By Rasim Ozan Kutahyali | Wed, Mar 5, 2014
al-monitor Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pa. Sept. 26, 2013. (photo by REUTERS/Selahattin Sevi/Zaman Daily via Cihan News Agency)
In the ongoing row between Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Gulenists entrenched in the state, a major Gulenist accusation against AKP leaders is that they are pro-Iranian and even Iranian agents. Fethullah Gulen’s chilly attitude toward Iran and Shiites is well-known in Turkey. While supposedly seeking rapprochement with Christians and Jews in interfaith dialogue, Gulen has never reached out to the Shiites, the other major sect of Islam.
The Gulenist chill toward Shiites has grown into an open enmity over the past three years. Iran, the leader of the Shiite world, is the chief object of Gulenist hatred, which often borders on absurdity and fantasy. Let’s see some of the many examples.
A news report, aired recently on the Gulenists’ flagship TV channel Samanyolu, openly targeted the Iranian people, seeking to sow discord and hatred between nations. The report, agitating Sunni Turks against Shiites, featured a person who was described as an ayatollah showering insults on the Caliph Umar. Presenting the remarks of an obscure person, allegedly an ayatollah, as the view of the whole Iranian nation, the channel offered a good illustration of how Gulenists regard Iran and Shiites.
The alleged ayatollah shown in the Samanyolu report makes the following remarks: “Most Shiites are concentrated around Iran. Why? Because Umar Al-Khattab humbled and humiliated the Iranians. It was not a small thing, Umar put an end to a whole empire — the steadfast, invincible Persian Empire. And what do we say? That Arab Bedouin came riding on camels and crushed the empire. They outdid even Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great managed to rattle Iran, but had to retreat in a few months, leaving Iran alone with its religion. But what did the Arabs do to the Iranians? They smashed even Kisra’s crown with their swords, and gave everyone a piece. Then, they killed the notables. Would such a hatred disappear in a few years? No, it wouldn’t. That hatred would not disappear even if hundreds of years pass. Hence, Iranian Shiites’ greatest enemy is neither Khalid ibn al-Walid nor Abu Bakr, but Umar. Umar is accursed forever. Why? What else was Umar accused of? He was accused of breaking Zahra’s rib. They even garnished this story with religious ornaments.”
So, that’s what the dubious person, presented as an ayatollah, says. Yet, Samanyolu distorted even those remarks to fan more Sunni hatred and enmity against Shiites.
Here is how Samanyolu presented the report: “Bizarre sentences are being uttered in this footage shot in Iran. Blasphemy and insults are pouring from the mouth of an ayatollah preaching at a Shiite mosque Moreover, the blasphemy is directed at a caliph — Umar, the closest companion of our prophet. The footage, available on YouTube, is only one of hundreds of similar videos. The videos, in which Iranian clergymen curse Umar, one of our prophet’s closest companions, have caused great indignation. This Iranian ayatollah talks openly about his hatred for Umar, one of the 10 people whom our prophet heralded with paradise while they were still alive, and justifies his hatred with Umar’s conquest of entire Iran and his smashing of Kisra’s crown.”
Samanyolu says the footage was shot in Iran, but the obscure speaker speaks not in Persian but Arabic. Is the alleged ayatollah addressing the Persian-speaking Iranians in Arabic?
The Gulenist report says, “Blasphemy and insults are pouring from the mouth of an ayatollah” but the speaker utters no sentence containing blasphemy or insults.
It is obvious the Gulenists are manipulating the footage to ostracize and denigrate Shiites. The ploy, designed to agitate Sunni Turks against Shiite Iranians, also contains a deliberate anachronism. Iran belonged to the Sunni sect until the 10th century. The Iranian adoption of Shiism accelerated after the Safavids. The provocative Gulenist allegation could have been true only if Iranians had been Shiite since the very birth of Islam.
The Gulenists’ ostracizing hate speech against Iran and Shiites is reflected in many other examples. Another argument they use is the concept of “mutah” (short-term contractual marriage). On this issue, the Gulenist attitude borders on fantasy, complete with ugly rhetoric that goes as far as to imply that Iranians are immoral and corrupt.
Take for instance a front-page headline in Gulen’s Bugun daily. Here is how the article, penned by a former Gulenist prosecutor, goes: “In the 1990s, Iranian President [Hashemi] Rafsanjani gave sermons encouraging mutah among Iranian youth. In their surveys of mutah practices, the Iranian authorities have concluded that ‘10 million people permanently avoid marriage because of mutah.’ This indicates that, contrary to Shiites’ claims, mutah is not an exceptional practice. Today, about 10 million people in Iran engage in sexual intercourse through mutah. As a result, people shy away from marriage, an institution that comes with responsibilities. Children born from four- or five-hour mutah relationships are being abandoned. Once they gratify their sexual desires, the men abandon and disown the poor babies, born mostly after the mutah period expires, and refuse to take responsibility for their care. The suffering of thousands of jilted pregnant women is heart-breaking. The unfortunate mutah women are doomed to miserable lives in the streets or derelict homes. The sight of women with young kids stopping strangers in the streets and pleading for mutah are, sadly, a customary sight for Iranians.”
The Gulenist columnist goes on with his hate propaganda, expanding the mutah subject with fantastical examples: “The ad of the brothel launched by the Al-Rezavi organization in Mashhad cites the following purpose: ‘The brothel, launched by our organization, aims to provide a spiritual atmosphere and inner tranquility for our brothers who stay away from their wives while visiting the tomb of Imam Reza.’ The immoral ad lists prices according to mutah durations and invites ‘sisters aged 12 to 35’ to work (prostitute themselves). Moreover, Iran successfully uses the mutah practice as one of its most efficient intelligence tools. And well, who are the people in the images kept in the mutah archives of Vevak/Pasdaran?”
Here the absurd paranoia over AKP-Iran partnership comes into play, and the former Gulenist prosecutor goes on: “[Turkish] bureaucrats and politicians have bitten the Persian bait in their own country and have had their tapes passed on to Pasdaran and got involved with them. Let’s see who have had mutah adventures during trips to Iran and Syria: statesmen who made use of mutah; politicians and key bureaucrats; and prominent figures of the business community. When the right time and circumstances come for making the best use of those tapes, the tapes will pop out from the archives and fulfill their purpose. The existing archives are being used in favor of, or against, any actor in Shiite geopolitics. The Syrian Mukhabarat is also being trained by Iran. Middle Eastern statesmen, politicians, intelligence officers and bureaucrats who fall into the trap of mutah operations during trips to Iran and Syria are left with two options: They either fully submit to Shiite geopolitics and orders, or acquiesce to see their reputations and careers ruined by leaked images.”
Ironically, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly accused the Gulenists themselves of using the same blackmail designs described above and attributed to Iran. Most Turks agree with Erdogan. Nowadays, blackmail tapes, allegedly the work of Gulenists, are being posted online on a daily basis in Turkey.
The Bugun columnist calls Iran a “devil” as he gets truly carried away at the end of his article: “Thanks to the Persian honey trap alone, and with no need for other intelligence moves, moles with Persian shackles are springing up at hundreds of strategic spots — from our central intelligence to various state offices. And you know what happens then? They gnaw at Turkey’s flesh more savagely than the putschists and surrender your country to the Persian devils.”
The “Persian devils” phrase marks an extreme in racist hate speech. Agitating the whole Turkish people and state against the Iranian people and state is a basic Gulenist strategy.