Financial links between the Gulen Movement and Gulen charter schools, ctd
On the previous page, financial links between Gulen Movement and the Horizon Science Academy and other Concept School charter schools in Ohio were presented.
Here, we show a financial link between the Gulen Movement and the Fulton TEACH High School, which is connected to the Fulton Science Academy middle school. Both are Gulen charter schools in Georgia.
In October 2009 TEACH owed a lender $332,000, and was having difficulty with repayment. This had some bearing on TEACH's charter renewal. The lender offered to forgive half of the loan if TEACH could raise the other half. The following letter from the lender shows that TEACH was successful. At least some donations apparently came from parents of TEACH students.
| letter_from_the_lender.pdf |
The letterhead of this loan forgiveness letter is of Sema Education and Health Development Co., Inc.
The connection of Sema Education and Health Development Co., Inc. to the Gulen Movement can be demonstrated in a number of different ways.
As an aside, we note that the word "sema," which is a term used in connection with whirling dervishes, has special significance for Gulenists, who often sponsor whirling dervish performances. The whirling dervishes are connected with their particular branch of Sufism. There is a Gulenist organization in Arizona named the "Sema Foundation." The Gulen Movement runs a hospital in Istanbul named "Sema Hospital" ("Sema Hastanesi" in Turkish); this hospital is mentioned in Helen Rose Ebaugh's recent book on the Gulen Movement.
Connection #1
The address shown on the letterhead of the loan forgiveness letter is an address used at one time by both the Turkish Cultural Center of New York and the Helping Hands Relief Foundation, which are known to be Gulenist organizations. The phone number is also that of the Turkish Cultural Center of New York.
Connection #2
The loan forgiveness letter is signed by Melih Yildirim. His name is also on corporate documents of Apple Education Services, Inc., a company that has provided services to several Gulen charter schools including Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology, and, under the name Ivy Learning, Central Jersey College Prep Charter School, Bergen Arts and Science Charter School, and Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School. Apple holds a math contest in which the only winners come from Gulen schools. Melih Yildirim is also affiliated with the Candela Network, which has connections with other Gulenists. Yildirim is a member of TABID (Turkish American Business Improvement and Development Council), a Gulenist trade association connected to TUSKON, which is known to be part of the Gulen Movement (see Joshua Hendrick thesis, 2009, University of California Santa Cruz). Apple Educational Services, d.b.a. Ivy League Learning Center, was also connected to Ufuk Zini, who was with the Long Island Amity School, a private Gulen school that appears to have closed.
Connection #3
Beyhan Nakiboglu works at Sema Education and Health Development. He is/was a member of the West Penn Cultural Center. An article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from March 9, 2006 stated that "Mr. Duz said Western Pennsylvania Cultural Center follows the teachings of M. Fethullah Gulen, an influential Islamic scholar, writer and religious thinker from Turkey who now lives in the United States, where he is receiving medical treatment." West Penn Cultural Center also operated Snowdrop Science Academy, which was a private Gulen school in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.
Connection #4
Beyhan Nakiboglu, who works at Sema Education and Health Development, is Treasurer of TUSKON, a Gulenist trade organization. The Gulenist nature of TUSKON is discussed in the PhD thesis of Joshua Hendrick, University of California-Santa Cruz 2009.
Connection #5
Beyhan Nakiboglu, who works at Sema Education and Health Development, is also a major shareholder in Asya Finance, a Gulenist bank. This bank is mentioned in both Hendrick's thesis and Ebaugh's book on the Gulen Movement.
Connection #6
Beyhan Nakiboglu, who works at Sema Education and Health Development, is related to Abdullah Nakiboglu, who was also a board member of the West Penn Cultural Center but has evidently since returned to Turkey. Abdullah Nakiboglu owned Development Investment, the company mentioned in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article as selling land to the West Penn Cultural Center. (Note: Development Investment is also known as Rendulic Packing and Nema Foods; these are meat-packing businesses that produce meats in conformance with Muslim halal requirements. These companies have sponsored a number of H1B visas. In 2002, Nema Foods participated in a conference of the Islamic Society of North America, an organization that has met with some controversy.) Beyhan Nakiboglu is/was also an officer of Rendulic Packing. The land sale of this company to the West Penn Cultural Center demonstrates a further connection to that Gulenist non-profit.
Connection #7
Recep Ozkan is/was a colleague of Beyhan Nakiboglu at Sema Education and Health Development. Recep Ozkan is affiliated with the Turkish Cultural Center of New York, as evidenced by his speech at the Third Annual Friendship Dinner, an event at which Gulen was heavily promoted.
Connection #8
A bill of lading from March 27, 2006 shows Sema Education and Health Development (going by its Turkish name Sema Egitim Ogretim Isl. Ve Saglik) shipping items to Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut, a private school run by followers of Fethullah Gulen. The items were shipped from Turkey and the list includes "couch, desk, chair, cupboard, coathanger...". The bill of lading also shows the name of Wellsprings Cultural Foundation, the Gulenist organization that functions as charter holder for Putnam Science Academy.
Ayhan Bermek really is buying U.S. schools
Ayhan Bermek is another colleague of Beyhan Nakiboglu at Sema Education and Health Development. In May 2010, an Arizona journalist published a translation of a Sabah article (Sabah is a major Turkish newspaper). Some of the more noteworthy lines were:
We discussed the subject among ourselves: If 600 schools are bought this way in the United States – and that’s what the members of the Gulen movement are striving to do, - and if 200 students graduate from each one of these schools, then 120 thousand sympathizers of Turkey join the mainstream out there every year. We are trying to lobby against the Armenian genocide resolution every year. And yet, through education, we can teach tens of thousands of people the Turkish language and our national anthem, introduce them to our culture and win them over. And this is what the Gulen movement is striving for.
The complete translation is given here, and the first line refers to Ayhan Bermek: "One night in Bodrum, Ayhan Bermek, Enver Altayli and I had a long talk that probably made Mr. Fethullah Gulen's ears burn."
The final lines, which state
"Finally, Ayhan Bermek compared Gulen to Mevlana (Rumi) and finished the conversation with this point: "Mevlana says 'come whoever you are', but Master Fethullah says 'Whoever you are, I will come to you'; modifying the idiom 'the spark ignites wherever it falls' he says that 'wherever the spark falls, it ignites me too'."
leave no doubt that Ayhan Bermek is a Gulenist.
This shows yet another connection of Sema Education and Health Development to Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen Movement.
The connection of Sema Education and Health Development Co., Inc. to the Gulen Movement can be demonstrated in a number of different ways.
As an aside, we note that the word "sema," which is a term used in connection with whirling dervishes, has special significance for Gulenists, who often sponsor whirling dervish performances. The whirling dervishes are connected with their particular branch of Sufism. There is a Gulenist organization in Arizona named the "Sema Foundation." The Gulen Movement runs a hospital in Istanbul named "Sema Hospital" ("Sema Hastanesi" in Turkish); this hospital is mentioned in Helen Rose Ebaugh's recent book on the Gulen Movement.
Connection #1
The address shown on the letterhead of the loan forgiveness letter is an address used at one time by both the Turkish Cultural Center of New York and the Helping Hands Relief Foundation, which are known to be Gulenist organizations. The phone number is also that of the Turkish Cultural Center of New York.
Connection #2
The loan forgiveness letter is signed by Melih Yildirim. His name is also on corporate documents of Apple Education Services, Inc., a company that has provided services to several Gulen charter schools including Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology, and, under the name Ivy Learning, Central Jersey College Prep Charter School, Bergen Arts and Science Charter School, and Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School. Apple holds a math contest in which the only winners come from Gulen schools. Melih Yildirim is also affiliated with the Candela Network, which has connections with other Gulenists. Yildirim is a member of TABID (Turkish American Business Improvement and Development Council), a Gulenist trade association connected to TUSKON, which is known to be part of the Gulen Movement (see Joshua Hendrick thesis, 2009, University of California Santa Cruz). Apple Educational Services, d.b.a. Ivy League Learning Center, was also connected to Ufuk Zini, who was with the Long Island Amity School, a private Gulen school that appears to have closed.
Connection #3
Beyhan Nakiboglu works at Sema Education and Health Development. He is/was a member of the West Penn Cultural Center. An article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from March 9, 2006 stated that "Mr. Duz said Western Pennsylvania Cultural Center follows the teachings of M. Fethullah Gulen, an influential Islamic scholar, writer and religious thinker from Turkey who now lives in the United States, where he is receiving medical treatment." West Penn Cultural Center also operated Snowdrop Science Academy, which was a private Gulen school in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.
Connection #4
Beyhan Nakiboglu, who works at Sema Education and Health Development, is Treasurer of TUSKON, a Gulenist trade organization. The Gulenist nature of TUSKON is discussed in the PhD thesis of Joshua Hendrick, University of California-Santa Cruz 2009.
Connection #5
Beyhan Nakiboglu, who works at Sema Education and Health Development, is also a major shareholder in Asya Finance, a Gulenist bank. This bank is mentioned in both Hendrick's thesis and Ebaugh's book on the Gulen Movement.
Connection #6
Beyhan Nakiboglu, who works at Sema Education and Health Development, is related to Abdullah Nakiboglu, who was also a board member of the West Penn Cultural Center but has evidently since returned to Turkey. Abdullah Nakiboglu owned Development Investment, the company mentioned in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article as selling land to the West Penn Cultural Center. (Note: Development Investment is also known as Rendulic Packing and Nema Foods; these are meat-packing businesses that produce meats in conformance with Muslim halal requirements. These companies have sponsored a number of H1B visas. In 2002, Nema Foods participated in a conference of the Islamic Society of North America, an organization that has met with some controversy.) Beyhan Nakiboglu is/was also an officer of Rendulic Packing. The land sale of this company to the West Penn Cultural Center demonstrates a further connection to that Gulenist non-profit.
Connection #7
Recep Ozkan is/was a colleague of Beyhan Nakiboglu at Sema Education and Health Development. Recep Ozkan is affiliated with the Turkish Cultural Center of New York, as evidenced by his speech at the Third Annual Friendship Dinner, an event at which Gulen was heavily promoted.
Connection #8
A bill of lading from March 27, 2006 shows Sema Education and Health Development (going by its Turkish name Sema Egitim Ogretim Isl. Ve Saglik) shipping items to Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut, a private school run by followers of Fethullah Gulen. The items were shipped from Turkey and the list includes "couch, desk, chair, cupboard, coathanger...". The bill of lading also shows the name of Wellsprings Cultural Foundation, the Gulenist organization that functions as charter holder for Putnam Science Academy.
Ayhan Bermek really is buying U.S. schools
Ayhan Bermek is another colleague of Beyhan Nakiboglu at Sema Education and Health Development. In May 2010, an Arizona journalist published a translation of a Sabah article (Sabah is a major Turkish newspaper). Some of the more noteworthy lines were:
We discussed the subject among ourselves: If 600 schools are bought this way in the United States – and that’s what the members of the Gulen movement are striving to do, - and if 200 students graduate from each one of these schools, then 120 thousand sympathizers of Turkey join the mainstream out there every year. We are trying to lobby against the Armenian genocide resolution every year. And yet, through education, we can teach tens of thousands of people the Turkish language and our national anthem, introduce them to our culture and win them over. And this is what the Gulen movement is striving for.
The complete translation is given here, and the first line refers to Ayhan Bermek: "One night in Bodrum, Ayhan Bermek, Enver Altayli and I had a long talk that probably made Mr. Fethullah Gulen's ears burn."
The final lines, which state
"Finally, Ayhan Bermek compared Gulen to Mevlana (Rumi) and finished the conversation with this point: "Mevlana says 'come whoever you are', but Master Fethullah says 'Whoever you are, I will come to you'; modifying the idiom 'the spark ignites wherever it falls' he says that 'wherever the spark falls, it ignites me too'."
leave no doubt that Ayhan Bermek is a Gulenist.
This shows yet another connection of Sema Education and Health Development to Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen Movement.
