Dear Soner Tarim, Superintendant of Harmony Science Academy;
Why are you spending our educational tax money irresponsibly? This is over $400,000 for public relations, marketing, extra curricular activities, trips to Turkey and the unnecessary Turkish Olympiads. American Tax Payers should not have to pay for your non-educational expenses. Besides if your schools were all that you claim they are you would not have to hire a public relations firm like Karen Hughes who was the PR person for former President George W. Bush. Think about that the next time you beg for another $90 million in Bond Financing. Even Karen will not be able to protect you from the truth.
From Ex-FBI Turkish Translator Sibel Edmonds blog "Boiling Frogs"
Here at Boiling Frogs Post we have been covering the infamous Turkish Imam Fethullah Gulen, his $25 Billion network and CIA guardians, his more than 1000 Madrasas in the Balkans, Central Asia, Caucasus and elsewhere, his Charter School Empire here in our backyard, and of course, as always, the incredible blackout and selective coverage by the US mainstream media when it comes to this controversial operator. Maybe all that work was not totally futile after all. In the past few weeks, thanks to relentless and collective efforts by a group of concerned American teachers-activists, Imam Gulen has been receiving some deservedly eye-brow rising media coverage. Obviously, more than a few eyebrows must have been risen, since in a desperate attempt for damage control one of Fethullah Gulen’s main foundations has reached out and hired (make that bought out) George Bush’ queen of PR, his former campaign manager, and the former Undersecretary of State, Karen Hughes. The buyout terms must have been very steep since both parties, Gulen’s Cosmo-Hughes, have been mum about it when questioned:
The largest of the Texas charter operators, Cosmos Foundation, Inc., has hired no less than Karen Hughes of PR heavyweights Burson-Marsteller to — uh, what’s the word I’m looking for — help Cosmos pass the school construction bond bills. Other than the fact that Karen Hughes has declined to state how much cash she’s receiving for her, uh, help with the bond bills…
…There is not much information or details on the federal investigations of Gulen’s charter schools other than that the investigations are being coordinated by prosecutors in Pennsylvania where Gulen resides in his private castle, guarded by more than 50 Turkish security guards:
…but federal agencies – including the FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education – are investigating whether some charter school employees are kicking back part of their salaries to a Muslim movement founded by Gulen known as Hizmet, or Service, according to knowledgeable sources.
Unlike in Turkey, where Gulen’s followers have been accused of pushing for an authoritarian Islamic state, there is no indication the American charter network has a religious agenda in the classroom.
Religious scholars consider the Gulen strain of Islam moderate, and the investigation has no link to terrorism. Rather, it is focused on whether hundreds of Turkish teachers, administrators, and other staffers employed under the H1B visa program are misusing taxpayer money.
Federal officials declined to comment on the nationwide inquiry, which is being coordinated by prosecutors in Pennsylvania’s Middle District in Scranton. A former leader of the parents’ group at the State College school confirmed that federal authorities had interviewed her.
Bekir Aksoy, who acts as Gulen’s spokesman, said Friday that he knew nothing about charter schools or an investigation.
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Recently released Wikileaks cables contain some details on US unease over Gulen’s operations:
Classified documents recently released by WikiLeaks recount U.S. officials’ growing concern over large numbers of Turkish men seeking visas to work at American charter schools founded by followers of Fethullah Gulen, a powerful Turkish Muslim political figure who lives in the Poconos.
“Gulen supporters account for an increasing proportion of [the] . . . nonimmigrant visa applicant pool,” a consular official in Istanbul, Turkey, wrote in 2006, according to one of the documents posted by WikiLeaks two weeks ago.
“Consular officials have noticed that most of these applicants share a common characteristic: They are generally evasive about their purpose of travel to the United States.”
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One destination for visa holders is the Truebright Science Academy, a charter school founded in North Philadelphia by followers of Gulen.An analysis of H1-B visas conducted for The Inquirer showed that the number granted for Gulen charter schools has grown substantially since that 2006 report. More than 2,500 have been issued since 2007.
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The acting chief executive at Truebright, Tansu Cidav, has declined to discuss the school’s operation.
Turkish staffers at Truebright are paid more than their American counterparts, state pension records show. In the last school year, a Turkish math teacher who was not certified and spoke little English was paid $54,000; a certified American science teacher was paid $40,200.
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The common theme of Gulen’s US network in dealing with the recent inquiries and investigations seems to be: ‘No comments.’ They have refused to acknowledge or respond to all inquiries, even those on the minutest details of their American tax payers’ funded operations.
You know where I stand when it comes to partisanship and all the evils associated with it, right? Well, one of the very rare (if not only) positives that comes out of partisanship (sometimes) is the drive to bring out the ‘real’ dirt when it is associated with the other side-party. Unfortunately, this won’t be the case with Gulen’s operations. The pocketing of Karen Hughes for damage control and to further their nefarious activities will not become a ‘cause’ for the blind followers of the opposite party-the Democrats. Gulen’s operatives have been playing cleverly and safely (just like the MIC and the like): They have been pocketing and playing figureheads from both parties,
It’s very difficult to believe that any politician from the Chicago area would have nothing to do with the Turkish community there. For Jan Schakowsky to deny any relationship would be utter foolishness, of course, because she’s been very much involved lately with the Fethullah Gulen movement through the Chicago-based Niagara Foundation, whose honorary president is none other than Hocaefendi himself. This year Schakowsky wrote a Letter of Recognition for the Niagara Foundations 2009 “Peace and Dialogue Awards”. And Schakowsky did the same in 2008 and in 2007.
Naturally, these facts raise questions. How intimately does Representative Schakowsky know the Niagara Foundation in order for her to show such consistent and strong support? What benefits does the Niagara Foundation provide Schakowsky and the City of Chicago? Since the Chicago City Council backs and promotes the Niagara Foundation, what is the foundation’s real connection to Mayor Daly and former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, both of whom are involved in major, ongoing corruption cases?
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Those of you who are new to this website, you may want to check out our coverage of Gulen’s operations here at Boiling Frogs Post in order to get a better view of recent developments. At the time, I received more than my fair share of ‘anonymous’ attacks and criticism for my coverage of Gulen Operations while the mainstream media was busy hushing the issue, sanitizing Gulen’s history-present, and censoring documented evidence. I wish I could say I feel a bit better seeing the recent small scale of media attention-interest, but I cannot. The latest coverage does not even begin to touch the buried explosive facts…but I will be cautiously optimistic.
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| Karen Hughes with her former boss George W. Bush |
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