From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Wed Feb 13 2002 - 09:31:48 EST
Azeri paper says Turkish Islamic radical trend expanding network in
Azerbaijan
A banned Turkish Islamic organization called Nurcular is expanding its
network in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho has said. A former
member of the sect told Ekho in an interview that their activities covered
mainly children and students. This organization has founded several
secondary schools in Azerbaijan and has links with some Turkish politicians
and companies, the paper added. The following is an excerpt from a X.
Ismayilova and N. Aliyev report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 9 February
entitled "The web":
A wide network of the Islamic movement of Nurcular, which is being
prosecuted in Turkey and Russia, is operating in Azerbaijan. Schoolchildren
and students are the focus of its attention
"They attract mainly schoolchildren and students. They first give them aid,
take them to `yurds' - a kind of hostel and then suggest moving to their
place." These are the words of an Azerbaijani youngster named Ilham
Quliyev, who lived one year among the representatives of the most radical
Islamic trend of Nurcular and experienced all the power of their propaganda
launched in Azerbaijan.
In the middle of last year, we reported about this movement and its
activities in Azerbaijan. Criminal cases brought against this trend both in
Turkey and Russia compelled us to return to this subject.
New Region news agency reports that the Turkish Education Ministry is
conducting an investigation, which may result in the closure of many
institutions of education both in Turkey and Azerbaijan because they were
set up by followers of last century's Islamic scholar Said Nursi
(1876-1960) - Nurcular.
According to the agency, the Yekaterinburg prosecutor's office returned for
an additional investigation a criminal case instituted by the Sverdlovsk
Region Prosecutor's Office under Part 1 of Article 282 (abetting
interethnic, religious and racial hostility). Two residents of Central
Asia, who spread books by last century's well-known Islamic scholar Said
Nursi entitled "The foundations of sincerity", were being charged in
connection with the case.
[Passage omitted: about Nurcular's activities in Turkey]
The law-enforcement agencies of Turkey, where this trend first appeared, are
prosecuting representatives of this trend and one of their most famous
leaders, Fetullah Gulen, was put on the wanted list early last year. The
Nurcular network is operating in the whole world. [Passage omitted:
Nurcular have branches in many countries.]
Nurcular appeared in Azerbaijan right after our country gained independence.
According to a report by MIT (Turkish intelligence), the followers of this
trend first appeared in our country in 1992. Moreover, their first business
was to create a TV channel in Azerbaijan. To all appearances, they did not
have a big enough TV audience, which is why they soon switched to schools.
It was mainly children's homes that found themselves the focus of their
attention. Ilham Quliyev, whom we mentioned earlier, studied in one of them
- the Baku chemical and biological lycee.
"A grown-up guy first appeared in the hostel. He had left our school several
years ago and lived in our room. He offered us educational services, saying
that he will not charge us money for them. There were frequent power cuts
in the hostel and he suggested that we go to classes in the `yurd'.
"The `yurd' is a big apartment (or maybe several apartments united in one)
of 10 rooms, where 15 schoolchildren and three or four agabeys (agabey
means older brother in Turkish) live. We had classes there, after which we
sometimes talked about religion. After the classes, we were offered a tasty
meal and natural juices, which was of very great importance to us kids from
the children's home. Some time later, they suggested that I move into their
apartment and I joyfully accepted it. Every day after the meals, we talked
about God and religion. In fact, this was our first close familiarization
with religion and we did not object to this. The system of the `yurd' was
unique. Exemplary pupils were upgraded to leaders and then to agabeys, who
were engaged in attracting other kids to the `yurds'. `Those ready' were
sent to other `yurds' and new yurds were set up. In the course of time, we
turned into a community with our own rites, traditions etc.
"Sometimes we had `camps', during which we were not allowed to leave the
apartment throughout a week, but only had to read and pray. Soon we all
started praying and they read Nursi's books for us every day. I understood
later on that their ideas did not at all fit into the concept of
traditional Islam. Moreover, they said that the state should be run by the
law of God, but unfortunately it is not always the case.
"They keep in touch with everyone who once fell into their hands. They solve
almost all the problems with employment, education and so on. They offer a
job in Turkish firms (to all appearances, in those included in Gulen's
network), send people to Turkey and even other countries. Those who know
Turkish very well were asked to translate various books on a religious
subject, both into Azeri and Russian."
[Passage omitted: some Turkish firms and educational institutions in
Azerbaijan are thought to be linked to Gulen's network.]
Source: Ekho, Baku, in Russian 9 Feb 02 pp 1, 2
BBC Mon TCU 120202 at/ek
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