ISWEEEP - Evidence of affiliation with the Gulen Movement
Page created July 17, 2010 last updated December 16, 2010
by C.A.S.I.L.I.P.S. - Citizens Against Special Interest Lobbying in Public Schools
(See also more recent pages on ISWEEEP 2011 and ISWEEEP 3E 2011.)
ISWEEEP is an annual "international" science fair in Houston Texas, sponsored and run by the Cosmos Foundation.
Yetkin Yildirim is on the advisory board of ISWEEEP.
Dr. Cafer T. ("Jeff") Yavuz is on the advisory board of ISWEEEP. He has a number of Gulenist affiliations:
A large number of participants in ISWEEEP come from Gulen schools around the world.
For example, here is a webpage about Horizon International Bilingual School in Vietnam participating in ISWEEEP. Horizon is a Gulen school.
Here is a reference to a Cambodian student from Zaman International School in Phnom Penh winning an award at ISWEEEP. Zaman is a Gulen school.
Scrolling down on this page leads to a short piece on a PAKTURK student who got a silver medal at ISWEEEP. The PAKTURK schools are Gulen schools in Pakistan.
A student from the Eastern Star Bilingual School (a Gulen school) in Laos won an award at ISWEEEP in 2010.
In a press release for ISWEEEP 2009, it is stated that "The Kazakh schoolchildren were awarded with 11 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze medals in the international I-SWEEEP Olympiad that took place on May 1-5 in Houston, Texas." It is then mentioned that the number of students attending ISWEEEP that year was "more than 800." It is clear that a genuinely "international" science competition would be highly unlikely to have such a high proportion of its winners from Kazakhstan. The explanation lies in the large number of Gulen schools in that Central Asian republic.
Another hint that ISWEEEP is heavily skewed towards attendees from Gulen schools is the reference on Coral College's website to the fact that "Our school was the only school representing the UK in Texas." It just so happens that the two prizewinning students, Aslihan Ogretici and Elif Tan, have Turkish names.
by C.A.S.I.L.I.P.S. - Citizens Against Special Interest Lobbying in Public Schools
(See also more recent pages on ISWEEEP 2011 and ISWEEEP 3E 2011.)
ISWEEEP is an annual "international" science fair in Houston Texas, sponsored and run by the Cosmos Foundation.
Yetkin Yildirim is on the advisory board of ISWEEEP.
- Yildirim wrote an article for Fountain Magazine, a publication of the Gulen Movement (Fethullah Gulen writes the lead article for each issue of Fountain).
- Yildirim participated in the Gulen conference "Islam in the Contemporary World: The Fethullah Gülen Movement in Thought and Practice, which took place in Houston in 2005.
- Yildirim has given speeches at interfaith dinners and other events of the Institute of Interfaith Dialog, an overtly Gulenist non-profit.
- A video of Mr. Yildirim where he gives a talk on "Tolerance and dialogue in Fethullah Gülen's writings" appears on Fethullah Gulen's website.
Dr. Cafer T. ("Jeff") Yavuz is on the advisory board of ISWEEEP. He has a number of Gulenist affiliations:
- Pacifica Institute (Gulenist)
- Coordinator of Gulen Conference in Los Angeles
- Secretary, Representative, Institute of Interfaith Dialog, Houston (Gulenist)
- Speaker at interfaith dinner, Institute of Interfaith Dialog, Little Rock AR
- Guest speaker at an AMSP camp organized by the Accord Institute (Gulenist)
- Lists Muhammed Cetin of the Institute of Interfaith Dialog as a non-academic reference (Cetin is a major figure in the Gulen movement)
- Studied at Yamanlar Lisesi (Gulenist high school)
- Wrote two articles for Fountain Magazine
A large number of participants in ISWEEEP come from Gulen schools around the world.
For example, here is a webpage about Horizon International Bilingual School in Vietnam participating in ISWEEEP. Horizon is a Gulen school.
Here is a reference to a Cambodian student from Zaman International School in Phnom Penh winning an award at ISWEEEP. Zaman is a Gulen school.
Scrolling down on this page leads to a short piece on a PAKTURK student who got a silver medal at ISWEEEP. The PAKTURK schools are Gulen schools in Pakistan.
A student from the Eastern Star Bilingual School (a Gulen school) in Laos won an award at ISWEEEP in 2010.
In a press release for ISWEEEP 2009, it is stated that "The Kazakh schoolchildren were awarded with 11 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze medals in the international I-SWEEEP Olympiad that took place on May 1-5 in Houston, Texas." It is then mentioned that the number of students attending ISWEEEP that year was "more than 800." It is clear that a genuinely "international" science competition would be highly unlikely to have such a high proportion of its winners from Kazakhstan. The explanation lies in the large number of Gulen schools in that Central Asian republic.
Another hint that ISWEEEP is heavily skewed towards attendees from Gulen schools is the reference on Coral College's website to the fact that "Our school was the only school representing the UK in Texas." It just so happens that the two prizewinning students, Aslihan Ogretici and Elif Tan, have Turkish names.
