The Gulenist threat

I did not break with Pakistan even after I returned to Turkey. Pakistan was where I studied and lived for many years

There are certain countries which, upon hearing their names, you feel a degree of closeness to, the way you do to your country of nationality. There are some cities where you feel at home, like you were born and bred there and on whose streets you played as a child. These are places you feel you belong to, just like you do to your nation of origin.

This is exactly how I feel when it comes to Pakistan and the cities of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The country that I feel second-most at home in, other than Turkey, is Pakistan. This is due not only to Turkey’s historical links with Pakistan, but also to the fact that Pakistan is a country where I proudly studied and lived for many years.

I did not break with Pakistan even after I returned to Turkey. I missed Pakistan like I missed my homeland. While I was wandering the streets of Istanbul and Ankara, I couldn’t help stopping any Pakistani I came across and greeting them by saying ‘Kya haal hai?’ In Turkey, I fulfilled my longing for Pakistan either by shaking hands with my Pakistani brothers I ran into or by dolefully listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s song "Kise da yaar na vichre". The deceased Moin Akhtar’s show "Moaf Keejiay" on PTV, on which I was a guest, was the first TV show I had ever been a guest on. I still watch it on YouTube occasionally and reminisce about it.

I’m assertive about my love of and loyalty to Pakistan to the same extent that any Pakistani citizen would be.

I was on cloud nine when I received a phone call from Pakistan after the coup attempt in Turkey on July 15 by Gulenist soldiers, who had infiltrated Turkey’s armed forces. My friend on the phone said that a massive crowd in Karachi had got together to support Turkey and President Erdogan, and he asked me if I could get on the phone and address the crowd. I answered “with pleasure” and telephonically addressed my brothers in Karachi who had feelings of camaraderie with Turkey. It was amazing to know that we were not alone and to hear the cries of support from my Pakistani brothers.

On the night of July 15, 2016, the events that unfolded in Turkey can be described as both incredible and at the same time, horrible. Fethullah Gulen and his community, which has opened private schools after the 1980s under the guise of educating conservative students, rooted themselves in pivotal institutions in Turkey such as justice, the police department and the Turkish armed forces in a period of 20-30 years. Gulenist judges, prosecutors and police officers collaborated and wanted to carry out an operation against the Erdogan government on December 17, 2013, under the guise of fighting corruption. However, they failed and the Turkish people elected Recep Tayyip Erdogan as president.

The main purpose was to disrupt Turkey, a country that had been continuously booming, developing and gaining economic and political independence. Another purpose was to stop Erdogan, who was struggling for change. Having failed in their operations in December 2013, Gulenists attempted to assassinate Erdogan. Luckily, he escaped the attempted assassination by a timeframe of 15 minutes. The parliament building was bombed. My wife, children and I were fighting for our lives under the airstrike of fighter jets at 2.42am. Turkish people, who took to the streets despite the attacks of helicopters and tanks, laid claim to democracy, which resulted in 245 people being martyred.

Under the directorship and coordination of secret services, Gulen established a global intelligence network under the guise of schools in countries from Africa, to Europe and Asia. In each and every country he visited, he established intimacy with the powerful, collected intelligence and provided it to the authorities concerned. Schools of the Gulen movement induct their alumni into influential institutions in countries and wield a degree of control over those institutions in a period of 20-30 years.

As a post-modern method of war, global forces take control of targeted countries through such mechanisms as those adopted by Fethullah Gulen. This type of ‘war’ minimises losses, is more predictable and cost-efficient. Our Pakistani counterparts must realise that Gulenist schools are not there for the good of the Pakistani children. The country needs to take precautions before it’s too late. Our bitter experiences must be a lesson for Pakistan. Long live the Pakistani-Turkish friendship!

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2016.

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