Strategic defamation of Fethullah Gulen

(Video Duration: 58 mins. 20 secs.)

Dogan Koc, Ph.D.

Who is Gulen? Fethullah Gülen is a moderate Turkish Muslim scholar who is known mostly for his education and dialogue activities. The Hizmet Movement, inspired by Gülen, has established hundreds of education and dialogue institutions throughout the world. Several books and hundreds of articles and news reports have been written about Gülen himself and the movement. In recent years, a defamation campaign has been launched against Gülen and the Hizmet Movement. Although these defamation articles may seem random, this book shows that the articles are written strategically in a campaign manner. In Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gülen, close to 500 defamation articles, books, and other forms of writings are analyzed according to their languages by Dogan Koc. Dr. Koc concludes that these defamations differ from each other and appear according to their respective audiences.

Dogan Koc is the executive director of the Gulen Institute at the University of Houston. Before his work at the institute, Dr. Koc worked at the Cairo University as a visiting scholar, and taught at the Austin College in Sherman, TX. He received his PhD degree in Political Science from the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Koc also holds degrees in chemistry, education, and sociology. In his studies, he focuses on conflict resolution, international relations, and social movements. He conducted one of the first and most extensive quantitative researches on Turkey's Kurdish conflict, in which he analyzes the strategies of military, government and civil society applied in the resolution of the conflict. He is also the author of the recent book "Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gulen: Turkish vs. English."

Further readings:

• Dr. Koc's paper, Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gulen: Turkish vs. English
• Review of Dr. Koc's book by Dr. Ahmet Kurucan