"Gulen Charter Schools USA",a factual look at a worldwide movement to dominate education. Read about the "Gulen Charter Schools" in the USA as well as worldwide. Share our ride exploring the Gulen Movement tactics.
These postings are based on news articles, government documents such as H1-b Visa info, IRS information.
http://www.gulencharterschools.weebly.com http://www.charterschoolwatchdog.com
http://www.charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com
http://www.gulenschoolsworldwide.blogspot.com
Gulen's American Empire
Gulen Empire map from Turkish Newspaper. DISCLAIMER: If you find some videos are disabled this is the work of the Gulen censorship who have filed fake copyright infringement reports to UTUBE
Syracuse Academy of Science another Catholic School conversion
Here is another Gulen conversion of a Catholic school, this one is a strange story because it is SO obvious what Hizmet has done. They were able to purchase this building for $350,000 from the Catholic Parish and are now renting it for $20,000 a month. The money goes to the Gulen Foundation - Terra Science and Education Foundation, this is over inflated rent to the tune of $240,000 a year almost paying the mortgage off. WHO IN TURKEY IS GETTING THE MONEY FOR THIS RENT?
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/syracuse_charter_school_to_bri.html Syracuse, NY -- The former St. James parish school building in Syracuse’s Valley section will reopen next fall to accommodate the burgeoning Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School. The Syracuse Academy will use the building to house its elementary grades, school Director Tolga Hayali said. The parish sold the three-story building for $375,000 on May 10 to the Terra Science and Education Foundation, Pastor John Manno said. The parish elementary school, at 4837 S. Salina St., closed in 2006. The nonprofit foundation will rent the space to the Syracuse Academy, Hayali said. The foundation was established recently to support a network of charter schools in Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, he said. Fehmi Damkaci, a Syracuse Academy board member and an assistant professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, is affiliated with the Terra foundation, which is based in Syracuse, Hayali said. The Syracuse Academy will pay the foundation roughly $20,000 a month in rent and related costs to use the St. James building, he said. A charter school is a public school, funded with tax dollars, that operates independently of the local school district. The tax dollars are per-pupil state aid that would have gone to the local school district if the students had enrolled there. Instead, the money follows the student to the charter school. The Syracuse Academy opened in 2003 and was founded by an academic from Syracuse University. It is located in the former Sacred Heart Church school at 1001 Park Ave. It began as a school for grades seven through 12, but in 2010 it received state permission to add elementary school grades. It added kindergarten, first and sixth grades this year at its original site. Next year, all the elementary grades will move to the former St. James, and the school gradually will add grades each year until it is a full kindergarten through sixth-grade school in 2014. Its projected elementary enrollment next school year is 216. Its current enrollment in grades seven through 12 is about 358 students, Hayali said. Contact Maureen Nolan 470-2185 or mnolan@syracuse.com.
Turkey’s Fethullah Gulen movement, for some others a sect or a cult, promoting service to the common good, may have grown into the world’s biggest Muslim networking community. Is it the modern face of Islam, or are there more sinister motives?
From Kenya to Kazakhstan, from USA to Sudan and Nepal, a new Islamic network is attracting millions of followers and apparently billions of dollars. Inspired by a Turkish imam, Fethullah Gülen, who resides in the USA, the Gulen movement is linked to more than 1,000 schools in more than 130 countries as well as think tanks, newspapers, TV and radio stations, universities – and even a bank.
The massive network is really unique. It has no formal structure, no visible, no tracable accounts or organisation and no official membership. Its followers state they simply work together, inspired by the message of charismatic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who tries to convince to promote a tolerant Islam which emphasises altruism, hard work and education.
Turkish businessmen are attracted by what they see and hear as his international outlook and pragmatic approach to issues like using a finance credit.
In Turkey currently the movement is thought to have up to 10 million supporters. A recent study shows many are dedicated in giving between 5%-20% of their monthly income to many sub-groups affiliated with the movement.
Critics are centered that the movements aim is nothing but to gain power, to spread socially conservative Islamic attitudes on issues like marriage and alcohol around the world, and to suppress any opposition, just like any other radical islamist organisation.
Fethullah Güven A threat to Turkey’s Secularity?
In the past year, three of its most prominent critics have been sentenced to prison in Turkey, revealing claims that it has become a sinister controlling might in Turkey.
Mr Fethullah Gulen’s critics hint to a video from 1999, in which he preaches his followers that they should purposely attempt to infiltrate mainstream structures:
“You must move within the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing your existence, until you reach all the power centres. You must wait until such time as you have got all the state power, until you have brought to your side all the power of the constitutional institution in Turkey.”
The following year, Fethullah Gulen faced charges of trying to sabotage Turkey’s secular state.
He left then for the United States, claiming the recording had been tampered with. He was later cleared in absentia of all charges.
Today Fethullah Gulen is 70 years old and lives a secluded life on a country estate in Pennsylvania, USA.
Fethullah Gulen has urged his followers to build schools instead of mosques, and encourages interaction with people of other faiths through dialogue societies, including one in the UK and many in the United States.
The American Islamic College, closed since 2004 when the state revoked its operating authority, is expected early next month to win approval to reopen.
Supporters see the opening of the Chicago college, founded in 1981 in the Lakeview neighborhood, as an important step for Islamic instruction in the United States. But its detractors point to the college’s ties to a secretive and far-reaching international movement that has been accused of Islamism in some countries and of an overuse of non-immigrant work visas to hire foreign teachers in its schools in the United States.
The movement, led by Fetullah Gulen, a Turkish religious leader living in self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania, supports scores of charter schools that have gained a reputation for academic achievement and a commitment to spreading Turkish language and culture.
Yet the Gulen schools have caused widespread concern about possible manipulation of immigration laws and misallocation of taxpayer dollars. Mr. Gulen, an extremely wealthy and well-connected Turkish spiritual and political leader, fled Turkey amid charges of plotting to overthrow the secular government. He was acquitted of all charges in 2006.
The college would become the second Islamic educational institution in the country to offer college-level credit. For Muslims in the area, it would be a rejoinder to those who depict followers of Islam as prone to extremism.
“It looks like a resurrection of the college, which is great,” said Zaher Sahloul, head of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. “It’s very important to have an institution of higher learning run by the Muslim community.”
Top officials at American Islamic College have been linked to Mr. Gulen’s movement. In a cable obtained by Wikileaks, the United States’ former ambassador to Turkey characterized the Gulen movement as a potentially destabilizing influence in Turkey that more secular Turks see as an effort to bring about an Islamic state.
The Gulen movement, called Hizmet (a Turkish word meaning “service”), promotes public service and education and oversees research institutes, universities, media outlets and one of Turkey’s largest banks. The movement seeks to spread Gulen’s influence internationally through an informal network of 1,000 schools in 130 countries.
Hizmet operates more than 120 publicly financed charter schools in 25 states, in addition to a handful of private schools, like the Science Academy of Chicago, run by Niagara Educational Services, a Mount Prospect firm associated with the Gulen movement. Like many of the movement’s American schools, the Science Academy focuses on math and science.
Administrators of the schools often deny any official connection to the movement, which has no formal organization or official membership but operates through a network of followers, according to Hakan Yavuz, a political science professor at the University of Utah and co-editor of a 2003 book on the organization.
“It’s safe to assume that A.I.C. will be influenced by the Gulen movement,” mainly through the selection of the college’s instructors and administrative staff, Mr. Yavuz said.
“It makes sense for them to hire people from the Gulen community,” he said, “as they have much more knowledge and experience in the American education system.”
According to recent news reports, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Departments of Labor and Education are investigating accusations that as many as 100 of the movement’s American schools have used taxpayer money to pay for the immigration of teachers’ families from Turkey and provide other financial support for the Gulen movement.
Federal officials declined to comment.
Ali Yurtsever, head of the executive committee setting up the American Islamic College, denied any connection with Gulen. The school will have to generate its own income, unlike Gulen schools in the United States that are supported by the movement, he said.
Mr. Yurtsever has long been a follower of Mr. Gulen and serves as administrator of Niagara Educational Services. He previously was president of the Gulen-backed Rumi Forum, a Washington research institute whose honorary president is Mr. Gulen.
Attempts to contact Mr. Gulen through his Web site and through Mr. Yurtsever were unsuccessful.
School officials say the college will present what Mr. Gulen has long stood for: a more moderate form of Islam than the extremist version that has often dominated public debate in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001. The school plans to offer more than a dozen courses in the fall and hopes to attract up to 400 local and international students in the next few years.
The college was established 30 years ago by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a Saudi Arabia-based association of more than 50 predominantly Muslim countries. In 2004, the Illinois Board of Higher Education revoked its operating authority, citing a failure to comply with state regulations.
Now, after spending $500,000 from the Islamic Conference to renovate its library, dorms, mosque, and 1,000-seat auditorium, the college is reopening under new management. It is led by Mr. Yurtsever, a mathematician with a Ph.D. from Ege University in Turkey who taught at Georgetown University.
College officials expect to receive authority to offer for-credit courses from the Illinois Board of Higher Education on June 7. The college has applied for full accreditation, which would allow it to confer four-year degrees.
Mr. Gulen, 70, has lived in the United States since 1999, when he left Turkey. In a widely circulated video from that time, he advised his followers to “move within the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing your existence, until you reach all the power centers.”
In the United States, Gulen schools often import Turkish teachers using H-1B visas, which allow American employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty jobs.
The federal government places a strict limit on the number of H1-B visas it issues, and corporations often complain the cap restrains their ability to transfer highly qualified workers from foreign countries. Yet Gulen-backed schools received 839 H-1B visas in 2010, a 65 percent increase from 2007, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Teachers unions and education reform groups in several states have spoken out against the spike in foreign-born teachers at Gulen schools. “There is no reason to bring teachers in from other countries under the guise of lack of staffing,” said Jenni White, president of Restore Oklahoma Public Education.
Mr. Yavuz, the political scientist, said he did not see the movement as a danger, “but I don’t see it as productive. “
“I think their main goal is to improve the image of Islam in the U.S.,” he said, “but even there, I don’t know if they can be successful.”
Queen Liliuokalani statue at the Capitol, her spirit still protects and guides the people of Hawaii. Queen Liliuokalani wrote the song "Aloha Oe" (Farewell to Thee) The Hawaiians have sung Aloha Oe to the Gulen Movement.
Gulen Cult strikes out in Hawaii Legislature, School?
By Andrew Walden
by Andrew Walden
After months of trying to get on base in Hawaii, is it ‘three strikes and they’re out’ for the Turkish Gulen cult?
Hawai`i Free Press readers learned last December that the cult was attempting to take control of Mokapu Elementary School on Kaneohe Marine Base.
The Gulenists Mokapu STEM school proposal was withdrawn in December, but as our sources informed us, the Gulenists operating as “Sonoran Science Academy” resubmitted their proposal for the new year. The February 16, 2011 minutes of the Mokapu School-Community Council indicate: “Charter- the company that was interested before is expressing interest again.”
But after articles from Hawai`i Free Press were made available, teachers and parents at the school were ready. A petition was circulated and the April 20, 2011 minutes of the Mokapu SCC tell the story:
Mokapu STEM Charter Conversion
i. Mrs. Mulchahy met with faculty and informed them that a representative from the Sonoran Science Academy would like to meet with them to discuss converting Mokapu into a Charter school. 78% of the faculty signed a petition stating meeting with the representative was not needed. They have enough information already.
ii. Admin and Classified staff need to still vote on the meeting
iii. Mrs. Miyasaki will draft a letter to accompany the petition declining the meeting
This was only the beginning of the Gulenists’ abysmal failures.
On the Legislative front, efforts to pass HCR30, a symbolic resolution “Recognizing the cultural, educational, political, and economic relations between the people of Hawaii and the Republic of Turkey”, foundered after the Gulen Cult was exposed and Legislators were informed by concerned citizens. HCR30 only passed after being stripped of all references to Gulen front groups.
The Gulenists’ embarrassment and shame was heightened when it turned out that they had hoaxed Sen. Mike Gabbard and several other legislators during legislative lobbying visits earlier this year. A Gulenist portraying himself as “Ozkur Yildiz, President of the West America Turkic Council” was in fact one of two different Ozkur Yildizes—both of who were portrayed as “President of the West America Turkic Council.”
And then to top it all off, Hawaii State Ethics Commission Executive Director Les Kondo sent out an April 19 memo to politicians warning them away from accepting free accommodations in Turkey from the Pacifica Institute—another Gulen front group.
It is easy for the Gulenists to provide free accommodations because they use Gulenist-owned hotels, restaurants and transportation and their fellow cult members simply absorb the costs of the free accommodations, meals, and transfers.
Kondo explained:
"The State Ethics Commission understands that legislators may have received invitations from the Pacifica Institute to participate in a trip to the Republic of Turkey. With respect to the Pacifica Institute's invitation, the State Ethics Commission does not have sufficient understanding of Pacifica Institute, the purpose of the trip, or the state 'benefit' associated with the trip.…"
The trip was to be from May 13-24. Did any Hawaii legislators accept the freebies after the warning from Kondo? We will be watching.
Na Na Na Na, hey hey Good Bye!!!!
Richmond Charter Academy in Richmond, VA added to the growing list of denied Gulen Charter Schools.
Keep up the Good Work America, you can win!!!
Read about the previous denials here:
A proposed second charter school in Richmond has been recommended for denial because of concerns that include a curriculum deemed to not meet state standards. A review team outlined about 50 shortcomings to the Richmond Science Academy's application in a report submitted Monday to the Richmond School Board. The board is set to consider the matter June 6. In its report, the eight-member review team questions whether the city needs a charter school focused on science, technology, engineering and math in light of a similar academy at the Richmond Technical Center and one planned at Huguenot High School beginning in 2013.
The report also cites concerns about the curriculum, saying it fails to meet certain state requirements and doesn't coincide with Standards of Learning tests. The review team said the school plans to offer Spanish I to sixth-graders but give them until eighth grade to complete the course.
"The curriculum does not reflect rigor," the report says.
Other highlighted concerns touched on funding, student assessments, admissions practices and staffing issues.
The nonprofit Richmond Education Foundation has envisioned the Richmond Science Academy as a college-prep school for sixth- through 12th-graders. The group is separate from the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation, which raises funds for the school system.
Sheila Bynum, a member of the foundation's governing board, said Tuesday that she had been unaware of the review team's report and was not immediately available to comment.
The group submitted its application early last year, but the school system's review was delayed by about six months as officials clarified whether it needed to be reviewed first by the state Board of Education under a state law that took effect after the application's submission.
The foundation did not specify a location for the school, and it has planned to open with 216 students in grades six through eight in its first year. As proposed, it would grow to 408 students in grades six through 12 by its fifth year.
The city's first charter school, the Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, opened in August at Woodland Heights Baptist Church in South Richmond. It plans to move into the former Patrick Henry Elementary School this year after renovations are made to satisfy standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Concept’s boy Sam sent out a rebuttal letter to its “faculty, parents, friends, and supporters.” Seems like Sam just didn’t like the way he was portrayed in the Channel 5 news segment and how all the really “important stuff” that he had to say was edited out.
Gee, Sam, sorry you feel that way – but it just isn’t so. Perhaps if Sam had not taken so long to answer Ron Regan’s question about why Concept did not hire American teachers – he would have had more “air” time instead of “Oh! Crap! How am I going to answer that question,” time.
It’s amusing how the boys love the media when the media is covering their orchestrated events and it fits into their public relation schema, but when it comes down to some serious and not so pleasant insight into their operations, they get a little testy and defensive.
Sam claims that Channel 5 was “sensationalizing” the illegal immigration fee payments. And tell us, exactly how did Channel 5 misrepresent the evidence and findings from the government? The audits speak for themselves and as far as the excuse – we thought it would be okay because “private” companies pay for their employees’ families…” Did someone forget to tell Sam, the Vice-President of Concept Schools, that their schools are publicly funded with taxpayer funds?
And we love Sam’s response about how a bunch of Turkish businessmen wanted to “Raise the bar in Science and Math in Ohio,” and decided that only they could do that – hence the reason to bring over so many H1B visa holders (the majority of whom were Gulen-inspired Turkish men). Sure that makes sense – an alleged shortage of educated, qualified, and licensed American teachers, so bring over – at the cost of American taxpayers -- unlicensed, unqualified, Turkish “teachers” (the majority whom had never taught), and who have limited English reading and writing skills, in order to “raise the bar” on American education.
As a side note, did anyone catch the recent Turkish article stating that the Turkish government is planning to recruit 40,000 English speaking teachers to teach Turkish students English because their reading and writing skills are so low? Wow! Finally an answer to our unemployment issues – we can send all of the American teachers who have involuntarily forfeited their jobs to Turkish H1B visa holders and send them to Turkey to teach the guys they are sending here to take their jobs. Another point of interest is Sam’s assertion that there are not any current federal investigations of Concept/Horizon schools currently going on. Well, Sam exactly how sure are you? We hope Sam realizes that the “federal” government includes the Department of Labor, the FBI, and Homeland Security. And Sam, we would be happy to share our contacts with you for verification purposes.
It also seems that Sam is really upset about Mary Addi. In his rebuttal, he states, “Third, Mr. Regan’s report on Channel 5 Cleveland, which is used as a reference in other stories, included an interview with a disgruntled former employee named Mary Addi who was terminated in 2009 after she was discovered working a second job on company time. She later filed a complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which was investigated and denied."
The part that Sam left out is that Mary Addi was employed by Horizon/Concepts Schools at 3 different times. That’s right 3. So if Mary Addi was such a bad -- bad -- bad --"disgruntled " employee – then how is it that Horizon hired her not once, not twice, but instead -- 3 times?
According to Sam, Mary Addi, “Later filed a complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which was investigated and denied.”
In fact, Mary Addi filed discrimination charges (retaliation, discrimination based on nationality, age, and gender, and harassment), with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (also a federal agency Sam) in July 2008, prior, not after, her termination of employment, or as Sam would say, “Upon being released.” And the findings were not “denied,” as Sam alleges, in fact, the findings were inconclusive, allowing for Ms. Addi to sue in civil court in the future...
Here’s another excerpt from Sam’s rebuttal, and more specifically, his explanation about “Marry Addi and her husband". Sam states, “Upon being released, Marry Addi and her husband, who was an H1B employee at one of our schools, Horizon Science Academy Denison, filed a complaint to US Department of Labor in 2008. Since then Department of Labor has been auditing/investigating this complaint in a particular school, Horizon Science Academy Denison. We hereby underline one more time that there is no federal Investigation on our schools or Concept as the news stories suggests. "
So which is it Sam, is the federal government investigating or not? First you admit that there is an ongoing DOL investigation, and then “underline one more time that there is no federal investigation on our schools.” Sam – one more time – the Department of Labor is a federal agency.
And Sam, wasn't "Marry Addi released," in February 2009, but according to your statement, the complaint was filed with the DOL in 2008, making it once again -- before and not after --Marry Addi's release."
Sam’s explanation about the 9% H1B visa holders either teaching or “administrating” in Concept Schools is that “Whenever it makes sense, Horizon Science Academies hire Ohio teachers and support staff.” We would really like to know what “makes sense,” to Sam, because it does not makes sense to us when Ohio’s unemployment rate in 2010 was hovering at 10%, and there was an abundance of unemployed, qualified, and licensed American teachers ready and willing to work, then why there are still 9% H1B staff members employed at the Ohio Concept Schools. Surely Sam, with all of the unemployed teachers in Ohio, Concept could find 9% more American teachers to fill those spots.
Further, how does it “make sense,” that 99%, if not 100% of their schools, do not currently have, nor have they ever employed -- a female -- American Director, Business Manager, or Dean of Academics (except for the phantom position Sagnak gave out when he was having his "Identity Crisis" -- but that's another blog), and instead, have filled those positions with Turkish or other foreign national men?
And talk about “sensationalism,” how about Sam’s pitch about the success of Concept schools. Sam states, “Our results speak for themselves with Blue Ribbon Awards, “Excellent” and “Excellent with Distinction” ratings, demand by parents and students, and most importantly 100% college acceptance for many years.” But Sam forgot to include the state’s school ratings of all of the Concept schools which does not include all “Excellent, and Excellent with Distinction Ratings.” In fact, some of their schools are on “Academic Watch, and “Continuous Improvement status.”
Here’s the real deal Sam, and it is not “sensational,” except to say that you guys have been operating under the radar for the past 10 years and the gig is up. It’s not going to be business as usual anymore. So suck it up and expect that those federal agencies and ensuing investigations -- that you so loudly protest do not exist -- do in fact, and will continue as long as you guys continue to violate the rights of American employees, misuse taxpayer funds, and participate in the other nefarious acts that your organization has been so comfortably accustomed to.
Below is Sam’s rebuttal: Concept’ s rebuttal of recent news stories in Ohio
May 19, 2011
To our Faculty, Parents, Friends and Supporters:
Recently, there have been news stories on local channels in Ohio about Concept managed schools; Horizon Science Academies and Noble Academies. Those stories use Ron Regan’s story on Cleveland’s Channel 5 that aired on Monday, May 16, 2011 as a reference. As often happens with television news, those stories, including Ron Regan’s Channel 5 story, are edited in a way that, in our view, mislead viewers about the operation of Horizon Science Academies in Ohio. As those stories seem to revolve around a few same issues I am writing to set the record straight and clarify any confusion raised by those reports.
First, such reports attempt to sensationalize the repayment by Horizon Science Academy employees of certain immigration fees and expenses as documented in various school audits.
As most people know, charter schools in Ohio are audited annually by the Auditor of State’s Office. Back in 2001 when Betty Montgomery was the Auditor of State, several Horizon Science Academies voluntarily disclosed to the Auditor’s Office certain expenses associated with the immigration of math and science teachers from Turkey who were going to teach at our new schools in Ohio. Horizon Science Academies were founded by Turkish mathematicians and scientists who wanted to raise the bar for math and science education in Ohio. At the time, there was a nationwide shortage of math and science teachers, so we recruited some highly qualified math and science teachers from Turkey. Just as the Cleveland Municipal School District did when it recruited teachers from India in the 1990s and paid for their travel and immigration expenses, so did we. Additionally, we paid these expenses for the spouses and children of our new employees, just like any private company would. The Auditor of State’s Office permitted the expenses for the employees but not their dependents. Audit reports from 2001 show that three Horizon Science Academies, Cleveland High School, Toledo High School, and Columbus High Schools, paid these expenses for 19 employees and some of their family members totaling up to about $13,000. All of these funds were reimbursed at the time the Auditor’s Office made its ruling, not recently as suggested by Mr. Regan and other reporters. Some stories do not even mention the fact that these funds were reimbursed on a timely and swift manner once the auditors brought it to our attention.
Second, these reports raise concerns about hiring out of state teachers and the issuance of H1B visas to some of our employees. These visas are issued to certain workers with skills in short supply in the United States. The Federal Government determines the criteria for issuing these visas. The Horizon Science Academies simply took advantage of a federal visa program at a time when math and science teachers were in short supply. Currently, less than 9% of the workforce in all of the Horizon Science Academies are participating in this government authorized program. Whenever it makes sense, Horizon Science Academies hire Ohio teachers and support staff.
Third, Mr. Regan’s report on Channel 5 Cleveland, which is used as a reference in other stories, included an interview with a disgruntled former employee named Mary Addi who was terminated in 2009 after she was discovered working a second job on company time. She later filed a complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which was investigated and denied.
Upon being released, Marry Addi and her husband, who was an H1B employee at one of our schools, Horizon Science Academy Denison, filed a complaint to US Department of Labor in 2008. Since then Department of Labor has been auditing/investigating this complaint in a particular school, Horizon Science Academy Denison. We hereby underline one more time that there is no federal Investigation on our schools or Concept as the news stories suggests.
Fourth, such reports raise concerns about the Horizon Science Academy in Dayton, which is leasing its facility from an Ohio limited liability company that is owned by a Turkish businessman who was willing to take a risk on the development of this property as a school, when Dayton area banks and others were not. The Dayton school leases the property for $3.78 a square foot, which is a bargain compared to medium grade office space in Dayton, which is leased for $10 a square foot or more. News stories that make this sound like hundreds of thousand of dollars go oversees is nothing but part of an agenda of sensationalizing their stories.
Fifth, some of those reports raise concerns about borrowed money that was repaid to individuals overseas. When our first school opened in Cleveland in 1999 there were financial challenges. The State of Ohio does not provide any facilities funding for charter schools and banks as a rule will not lend to start up charter schools. After attempting to obtain funding in Cleveland, the founder of Horizon Science Academies, Taner Ertekin, reached out to businessmen in Turkey to find short-term non-interest bearing loans. The school paid the loans back. A portion of the loan ($36,000) was paid back via wire transfer. The Auditors never raised any questions about the loan. Instead, the Auditors questioned the method of repayment. We provided the loan documents to the Mr. Regan at Channel 5 Cleveland. It is ridiculous to present this repayment of a non-interest bearing loan as “practice of spending Ohio school tax dollars overseas” and is far from objective and true journalism.
There are 17 Horizon Science Academies and 2 Noble Academies in Ohio. Together they educate about 5000 students each year. More than 95% of Horizon Science Academy students graduate from high school 100% of those students are accepted to college. Our results speak for themselves with Blue Ribbon Awards, “Excellent” and “Excellent with Distinction” ratings, demand by parents and students, and most importantly 100% college acceptance for many years.
Charter schools including ours are high regulated with increased accountability and autonomy. Annual audits by the state auditors and ongoing reporting and oversight is in place. All of the Concept managed schools are not-for-profit organizations with transparency. All of our records and documentations are available for public review. We take pride in the diversity of our community and are proud of every single of our employees, as they are the ones making unprecedented differences in urban communities. What has made successful is our uncompromising focus on our students not on adults as a diverse community. We assure everyone that we will continue doing so and not let anything take away our focus from student achievement.
Should you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail, ucan@conceptschools.org or phone, 224 388-9953 (cell).
So Gulen issues a direct threat to the "smear campaign" or is it the truth campaign regarding his sheep that blindly follow his movement. We thought that the promoters of these Turkish culture Olympiads were not directly related to the Gulen Movement? To Gulen, you receive the CRY BABY AWARD for your lies and threats. Bring it on you fool! What are you going to do - Jail the whole world that dare speaks the truth about you and your 5th grade education? Enjoy yourself in exile, you might be deported out of the USA before you know it. Should you decide to follow through with your threats or fatwa, we await with subpeonas for discovery of all your records.
Gulen:Smear Campaign Targest Those promoting Turkish Culture
Turkish intellectual and scholar Fethullah Gülen has said a smear campaign – with accompanying propaganda -- is under way against people who exert the utmost efforts to introduce Turkish culture to the rest of the world, calling for common sense in reaction to the makers of the campaign and the propaganda.
“We can resort to self defense in the face of ruthless smear campaigns, accusations and attacks or make explanations or refutations against them. If there are people who insist on wrongdoing, then we can sue them for damages. These are our legal rights. But we will never act in a violent manner as they do. We will not show them our fists as they do to us. Even if they threaten to slap us, we will not respond to them with slaps,” Gülen said on Monday in his latest speech broadcast on website Herkul.org.
Gülen's remarks came in clear response to a recent smear campaign against the Gülen movement and its followers. The Gülen movement is a group of volunteers engaged in interfaith and intercultural dialogue inspired by the ideas of Gülen, whose teachings promote mutual understanding and tolerance between cultures. Now residing in the US, Gülen has pioneered educational activities in a number of countries, along with efforts to promote intercultural and interfaith activities around the world.
According to Gülen, there are some circles that wish to defame the Gülen movement around the globe. “They cause mischief in some place and spread it to the entire world thanks to the Internet and television.” However, he said his movement will never resort to unlawful or violent methods when responding to the bad deeds of those people. “The ones who show you their fists are not people of mind, soul or heart. They put humanitarian values under pressure and try to suppress those values. As a necessity of their character, such people may resort to hatred, aggression or using their fists. But you [followers of the Gülen movement] will display your own character, and you will never do the same [acts of violence] to them. … Since we are doing everything in a human-centric manner, then we have to become ‘handless’ to whom hits us and ‘tongueless’ to whom swears at us as Yunus [Emre, a great mystical Turkish poet] said. Even though others do not treat us in a humanitarian manner, we will never engage in efforts to retaliate against them. We will not even think of responding to their bad deeds with other bad deeds. We will fulfill the requirements of being a Muslim,” he added.
Commenting on the requirements of being a Muslim, Gülen said “A real Muslim forgets all good things he did for people. When you try to remind him, he will not remember. But he remembers about all the bad things [he did to other people] even if it was 70 years ago. He repents to God as if he committed a murder any time he remembers them [bad things done to other people.] This is a real Muslim.”
Additionally, Gülen said the movement became the target of attacks when it grew bigger and more popular. “They are fulfilling what their character requires them to do. They are attacking violently. There were fewer attacks in the past. It was not the center of much interest then. Thus, it was not much envied. … But one day came, and they [opponents of the Gülen movement] started to take the issue more seriously. They entrusted the issue [attacks against the movement] to international [intelligence] services.”
The scholar also said followers or members of the movement should be very careful with regard to plans and attempts of opponents of the movement to “throw mud at the movement.” “These people [members of the Gülen movement] are serving in all corners of the world. If some people intend to throw mud at the movement, we should not allow them or provide them with expected means. A tiny mark on one of us may be attributed to the entire movement. No individual [member of the movement] should carry marks. He may lose his arm, head or life, if necessary, but he should avoid any mark on himself. We need to pay extra attention,” he stated.
In addition, Gülen said he has been subjected to smear campaigns and insults for the past 40 years, but he did not even complain to God about bad deeds or mistakes of wrongdoers. He said he prayed to God to make those people return from their wrong deeds and mistakes. “This is our philosophy. Even if it seems hard to us and even if we are subjected to injustice, we should think in this way. I have been rolled over [subjected to injustice] after every coup d’état since 1960. It was what happened to me after the March 12 [1971] and Sept. 12 [1980] coups d’état. I am ready to give my life 50 times to a handful of soil of my country. I am yearning for my country here, but I have never asked God to send people who did all this to me to hell. I always prayed for them, asking him to show them his mercy.”
Gülen added that if people treat one another with good feelings, then goodness will dominate the world. “I suppose that we need alliance and cooperation more than at any other time these days when we are all in bits due to secession and disaccord.”
Gulen is about censorship NOT dialogue. Please support freedom of speech and
the 60 jailed journalists.
Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- The four-year investigation into an alleged plot to overthrow Turkey's government just keeps getting bigger. But as police arrest more and more journalists accused of aiding the coup plot, press freedoms groups are expressing alarm.
With more than 50 reporters currently behind bars in Turkey, activists argue freedom of expression is under fire in a country that is often promoted as a model Muslim democracy for the turbulent Middle East.
Meanwhile, many writers claim that a new taboo has emerged in this Byzantine web of politics, power and press... an enigmatic Muslim cleric who leads a vast network of international schools and businesses from his home in exile, a farm in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Last March, police swept through the Istanbul homes of two high-profile investigative journalists, seizing documents and detaining the reporters: Posta newspaper columnist Nedim Sener and online news editor Ahmet Sik.
These arrests came after police detained the editors of Oda TV, a hard-line secularist internet news portal that often criticized the government of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The journalists have yet to be formally charged. They join hundreds of other jailed suspects awaiting trial in the sprawling investigation into "Ergenekon," an alleged gang led by ultra-secularist Turkish military officers aimed at toppling Erdogan's Islam-inspired government.
Supporters of the Ergenekon investigation argue it is "demilitarizing" Turkish society.
But the arrests have spread fear among many Turkish reporters.
On a chilly and rain-soaked day last month, several hundred journalists marched through the streets of Istanbul, waving signs saying "Hands Off My Opinion."
"We are here to protest the growing repression over Turkish media by the Turkish government for the last couple of years," said Can Dundar, a well-known columnist and anchorman for Turkey's NTV.
"We want to be free to write. We want to be free to talk and we want to be free to publish our books without any repression or fear," he added.
"At present, 57 journalists are in prison in Turkey and the number of ongoing trials that can result in imprisonment of journalists is estimated to be from 700 to 1,000," said Dunja Mijatovic, the representative on freedom of the media for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in a recent report.
Meanwhile, in a report issued this week on World Press Freedom Day, the Washington-based watchdog organization Freedom House rated Turkey "partly free." Turkey, which is currently negotiating to join the European Union, was ranked 112 out of 196 countries, next to Bangladesh, Congo-Brazzavile, and Uganda.
In an interview with CNN last November, Sener ominously predicted that he might be targeted for his criticism of the Turkish government.
"Today there is direct pressure from the political authority. They can easily corner the reporter they don't like for news they don't like and act in ways that can lead to getting fired," said Sener, who received a World Press Freedom Hero award from the International Press Institute for his book investigating the 2007 assassination of Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor Hrant Dink.
Turkish government officials deny claims the media atmosphere is growing increasingly intolerant.
"The issue here is not the big bad government trying to silence the press," wrote Egemen Bagis, Turkey's European Union integration minister, in the pro-government newspaper Today's Zaman.
"Despite the expression of concern from the highest echelons of the state on the arrest of the journalists, the prosecutors have clearly stated that they have evidence that links the journalists to the Ergenekon terrorist group," Bagis added.
Some observers, including the two recently detained reporters, have observed a pattern of arrests targeting critics of an enigmatic figure on the Turkish political scene... the influential Muslim cleric and powerful supporter of the Turkish government Fethullah Gulen.
From his home in exile on a farm in Pennsylvania, Gulen is the inspirational leader of an enormous network of schools and universities operating in more than 120 countries around the world. He speaks to his followers through a small empire of pro-Gulen newspapers, publication houses and TV stations in Turkey as well as over the internet. During his victory speech after winning a referendum on constitutional reform last year, Erdogan took care to thank his "friends across the ocean"...code-words for the Gulen movement.
"The government... and the Fethullah Gulen group are the taboos in Turkey. It is very dangerous to write about these in Turkey and I write about them," said investigative journalist Sener said in his November 2010 CNN interview.
Meanwhile, as he was being led from his house to a waiting police car, the arrested journalist Ahmet Sik yelled out to the crowd of people gathered on the street, "If you touch him, you will burn."
When he was arrested, Sik was in the midst of writing a critical book about the Gulen movement titled "The Imam's Army." Police seized his book as evidence.
Another author of a recent book slamming the Gulen movement is also behind bars. In "Devotees on the Golden Horn: Yesterday's State, Today's Religious Movement," former police commander Hanefi Avci claimed supporters of Gulen had infiltrated the Turkish police force. He also accused the "Gulenists" of illegally tapping telephones. A month after the book was published, police arrested Avci. He now stands accused of being a member of a leftist terrorist organization, a charge Avci denies.
Gulen's supporters deny claims that it is dangerous to criticize the movement in print.
"This is a smokescreen campaign and this is also a psychological war," said Professor Ihsan Yilmaz, a political scientist at the Gulen-operated Fatih University in Istanbul.
Faruk Mercan, one of Gulen's biographers, pointed out that other authors have written dozens of other critical books about the reclusive evangelist without facing prosecution. And he argued that the media had often worked in close collaboration with the Turkish military, when it overthrew four elected governments in coups over the last 60 years.
"When you look at Turkish history you can see there are very famous Turkish journalists involved in military coups," Mercan said. "Now is the time for post-modern coups in which un-armed forces like the media or civil society organizations are basically fulfilling a similar task."
After dominating Turkish politics for decades, the military and its allies in secularist political parties have has been in retreat. Since his Justice and Development Party swept to power in 2002, Turkey's fiery prime minister has repeatedly defeated his secularist opponents both at the ballot boxes and in the courts. Initially, Erdogan made joining the European Union a top national priority.
"I thought that Turkey was becoming a more liberal place," said Andrew Finkel, a Canadian journalist who has lived and worked for years in Turkey. "I thought that if you dismantle the military apparatus... that the country would be freer."
Finkel, a free-lance contributor to CNN, had to defend himself in Turkish courts in 1999 and faced a possible six-year jail sentence, after he was accused of "insulting the military" in an article he wrote. More than a decade later, Finkel said he ran afoul of the new powers-that-be that govern Turkey.
After spending the last four years writing a column for the Gulen-owned Today's Zaman, Finkel was fired last month.
He claimed he lost his job because of his last, unpublished column written in defense of the jailed journalists.
"I was criticizing my own newspaper for not being vocal enough in the defense of freedom of expression. I felt we should be doing more about people seizing books, about being more tolerant even if those books were against us," Finkel said.
The editor of Today's Zaman denied these accusations.
"No newspaper is obligated to work with all of its writers until the end of time," wrote Bulent Kenes in an editorial last month. "What has changed is that some of our writers have come under the influence of the strong and dark propaganda that is at play and have started to stagger. Unfortunately, I feel the same way about Finkel."
The stark polarization of Turkish politics and media is likely to get worse in the final weeks before parliamentary elections on June 12. Polls predict Erdogan will win a third term in office. This week, on World Press Freedom Day, Turkish journalists made another appeal to Erdogan, to better protect a fundamental democratic right.
ANY DOUBT THAT THE SCHOOLS ARE CONNECTED TO THE GULEN MOVEMENT, JUST RUN THE NAMES OF THE PEOPLE INVOLVED WITH THE SCHOOLS AND THE CONNECTION COMES UP.
