Florida Schools: Orlando Science Middle/High Charter School, River City Science Academy, Sweetwater Branch Academy, Stars Middle School, New Springs Middle School.
Evidence of affiliation with Gulen Movement


by C.A.S.I.L.I.P.S. - Citizens Against Special Interest Lobbying in Public Schools

These are publicly-funded charter schools run by the Gulen Movement in Florida, all members of Grace Schools, a.k.a. Grace Institute.  The Fulton Science Academy elementary, middle and high schools, Gulen charter schools in Georgia, are the only other Grace members.  Similar to all other Gulen charter schools, Grace schools exploit the H-1B visa system to hire personnel.

The affiliation of these schools with the Gulen Movement is shown by their participation in the Turkish Olympiads, the ISWEEEP science fair in Houston, and the Jacksonville and Orlando Turkish Festivals, all events run by the Gulen Movement. 

The schools also have Turkish clubs and Turkish Olympiad Camps.  The website of the Turkish Cultural Center of Tampa Bay, a Gulenist organization, states that "Turkish has been offered as an elective for middle and high school students in the State curriculum of Florida and Georgia in the last two years with the efforts of these centers."  The centers referred to here are Turkish Cultural Centers in the Southeast run by the Gulen Movement.  This shows how the Gulen Movement is influencing school curricula as part of its efforts to promote the Turkish language and Turkish nationalism (e.g., students participating in the Turkish Language Olympics are provided with elaborate Turkish costumes to wear).  Note that Ethnologue lists Turkish as 21st in its list of languages ranked by number of speakers - to give some examples, Bengali, Vietnamese and Korean all rank higher.

Tax records from 2008 show that the "Sema Education Agency" loaned $520,000 to New Springs Charter School.  Sema is a Gulenist organization that also loaned a substantial amount to Fulton Science Academy and later forgave half the amount.  The connections of Sema to the Gulen Movement are documented on this page.

Tax records from 2008 show that board members of Neosprings, Inc dba Sweetwater Branch Academy, the charter holder for Sweetwater, loaned the school a principal amount of $28,000, but the school was required to pay back $53,000.  Given that the middle/high school has only existed since 2008, this implies an exceptionally high rate of return on the loan.

A school field trip to Atlanta included a visit to the Istanbul Center, a Gulenist organization that promotes Turkish culture and sponsors Gulenist Turkey trips.

Students and parents at Orlando Science Middle/High School are offered Gulenist trips to Turkey at discounted prices.  Students get an additional 20% discount, from the Orlando Turkish Cultural Center, a Gulenist organization, if their "GPA is over 85."

Students from Orlando Science Middle/High School participated in a summer program in Turkey that included activities at a private Gulen school in the Turkish town of Tavsanli.  Students from Fulton Science Academy, a Gulen charter school in Georgia, also studied at this school as part of a summer program.  The school (Ozel Basari Ilkogretim Okulu) was found at one point to have a Facebook page with references to Gulen and multiple religious references.  A group of 16 Orlando Science students, accompanied by two Gulenist teachers, also studied at the Ozel Birgivi Koleji, another private Gulen school in Turkey.

Further evidence can be found through the following individuals' multiple affiliations (both past and present) with different Gulenist schools and/or organizations.

Aladdin Akgul a.k.a. Alaaddin Akgul
  • Stars Middle School, Science Teacher
  • Fulton Science Academy (Gulen charter school in Georgia)

Necati M Aydin
  • Stars Middle School board member
  • Stars Education Services
  • Speaker, Rumi Forum  (Gulenist lobbying organization)
  • Tallahassee Tolerance and Dialogue Group (Gulenist organization)

Abdulbasit Akif Aydin
  • Board Member, River City Science Academy
  • Amity Turkish Cultural Center (Gulenist organization)
  • Atlantic Foundation of North Florida   (Gulenist organization)
  • South Carolina Dialogue Foundation  (Gulenist organization)

Ugur Baslanti
  • Neosprings, Inc (d.b.a. Sweetwater Branch Academy)
  • Sweetwater Branch Academy
  • Vice President, University of Florida’s Silk Road Club   (Gulenist organization)

Ahmet Birdal
  • Board Member, River City Science Academy
  • Amity Turkish Cultural Center  (Gulenist organization)

Angie Romero Buyuksarac, a.k.a. Angelina Romero
  • Board member, River City Science Academy
  • Wife of Selcuk Buyuksarac  (see below)
  • Likes Amity Turkish Cultural Center Women’s Division event post on Facebook  (Amity is a Gulenist organization)

Selcuk “Sel” Buyuksarac
  • Founder, Board Member, River City Science Academy
  • Husband of Angelina Romero, board member, River City Science Academy
  • Likes Amity Turkish Cultural Center Women’s Division event post on Facebook (Amity is a Gulenist organization)
  • Attended Jax Turkish Festival   (Gulenist event)

Enes Calik
  • Board Member, River City Science Academy
  • Amity Turkish Cultural Center   (Gulenist organization)

Osman Caliskan
  • Turkish teacher, Horizon Science Academy Cincinnati   (Gulen charter school in Ohio)
  • Amity Turkish Cultural Center   (Gulenist organization)

Murat Cetin
  • Assistant Principal, Stars Middle School
  • Principal, Sweetwater Branch Academy Middle School
  • Assistant principal, Math teacher, Fulton Science Academy Middle School  (Gulen charter school in Georgia)

Siddik Cifcioglu 
  • Assistant Principal, Sweetwater Branch Academy Middle School
  • Orlando Science Middle School
  • Director, Horizon Science Academy – Toledo Downtown  (Gulen charter school in Ohio)

Arif Dagli
  • Founding & Interim Principal, Board Member, Stars Middle School, Florida
  • Cape Fear STEM School founder   (proposed Gulen charter school in North Carolina)
  • Triad Math and Science Academy, North Carolina   (Gulen charter school)
  • FSU Tolerance and Dialogue Group   (Gulenist organization)
  • Magnolia Foundation of Florida    (Gulenist organization)

Zafer Demir 
  • Science teacher, Sweetwater Branch Academy Middle School
  • Fulton Science Academy, Science teacher   (Gulen charter school in Georgia)

Osman Demirel a.k.a. John Littlefield
  • River City Science Academy, Bookkeeper
  • Fulton Science Academy, Math teacher    (Gulen charter school in Georgia)

Umran Dinler
  • Math Teacher, River City Science Academy
  • Accompanied 16 Orlando students on 2-week visit to Ozel Birgivi Koleji  (Gulen school in Turkey) where they studied Turkish

Tahir Duzyol
  • Officer/Director of Discover Education Services, charter holder of Orlando Science Middle/High School 
  • Graduate of Yamanlar College, Turkey a.k.a. Yamanlar Science High School  (Gulenist)
  • Fulton Science Academy  (Gulen charter school in Georgia)
  • Outreach director, Istanbul Center, Atlanta GA  (Gulenist organization)
  • Involved with Peace Valley Foundation, Alabama  (Gulenist organization)

Mesut Erdogan
  • Met with Bill Segal, District 5 Commissioner, Orange County Government on Oct 11, 2010 about school project  (proposed Gulen charter school)
  • Director, Istanbul Center’s Dialogue Center   (Gulenist organization)
  • Nile Foundation   (Gulenist organization)
  • Magnolia Foundation of Florida   (Gulenist organization)

Fatma Gokkurt
  • Sweetwater Branch Academy, Science teacher
  • Accompanied 16 Orlando students on 2-week visit to Ozel Birgivi Koleji  (Gulen school in Turkey) where they studied Turkish

Fethi Goktepe a.k.a. Timothy Bluehill
  • Principal, Sweetwater Branch Academy
  • Fulton Science Academy   (Gulen charter school in Georgia)

Fatih Gordu
  • Neosprings, Inc. (d.b.a. Sweetwater Branch Academy)
  • University of Florida Silk Road Club  (Gulenist organization)
  • Florida representative, Atcomus (American Turkish Chamber of Commerce)   (Gulenist organization)

Serkan Gunpinar
  • Vice President, New Springs Middle School
  • Sirius Foundation (associated with Turkish Cultural Center of Tampa Bay)   (Gulenist organization)

Sule Kuyucu
  • Sweetwater Branch Academy, Math teacher
  • Fulton Science Academy Middle School, Math teacher   (Gulen charter school, Georgia)

Erdem Onsal
  • Loaned money to New Springs Middle School
  • Fulton Sunshine Academy Elementary School    (Gulen charter school, Georgia)

Cihan Ozturk
  • River City Science Academy
  • Friend of Arif Dagli  (see above)
  • FSU Tolerance and Dialogue Group   (Gulenist organization)

Ibrahim Ozyilmaz
  • River City Science Academy, Science teacher
  • New Springs Middle School, Science teacher

Necati Sahin
  • Assistant Principal, River City Science Academy
  • Harmony Science Academy, Dallas   (Gulen charter school)

Mehmet Fahrettin Taskan, a.k.a. Mehmet Taskan
  • Orlando Science Middle Charter School
  • Petitioner for Discovery Academy of Science Charter School, Orange County, Florida, 2005; this school was later called Orlando Science Charter School
  • Lead Petitioner, Osceola Universal School , Osceola County, Florida, 2006  (proposed Gulen charter school)
  • Petitioner for Universal Charter School, Florida, 2010 (appeal denied)   (proposed Gulen charter school)
  • Discovery Education Services  (operates Orlando Science Middle Charter School)
  • Universal Education Services  (company formed for proposed Gulen charter schools)
  • Husband of Tuba Taskan  (see below)
  • Nile Foundation  (Gulenist organization)
  • President, Founder, Islamic Discussion Group, Cleveland State University (Zeki Saritoprak was participant in event)   (Gulenist organization)
  • Orlando Turkish Cultural Center   (Gulenist organization)
  • Mentioned in Today’s Zaman article of Aug 27, 2009 about opening of Orlando Turkish Cultural Center (Today's Zaman is an English-language newspaper based in Turkey and run by the Gulen Movement)

Tuba Taskan
  • Wife of Mehmet Taskan   (see above)
  • Vice President, Amity Turkish Cultural Center   (Gulenist organization)

Omer Tezel
  • Board President, Discover education services, charter holder of Orlando Science Middle/High School
  • Gave 5 star review on amazon.com to Dialogue of Civilizations, a book on Fethullah Gulen written by Jill Carroll and commissioned by the Gulen Movement

Dogan Tozoglu
  • Principal, River City Science Academy
  • Stars Education Services, Inc   (operates Stars Middle School in Tallahassee)