{"id":526,"date":"2014-07-23T12:08:41","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T12:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=526"},"modified":"2014-07-30T12:22:06","modified_gmt":"2014-07-30T12:22:06","slug":"secretive-turkish-movement-buys-u-s-influence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=526","title":{"rendered":"Secretive Turkish Movement Buys U.S. Influence"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ROSIE GRAY, NICOL\u00c1S MEDINA MORA
\nAYLIN ZAFAR contributed reporting
\nBuzzFeed<\/em><\/p>\n

HOUSTON \u2014 The secretive religious and political movement inspired by the Turkish cleric Fethullah G\u00fclen has become a potent, and surprising, force in a set of obscure races for the House of Representatives, as G\u00fclen sympathizers around the country donate tens of thousands of dollars to an overlapping set of candidates.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Fethullah G\u00fclen is pictured at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pa., last September. Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The movement, whose leader draws intense interest from Washington to Ankara from his compound in rural Pennsylvania, has long involved itself in American life, organizing in particular around a group of charter schools and Turkish community institutions. Started in Turkey as a moderate Islamic movement in the secular 1960s and 1970s, the movement \u2014 also known as Hizmet, roughly meaning \u201cservice\u201d in Turkish \u2014 runs schools, businesses, and media outlets around the world. There is no formal membership: Affiliates say they are \u201cinspired\u201d by G\u00fclen and many groups aligned with him deny any official affiliation.<\/p>\n

But the movement\u2019s agenda, in Turkey, has clarified in recent months. G\u00fclen \u2014 who left Turkey for the Poconos in 1999 following charges that he was attempting to undermine the Turkish state \u2014 broke bitterly with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year over a corruption investigation that has rocked Erdogan\u2019s party and that the prime minister has blamed on G\u00fclen and his followers.<\/p>\n

Here in the United States, meanwhile, G\u00fclen\u2019s allies have been stepping up their involvement in U.S. politics, emerging as a force in districts from South Texas to South Brooklyn. Liberal Democrats like Yvette Clarke, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Al Green, and conservative Republicans like Ted Poe and Pete Olson have all benefitted from donors affiliated with G\u00fclen in one way or another.<\/p>\n

Leaders in the movement deny that there is any top-down organization of the donations (or, indeed, that the G\u00fclen movement has any organization at all), but the patterns of giving suggest some level of coordination in a community beginning to flex its political muscle. G\u00fclen himself reportedly told followers in 2010 that they could only visit him in the Poconos if they donated to their local congressman, according to the Wall Street Journal<\/a>, though G\u00fclen has denied the comment.<\/p>\n

The donations, taken together, comprise significant totals for some U.S. House members in relatively safe seats. For instance, people connected to the G\u00fclen-inspired charter schools donated $23,000 to Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in October 2013 \u2014 a large sum considering Jackson Lee has raised just more than $130,000 this cycle in individual contributions, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.<\/p>\n

The state of Texas is home to Harmony Public Schools, the G\u00fclen-inspired network of charter schools that have inspired some controversy; the Harmony schools, and other G\u00fclen-related educational institutions around the country, have been accused of abusing foreign worker visas and of using taxpayer money to favor<\/a> Turkish businesses over others. And Houston and its southwest suburbs are a hub for the movement in the U.S. Many Turkish immigrants who live there work for Harmony or for other organizations with ties to the G\u00fclen movement, such as the Texas Gulf Foundation, the Raindrop Foundation, or North American University, a relatively new STEM-focused school that sits on the side of a desolate highway in north Houston. Other Houstonites affiliated with G\u00fclen groups gave to Rep. Henry Cuellar, Rep. Pete Olson, Rep. Ted Poe, Oklahoma Rep. Jim Bridenstine, and others.<\/p>\n

Though bundling political donations is common, G\u00fclen-affiliated Houstonites said there was no top-down coordination of the donations.<\/p>\n

For instance, Metin Ekren, a Harmony educator who gave $2,000 to Sheila Jackson Lee in 2012 and $1,500 to her in 2013, said that Harmony did not tell its employees to donate. Ekren said he and \u201cfriends in the office\u201d discuss such things, but that \u201cusually Sheila Jackson Lee has a kind of donation meeting\u201d and that\u2019s how he had donated. He said he gives to other Democrats as well, though records show he has mostly given to Republicans, including Poe, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker.<\/p>\n

Erdal Caglar, Harmony\u2019s chief financial officer, gave $1,500 to Jackson Lee in October 2013 at a fundraiser, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has been always a supporter of our schools,\u201d Caglar said. \u201cShe has attended all major events that Harmony organized. And she expressed \u2014 you know, Harmony\u2019s STEM, and she\u2019s supporting STEM education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caglar said that Jackson Lee was helping Harmony\u2019s effort to open a charter school in Washington, D.C. \u201cAs an educator, we support whoever supports our mission and vision and supports our activities,\u201d Caglar said.<\/p>\n

Jackson Lee has taken an interest in charter schools recently, appearing at a school choice rally with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in January. Her campaign manager did not return requests for comment.<\/p>\n

G\u00fclen sympathizers in Brooklyn, N.Y., have also begun to involve themselves in American political life, according to publicly available campaign finance documents from the last two election cycles.<\/p>\n

Many of New York\u2019s G\u00fclenist donors are based in Sheepshead Bay, a working-class neighborhood on the southern edge of Brooklyn that is home to a tight-knit Turkish community. Several members of the community said the G\u00fclen movement operates out of the local branch of the Turkish Cultural Center, and that it counts many prosperous business owners as sympathizers. (An official from the center told BuzzFeed that many of the center\u2019s organizers are \u201cinspired\u201d by G\u00fclen, but that the organization itself is independent from him).<\/p>\n

Several local G\u00fclen sympathizers told BuzzFeed that they feel attracted to the movement because of its tolerant religious ideas and its center-right, pro-business politics. Many of them have donated sums to the same U.S. politicians \u2014 including Rep. Yvette Clarke and Rep. Ed Towns, both New York Democrats, and Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Texas.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, several G\u00fclen supporters said that the movement played little role in their decision to give money to candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to show the American people that Turkish-Americans care,\u201d said Gokhan Karakollukcu, the owner of the Rocca Caf\u00e9 on Emmons Avenue and a frequent donor to Clarke.<\/p>\n

When asked whether people affiliated with the movement had ever tried to influence his giving, Karakollukcu insisted that he had made his own choices and donated his own money. He likes Clarke, Karakollukcu said, because his wife is Jamaican and the congresswoman \u201cdoes a lot for Caribbean issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selahattin Karakus, who owns and operates Masal Caf\u00e9, said that he has donated to both Democratic and Republican candidates. When asked to name a Republican to whom he had donated, Karakus was unable to remember any of their names. When asked why he had decided to donate to Cuellar, a Democrat who represents a district in Texas several thousand miles away, Karakus said that he had \u201cfriends\u201d in Texas and that he wanted to support candidates with strong pro-immigrant stances. (Cuellar introduced a bill with Republican Sen. John Cornyn that would allow the expedited deportation of the tens of thousand of undocumented minors who have recently arrived in the United States).<\/p>\n

Karakus also said that he supports the movement and that he regularly attends holiday dinners at the Turkish Cultural Center. He said that many of his political choices had emerged from discussions at the center, but was quick to add that nobody had forced him to donate to anyone and that he had only been given \u201cadvice\u201d and \u201csuggestions.\u201d The money he donated, he said, was his own.<\/p>\n

The G\u00fclen movement \u201cdoesn\u2019t have any money to give anyone,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to give them money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials at the Turkish Cultural Center in Sheepshead Bay echoed Karakus\u2019 statements, telling BuzzFeed that they do not endorse candidates, solicit donations, or engage in any kind of political fundraising.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization,\u201d said Suleyman Aydogan, the vice president of the Brooklyn branch of the center. \u201cThat would be illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Aydogan, who said he supports the movement and has personally met G\u00fclen, also said that he has done fundraising for New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte and for Sheepshead Bay Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz. He said that his role in the Turkish Cultural Center, his sympathies for G\u00fclen, and his work as a political fundraiser were completely separate from one another.<\/p>\n

When asked whether the Turkish Cultural Center does any kind of political work, Aydogan said that it extends to inviting politicians to speak at dinners and other events. He suggested that donors might have met politicians at these dinners, or perhaps at the convention that the Turkic American Alliance, the center\u2019s parent organization, holds every year in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe invite everyone, but not everyone shows up,\u201d Aydogan said. \u201cThat\u2019s how we know who supports the Turkish community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spokespeople for the members of Congress who have been on the receiving end of G\u00fclenist largesse said they weren\u2019t aware of any connection between their members and the movement. Cuellar, for example, is one of the main beneficiaries of G\u00fclen-affiliated money, receiving donations from nearly 30 people connected to the movement in the 2014 election cycle. Cuellar has taken an interest in Turkish affairs and is a member of the Caucus on U.S.\u2013Turkey Relations and Turkish Americans. Donations from people connected to the G\u00fclen movement to Cuellar came not only from Texas, but also New York and Illinois.<\/p>\n

Cuellar\u2019s campaign manager said that the campaign wasn\u2019t aware of any particular fundraising efforts targeting the G\u00fclen movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not aware of a specific effort that we made\u201d with the group, Cuellar\u2019s campaign manager Colin Strothers said. \u201cWe raise hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and it comes from all over the place. We notice every check and every online donation that we get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strothers said these kinds of donations typically come from fundraising events where \u201cwe show up and they\u2019ve invited friends and co-workers and peers and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Olson, who raised thousands from several people connected to the movement in September 2013, has appeared at events for the Turkic American Alliance and the G\u00fclen Institute, and whose chief of staff traveled to Istanbul and Ankara on the Turkic American Alliance\u2019s dime last year, said Olson had no particular connection to the movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongressman Olson is honored to represent one of the most ethnically diverse counties in America,\u201d said his campaign consultant Chris Homan. \u201cAs such, he meets with people to discuss free trade, improving economic relationships between Texas and overseas markets, and strengthening U.S. partnerships with nations who share our national security concerns. His commitment to stronger economies and stronger democracies has earned him broad support from across the district. We are not aware of any connection to the groups you mentioned.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Turkic American Alliance, the umbrella group that encompasses a number of U.S.-based G\u00fclenist organizations, held a plush iftar dinner attended by lawmakers and their staffs on Capitol Hill last week. Green, Jackson Lee, and Clarke, as well as Reps. Andre Carson and Joe Garcia attended. Attendees filled about two-thirds of the Cannon Caucus Room; when a reporter arrived, staff asked her to sit near the front since it was looking a little thin. Members of Congress spoke, and then a video about Ramadan played before the breaking of the fast with soup and fried fish at sunset.<\/p>\n

Faruk Taban, the president of the alliance, told BuzzFeed in an interview that his organization does not organize members of its groups for political donations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t do that kind of stuff, we\u2019re a 501\u00a9(3),\u201d Taban said. Their focus is more on building relationships with members of Congress by, for example, taking them on paid trips to Turkey and Azerbaijan; the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians and the Council of Turkic American Associations, both TAA member groups, have taken members including Cuellar, Clarke, Jackson Lee, Poe, and Rep. Steve Stockman on such trips in the past two years. Taban is planning another trip to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in September.<\/p>\n

Taban attributed the clusters of donations to the tight-knit nature of the immigrant communities they come from.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike any diaspora communities they have strong ties among them,\u201d he said. \u201cSo if anything happens, it\u2019s word of mouth; they have friends and go to the same ethnic restaurants, they shop at the same ethnic restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n

The movement\u2019s involvement in U.S. politics, he said, began in 2007, when Turkish immigrants lobbied to squash an Armenian genocide recognition bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that it\u2019s kind of got the momentum,\u201d he said. The major G\u00fclen organizations, he said, play a role in helping people from local communities get involved in DC, but that\u2019s it. G\u00fclen himself is \u201ca very shy person\u201d and is not personally involved in asking his followers to contribute, Taban said.<\/p>\n

Asked how young teachers at the charter schools could afford to give maximum donations in congressional races, Taban said, \u201cTurkish people are very generous\u201d and that \u201ca lot of business people in the community reach out to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The alliance, he said, is more focused on state legislatures<\/a>. And Taban \u201cdoesn\u2019t necessarily see the correlation\u201d between the political strife in Turkey and the political giving in the U.S. But in \u201call kind of activities we are growing,\u201d Taban said. \u201cThe scope and the size and everything else, we try to do more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By ROSIE GRAY, NICOL\u00c1S MEDINA MORA AYLIN ZAFAR contributed reporting BuzzFeed HOUSTON \u2014 The secretive religious and political movement inspired by the Turkish cleric Fethullah [more >>>]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-region","category-turkey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":528,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions\/528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}