 2- Had gone to one of Gulen's schools in Turkey.  All are KNOWN members of the Gulen Movement.  Why do you think this article is mentioning Gulen and the Harmony Science Academies?  DUH?  Professor Ebaugh says there’s a reason for this kind of sensitivity.
EBAUGH: I think a lot of that is related to the Islamophobia that exists in this country. I think there is a lot of fear that Islam is trying to take hold of this country and countries around the world—that it’s trying to spread itself. Not Islamophobia it is the lack of transparency and accountabilty that the schools are in fact part of the Gulen Movements worldwide grand ambition.  Although after this article you have made it clear there is a definate connection. 
SEVERSON: About 60 percent of the kids in the Texas Harmony schools come from disadvantaged neighborhoods. The schools say they have a 100 percent graduation rate. No wonder there are 21,000 kids on the waiting list.  Severson, look below the December 2009 board meeting Soner Tarim is quoted in print as saying the waiting list is 9,000-14,000 Soner has never quantified this.  Are we to understand that the Harmony Schools current enrollment is 16,000 YET their is a waiting list that exceeds enrollment of 21,000?
Or is this another of the selling tools used to get more uneducated parents to sign up under sense of urgency?  Personally I have never spoke to ONE parent that had to wait to get their child enrolled at Harmony Science Academy.  Prove it.  This is Soner's way of trying to get more American Tax Education money. 
MARTIN: I think the Harmony schools are an outstanding example of what the Gülen followers have been able to accomplish in particular with respect to education. Of the three high schools that had graduating seniors this year, only three students had not already been admitted to a four-year college at the time of graduation.  This is not true, first of all the 12th grade always is the lowest amount at the Harmony Schools, the drop out rate from Harmony is between 1-3 years.  Hardly any way the schools can tell if they are making an impact or not.  As a rule these schools are known for fudging on tests, and other data to keep the flow of American money coming in. 
PHOEBE TAYLOR (Teacher, Harmony School of Innovation): I know teachers who stay up here seven o’clock at night, eight o’clock at night who are also working at night from home.  Ask Phoebe how many years she has been teaching and how many years she has spent at Harmony School of Innovation?
CHUCK LAMBERT (Teacher, Harmony School of Innovation): They know our expectations for them. Through kindergarten all the way through high school, they know this is a college school. Our goal is to get you into college.  Chuck is also a newer teacher and the 10-12th grade enrollment numbers are always the lowest.  How convenient that they have some non-Turkish teachers quoted.  So talk about the American teachers that are canned to make room for the over 400 H1-B Visa teachers and other "workers" that Cosmos is bringing in. 
SHARON QUINILTY (Teacher, Harmony School of Innovation): I have never worked harder. But you really see the results. Because the parents are very involved, the kids really respond.  Sharon was that you that wrote a letter to the Texas Tribune see below. 
OKSUZ: Gülen—not only he urges teachers to go and work at these schools, on the other hand he urges people from all walks of life to go and support all these schools. Build up schools instead of mosques. Build up universities instead of mosques. Build up cultural centers, interfaith organizations, aid organizations, hospitals instead of mosques.  When did Gulen urge this?  Interfaith organizations are about a "show" a speaker a presentation or some big award.  The Cultural and Interfaith centers of Gulen are about promoting 1 culture and 1 religion.  Then there is the photo and media opportunities that follow like the 1 time meeting with the late Pope John Paul II who had previously been shot by a Turkish nationalist.
SEVERSON: Supporters say Gülen owns nothing himself but has persuaded others to give generously to many independent organizations. Gulen's empire: Media (Today''s Zaman,Fountain Publishing, ERBU TV) education over 600 schools worldwide, Interfaith Dialog, insurance, banking, etc., is estimated to be $25 billion in worth.  Gulen lives very comfortably as the prisoner of his own empire NEVER leaving the Golden Foundation in Pennsylvania.
EBAUGH: The movement has become quite wealthy. It’s one of the richest movements in Turkey. It has private hospitals, it has all these private schools. There’s a big media industry, one of the biggest in Turkey. It has the Zaman newspaper. Kimse Yok Mu is one of the latest. That’s their relief organization. They help disaster victims all over the world. Thank you Ebaugh you at least admitt the movement is wealthy.  The relief organizations come with more schools and hospitals Turkish controlled worldwide. The children in these relief areas such as Pakistan, Congo, etc., are given red balloons with Turkey's flag on it and the Turkish flag to wave.  There is always a method to the Gulen madness.  Yes they did contribute to the IHH which sponsored the Flotilla. 
SEVERSON: Kimse Yok Mu and in the US Helping Hands contribute millions of dollars in humanitarian aid each year. Professor Ebaugh says in Turkey Gülen urged businessmen to grow their businesses and give a part of their earnings, as much as a third, to support humanitarian aid and education. The teachers and other "employees" that the Schools are bringing to the USA (Cosmos has immigrated over 1,100+ since 2001) Tuzuk (donate) over 40% of their salary back to the foundations like Cosmos, Raindrop Turkish House, Turquoise Council, Gulen Institute and more. Some go without pay as slave labor. 
EBAUGH: The movement is financed not only by these wealthy businessmen, but more importantly it’s financed by everybody in the movement. Everybody contributes, and the average seems to be about 10 percent.  Try 40% Tuzuk, this is why the schools don't want to hire Americans, they abuse the H1-b Visas to get reimbursements from their Gulen salaried slaves workers
ASLANDOWAN: I go beyond the expected level in my income level. For all of this my motivation is that just like God loves us as human beings we also should act in a manner that is pleasing to God. And I believe that all of these actions—charitable donations, volunteerism—are pleasing to God. That’s why I’m doing all of this.  Aslandowan are you one of the people that has privately loaned money to bail the schools out?  Whats this?......is this why the Concept Schools, Cosmos Foundation, et al are applying for Bond loans to pay back private debt? 
SEVERSON: Alp is a volunteer in charge of the Institute for Interfaith Dialog in Houston, which is located in the Raindrop Turkish House. This is a mockup of the projected interfaith center, which will include a Jewish synagogue, a mosque, and a Christian church. Gülen has always stressed the importance of interfaith dialogue to promote peace and has met with Pope John Paul II and reached out to leaders of many religious minorities. And he may have been the first Muslim leader to condemn the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Gulen met the late pope 1 time over 15 years ago, as a regular man in a suit not as a Imam in his prayer clothing.  Gulen brought Pope John Paul II a gift for his birthday, then a photo opportunity that the Gulen Movement still pushes off on people today (yawn) .  Talk about the current Pope Benedict and his remarks about Turkey and Islam.  Go make nice with the CURRENT pope. 
ASLANDOWAN: He immediately posted an ad clearly saying that this was an anti, a non-Islamic act. It’s not even a human act. The people who committed this are not Muslims; they can not even be called humans. He said Bin Laden is a monster and people around him are monster if they think like him.

SEVERSON: Alp Aslandowan says Gülen teaches that suicide attacks cannot be justified in Islam. Cultural and Education Jihad is what the Gulen Movement performs. 
ASLANDOWAN: Some people try to justify the killings, homicidal killings, by saying that those people who are engaged in those, they don’t have any other means, and he said that this is not a Muslim’s view. It cannot be a Muslim’s thinking, because for a Muslim if the end result, if the end goal is virtuous, worthwhile, holy, then the means should also be holy. Allah Akbar, Gulen does NOT SPEAK for 90% of the world's muslims.
SEVERSON: Professor Ebaugh says the movement could do better by placing women in leadership roles. Gülen is not without his critics.  As a whole the Gulen Movement is male centered and women have very secondary or low roles.  This is the Gulen Movement, which also believes in scarf wearing - hijabs.  Women have no place in the Gulen Movement.  Gulen himself never married and has no women around him.
EBAUGH: The big issue in Turkey for the critics is the fear that the movement is becoming very powerful, very wealthy, and that there is a sub rosa agenda to create an Islamic state, and they always compare it to Khomeini and Iran. Dear Ms. Ebaugh, you have no idea what we think in Turkey, every time you have been to Turkey PAID by the Gulen Movement, your trips are strategically guided to only staged areas.
MARTIN: I think there’s no warrant to the charges that Gülen wants to take over and impose Sharia law. I think that, frankly, is an absurd fear.  Gulen himself has stated "you must work into the arteries of the system without being noticed until you reach all power centers.  This article was an admission that the Harmony Schools in fact are influenced by Gulen and managed by known members of the Gulen Movement. Gulen wants to dominate education worldwide, and has already been thrown out of several countries and denied Charter School Applications in the USA.  the estimate worldwide is between 600-1,000 schools creating Turkish and Islamic Sympathizers so Turkey can finally dominate the areas of the Ottoman Empire again and gain a foothold on the economic resources in Africa, Central Asia and other areas.  If this is not about Gulen Expansionism then someone should tell the school to remove the Islamic Flag of Turkey. This is a Texas School in the Country of America, the flag of Turkey has no place in an American tax supported school. 
OKSUZ: The movement is neither sect nor cult. It is a civil society movement. It is politcal and religious as well as "social" Gulen is aligned with the current Islamic leaning AKP party of Turkey and on September 12th Gulen instructed his followers to vote "YES" Gulen is very much involved with politics and religion the civil society is only the means to control the political /religion in a country.  Hence, the reason Gulen was exiled out of Turkey. 
MARTIN: Sometimes they are accused of being a missionary, a missionizing entity. As far as I know, I don’t know anyone through the schools or otherwise that they’ve tried to turn into a Muslim.  The Turkish Character Classes are based on Gulen's Pillars of Wisdom, you will find that many of the books at the schools are printed at Gulen's publishing house Fountain Publishing.  
SEVERSON: For the time being, those who follow Gülen, both critics and admirers, seem to agree that he is leading one of the most important movements in Islam.  It is only important as it involves $billions of American money being washed and laundered with these numerous Gulen Foundations via the schools. Why do you think this article encompassed all the Gulen NGOs in Texas as well as the Harmoney Science Academies?
Thank you for finally showing everyone that the Harmony Science Academies are linked to the Gulen Movement.

UPDATE 1/31/2011 KEMAL OKSUZ'S POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=TX&last=OKSUZ&first=Kemal

The Gulen Movement: Keeping Secrets

Harmony Science Academy-Dr. Joshua Hendricks paper on Gulen, invitation to Texas and Gulen's time in prison



During the 1971 military junta when Fethullah Giilen

was an employee for the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), he spent

seven months in prison for allegations that he was the leader of a secret religious

community. He was released but was temporarily barred from public speaking. In the

1980 military coup, Gulen was again detained and questioned before being released.

In 1999, Giilen faced more serious charges that he was the leader of a clandestine

organization that directly threatened the integrity of the Turkish state. The primary

evidence in the case was a video excerpt leaked to the press, which Fethullah Gulen

instructed his community as follows:

"You must move in the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing your

existence, until you reach all the power centers... You must wait until such

time as you have gotten all the state power, until you have brought to your

side all the power of the constitutional institutions in Turkey... Until that time,

any step taken would be too early - like breaking an egg without waiting the

full 40 days for it to hatch. It would be like killing the chick inside. The work

to be done is [in] confronting the world. Now, I have expressed my feelings

and thoughts to you all - in confidence... trusting your loyalty and sensitivity

to secrecy. I know that when you leave here - [just] as you discard your empty

juice boxes, you must discard the thoughts and feelings expressed here. "n

When this aired on Turkish television in the spring of 1999, Fethullah Giilen had

already moved to the United States.

Who was Fethullah Gulen and what explained the contradictory presentation

of his followers and their impact? I used the opportunity presented by the call for

papers to draft an exploratory essay comparing my understanding of the Giilen

Movement (GM) to my understanding of global Islamic activism in general.1

However rudimentary, my hope was that by submitting a paper I might earn an

opportunity to meet with scholars conducting research on Muslim politics in Turkey,

and on the GM in particular. Three weeks after submitting my paper, I received a

phone call from a man who identified himself as Mehmet. Mehmet was an organizer

at Houston's Raindrop Foundation. He explained that while my paper was a late

submission, it was well received, and that while the conference program was already

fixed, the organizers wanted to fly me to Houston to participate in the conference as a

guest. Knowing that all conference participants had their expenses paid, I found this

invitation to be both gracious and curious. Why would I, a graduate student with only

second-hand knowledge of this movement, be invited to participate alongside

scholars who, I assumed, had spent months or years studying the movement as an

object of academic research?

Upon arriving in Houston, a Turkish man named Murat met me at the airport.

Murat spoke no English, but his card indicated that he was an "outreach coordinator"

at The Raindrop Foundation. We carried on a rudimentary conversation in Turkish. I

learned that he was from Istanbul and that he was in the US studying mathematics at

the University of Houston. When we arrived at the conference hotel, the welcoming

reception was about to start. At first I thought it was typical of a conference dinner

reception, fifteen or so tables with eight to ten seats at each, a large buffet, and a

small podium at the front of the room. I entered and was immediately greeted by

Mehmet, the man who initially invited me to the conference over the phone. We

shook hands and he introduced me to several other gentlemen in the room.

READ Dr. Joshua Hendricks dissertation here  http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?did=1851762261&Fmt=14&VType=PQD&VInst=PROD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1282780320&clientId=79356