Gulen has been following the same method of operations in the US as he has done elsewhere. Because he can't teach radical Islamic nationalism, he instead focuses on creating relationships with up and coming "elites" that will favor his movement.
"Fethullah Gulen is being described as a moderate and an educator setting up schools around the world." The Gulen-inspired schools in the Balkans have been instrumental in reifying a Turkish nationalist Islam, while in the United States they follow an entirely secular and notably science and math-heavy curriculum."-- Fethullah Gulen Harvard Divinity School Religious Literacy Project
Why would Turkic-Americans follow him?
For many, they didn't know. For some, they are sold on his nationalism. It's easy to be a long distance nationalist and a lot easier to be a rabid one. The one thing that is clear is that the latter resent democracy and never have an issue sending US troops into harm's way or putting unwary Americans in harm's way.
On the other hand, long-distance processes tend to involve political actors who are acting from a safe distance and who, therefore, do not put their safety at risk, while being eager to promote risky strategies in their homeland. In short, expatriates tend often to be more radical than 'natives' when they engage in...[t]he participant rarely pays taxes in the country in which he does his politics; he is not answerable to its judicial system; he probably does not cast even an absentee ballot in its elections because he is a citizen in a different place; he need not fear prison, torture or death, nor need his immediate family. But, well and safely positioned in the First World, he can send money and guns, circulate propaganda, and build intercontinental computer information circuits, all of which can have incalculable consequences in the zones of their ultimate destinations...
...There is an extensive international relations literature on the role of diasporas as active actors in the shaping of US foreign policy (Ambrosio 2002; Shain 2007; Shain and Aryasinha 2006). Within business studies and related disciplines, there is also a separate literature on the powerful role of lobbies in the USA, particularly those associated with the corporate and multinational industry* and how this represents a grave threat to democracy (Butts 2003; Luger 2000). Ethnic lobbies are thus players in a complex multi-level game. 'homeland politics' (Connor 1986; Kaiser 2004). - Irresponsible Radicalization: Diasporas, Globalization and Long-Distance Nationalism in the Digital Age, Daniele Conversi
Fethullah Gulen, Ultra-nationalist Credentials, and Ties to the OUNb
Gulen and his organization continually claim to be peaceful. In fact, it's how they get around in western countries. But are they? Gulen has strong ties to the Turkish Grey Wolves. This Pan-Turkic ultra-nationalist group is responsible for the murder of thousands inside Turkey. They fought in Chechnya, the Balkans, and Afghanistan. The founder of the Grey Wolves, Alparslan Turkes wanted to take Turkey into WWII on the side of Nazi Germany.
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