Pioneer Charter School of Science & the Gulen movement

This paper contains the following sections:

1. Introduction 2. A brief overview of the Gulen movement 3. The controversial and secretive nature of the Gulen movement 4. The Gulen movements web of organizations within the U.S. 5. Gulen movement organizations in Massachusetts 6. Pioneer Charter School of Science linkage to the Gulen movements web 7. Conclusion 8. Additional reading

1. Introduction
This report will provide Massachusetts residents with additional information about one of their charter schools, the Pioneer Charter School of Science (PCSS). PCSS is just one of many charter schools being run by people in and associated with the Gulen movement, a highly ambitious, secretive and controversial Turkish group. The Gulen movement currently operates 135 charter schools which enroll over 52,000 students. Theirs is the largest network of charter schools in the United States.

In October 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education invited the operators of Pioneer Charter School of Science, a five-year old school in Everett, to submit applications for two more charter schools, PCSS II (to open in 2013) and PCSS IV (to open in 2014). The state board will determine if it will grant those charters by voting on February 26, 2013. If the charters are granted, the Gulen movement will be handed control of four charter schools in Massachusetts. The Hampden Charter School of Science in Chicopee, was opened in 2009, is also Gulen-run.

Even though a secretive foreign group has been permitted to acquire the operation of an extremely large number of publicly-funded charter schools, very little open discussion or public debate has

taken place on the national level about this unusual situation. The Gulen movement is extremely controversial in Turkey and elsewhere, but U.S. media have mostly neglected to inform the public about the serious dimensions of this phenomenon. But there is little doubt that the biggest reason for mass ignorance in the U.S. is because the Gulen movement uses a nebulous, covert approach that keeps people in the dark.

Despite the intense promotion of the idea of school choice by charter school advocates, it must be pointed out that no choice was ever given to all the American parents who selected these charter schools without first being informed about the schools Gulen movement connection. And no choice has ever been given to American taxpayers by government officials who unilaterally made the decision to permanently funnel an increasing amount of taxpayer money to the Gulen movement and its ever-expanding network of charter schools schools opened to help with implementing the Gulen movements global mission. This disrespectful treatment of American citizens is wrong and must be changed.

Sharon Higgins January 2013

2. A brief overview of the Gulen movement

To understand the Gulen charter school phenomenon requires a basic understanding of the type of organized activities being conducted by followers of Turkish Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, most commonly known as a collective called the Gulen movement. Members of the Gulen movement refer to themselves as Hizmet (service). They dislike the terms Gulen movement and Fethullahci. In Turkey, this group is widely known as the cemaat (as in The Community).

The Rise of Political Islam in Turkey, a 2008 report prepared by the RAND National Defense Research Institute provides an overview (http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG726.pdf) [emphasis added]:

... A web of organizations propagates Gulens vision of Islam. These include Fatih University in Istanbul and an extensive network of schools, hospitals, and charitable and

media organizations, including the mass-circulation newspaper Zaman, television stations Samanyolu (Milky Way) and Mehtap (Full Moon), and the English-language Ebru satellite television station in the United States... [See Screenshot #1]

The Gulen movement has also developed a very effective international network beyond Eurasia, with many adherents in the United States (where the movements founder lives)...

Gulen himself moved to the United States in 1999 after he was indicted for allegedly plotting to subvert Turkeys secular state. He was acquitted in 2006 but has remained in the United States because his return to Turkey could become a political issue.

Gulens critics point to videotapes of his speeches that have surfaced as evidence of an intention to overthrow Turkeys secular order. In these videotapes, Gulen appears to counsel working slowly and diligently until the time comes to change the system. His supporters say that his intention was to advise his followers not to open themselves to discrimination by an open display of religious conviction...

... Also worth noting is TUSKON (Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey), a recently established organization that explicitly represents the interests of conservative Anatolian entrepreneurs in Turkey and abroad... (TUSKON is considered to be the fourth leg of the movement, the other three being its education, media, and interfaith dialogue activities.)...

To summarize, a web of organizations propagates Gulens vision of Islam. It is through such organizations that Gulens followers conduct four main types of activities (the movements legs).

Education Media Interfaith dialogue activities Business The Gulen movement is also heavily involved with promoting Turkish language and culture.

Screenshot #1: Pioneer Charter School of Science students were taken to the headquarters of Ebru TV in Somerset, New Jersey, in March 2011, demonstrating linkage between two entities belonging to the Gulen movements web of organizations. http://pioneercss.org/gallery.jsp (accessed 11/1/2012). More photos at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.205034266193367.62666.153161891380605

3. The controversial and secretive nature of the Gulen movement

As the following statements reveal, the Gulen movement is extremely controversial and feared in Turkey:

No society would tolerate this big of an organization being this untransparent, says Hakan Altnay, the former executive director of the Open Society Foundation (OSF) in Istanbul. ("The Global Imam" The New Republic, 11/10/2010,
http://www.tnr.com/article/world/magazine/79062/global-turkey-imam-fethullah-gulen?page=0,0).

Glen is considered one of [Turkish Prime Minister] Erdoans most powerful allies but is reviled and feared by much of Turkeys population. ("Letter from Turkey: The Deep State." The New Yorker, 3/12/2012,
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/03/12/120312fa_fact_filkins?currentPage=all

... we have confronted real fear about this movement, particularly when we've tried to get critics to give us an interview. ("U.S. charter schools tied to powerful Turkish imam." CBS 60 Minutes, 5/13/2012, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57433131/u.s-charter-schools-tiedto-powerful-turkish-imam/?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel).

... the Turkish imam Fethullah Glen is probably the most important person youve never heard about. He is an immensely powerful figure in Turkey, andto put it mildlya controversial one. (Anatomy Of A Power Struggle. The Journal of International Security Affairs, 12/19/2012, http://www.afpc.org/publication_listings/viewArticle/1792).

The secretive nature of the Gulen movement is also very well known to those who have studied them. As Bill Park, Senior Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at Kings College London and a British expert on Turkish politics has explained:

Fethullahci are often loath to declare themselves openly as such. (The Fethullah Gulen movement. Global Politician, 12/31/2008, http://www.globalpolitician.com/25355-fethullah-gulenturkey)

Gulen institutions do not publicize their Gulen affiliation anywhere they operate. (In Albania, Madrasas Even the Secular Love. Transitions Online, 10/19/2012,
http://www.tol.org/client/article/23425-albania-islam-turkey-education.html)

The fears, secrecy, and concerns surrounding the Gulen movement are red flags which must not be ignored!

Americans need to be aware that organizations within the movements web, as well as the individuals associated with them, are extremely reluctant to disclose their affiliation to the Gulen movement. Some go to great measures to keep it hidden.

So as to be expected, when questioned about Pioneer Charter School of Sciences connection to the Gulen movement during a public meeting on December 10, 2012, PCSS Dean of Students Sanela Jonuz replied, The school is not affiliated with Gulen...
http://www.wickedlocal.com/saugus/news/x1233659960/Public-weighs-in-on-proposed-charter-schools-at-Saugusmeeting?zc_p=1#axzz2GNXC4mpx

4. The Gulen movements web of organizations within the U.S.

As the RAND report stated, a web of organizations propagates Gulens vision of Islam. This web is an enormous and expanding global network which includes over 300 organizations in the United States, mostly non-profit corporations. It takes a trained eye to detect their connection to the Gulen movement.

Gulens followers began to establish their U.S. organizations around the time Fethullah Gulen arrived in Pennsylvania. Fourteen years later, 135 charter schools are operating in 26 states and approximately 180 Gulenist Turkish cultural, interfaith dialogue, and business organizations are operating in nearly every state.

While state and federal taxes support the charter schools, the other organizations are financially supported by Gulen movement members. They conduct very specific types of activities, primarily:

promote Turkish culture via classes, festivals, etc.; sponsor Turkish language and science competitions (mainly for students attending the Gulen movements schools); seek access to public officials, academics, and other influential people and VIPs, usually to offer a gift, an invitation to a special event or honorary dinner, a trip to Turkey, etc.; provide greatly subsidized, guided trips to Turkey to groups (sometimes also awarded to students as contest prizes); engage in interfaith dialogue outreach and activities; host lectures, luncheons and dinners, especially friendship and dialogue dinners;

 promote other Gulenist organizations and businesses, for instance, by featuring them on their websites (e.g. Ebru TV, Todays Zaman, Helping Hands Relief Foundation, Turkish Review, sister and umbrella organizations, etc.).

The Gulen movements media arm periodically produces reports about the activities.

The majority of these organizations are tied to one another by a national umbrella organization, the Turkic American Alliance (TAA). The TAA was originally launched as the Assembly of Turkic American Federations (ATAF), but soon after changed its name, very possibly because of friction with the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations (ATAA), a non-Gulenist organization founded in 1979. ATAA leaders expressed frustration about the confusion caused by ATAFs selection of its name.

In May 2010, a Turkish newspaper (non-Gulenist media) published a report about the launch of the TAA/ATAF: The Gulen movement plays big in Washington. Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey), 5/14/2010, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=the-gulen-movement-plays-big-inwashington-2010-05-14.

Six federations, having close proximity to Mr. Fethullah Glen, joined to form the Assembly of Turkic American Federations, or ATAF, a non-profit organization...

I had a chance to talk with some of the congressmen and senators who participated at the reception. I asked Ms. Gabrielle Giffords, representative from Arizonas 8th. District, why she chose to come to a Turkic community gathering, considering that there is a very tiny Turkic community in her district. Gifford turned and pointed out a young Turkish man who was standing next to her. According to the congresswoman, that young Turkish man had visited Gifford's district office several times recently and finally persuaded her to show up for the reception "even though I do not like to go such events," Gifford said, before responding my question and telling me that she never heard of Fethullah Glen.

The Glen Movement accelerated its activities in U.S., especially since the leader of the Movement, Fethullah Glen settled in Pennsylvania about a decade ago. During the mid 90s,

after almost three decades in the making, it was still operating very much under the radar in Turkey.

The unexpected and sudden decision to combine all of their 180 organizations under one umbrella assembly was a surprising move, at any rate, for those who follow the Glen movement closely and are aware about its cautious strategies and steps...

This decision of combining all Glen-related Turkic or Turkish associations and federations under one assembly, was decided by Fethullah Glen, another active member of the movement who came to the reception from a long distance said...

The author of the piece is a former member of the Gulen movement.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=what-do-the-gulenists-want-to-accomplish--i-2009-07-06

It is important to note that there are a number of Turkish-American organizations which are not at all affiliated with the Gulen movement, the majority of which were founded before Fethullah Gulen arrived in the U.S. Because of the highly organized and unrelenting manner in which the Gulen movement presses on its mission, Gulenist-run organizations have surpassed other Turkish-American organizations in number and influence. As the RAND report stated, Secular Turks in mainstream Turkish-American organizations and in the Turkish Foreign Service often note that the secular Turkish diaspora is disorganized, fragmented, and inactive by comparison.

5. Gulen movement organizations in Massachusetts

In addition to the two charter schools previously mentioned, there are four other active Gulenist organizations in Massachusetts: three sister Turkish cultural organizations, one interfaith dialog organization, and a branch of a business organization.

As explained above, the Gulen movements national umbrella organization consists of six regional organizations. Each regional organization also serves as an umbrella for a group of state-level organizations. The regional organization for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont is the Council of Turkic

American Associations (CTAA). Currently listed at CTAAs dropdown menu under Our Members in Massachusetts are four organizations (http://www.turkiccouncil.org/):

1. Turkish Cultural Center Boston, Boston, www.turkishcenterboston.org 2. Turkish Cultural Center Western Massachusetts, West Springfield, www.tccwesternmass.org 3. Turkish Cultural Center Worcester, Shrewsbuy [sic], no website given 4. Turkish American Business Improvement & Development Council - TABID MA, no address given, www.tabid.org

Omitted from the listing is the Boston Dialogue Foundation (BDF), an organization which shares office addresses and some board members with Turkish Cultural Center Boston. As expected, the BDF website features a page about the Turkic American Alliance. [See Screenshot #2]

Screenshot #2: From http://www.dialogueboston.org/columns-articles-a-publications/865-turkic-americanalliance.html (accessed 12/28/12). The website simultaneously refers to the organizations name as the Boston Dialogue Forum and the Boston Dialogue Foundation. The latter is the name used on IRS tax returns (EIN 043506875).

As previously stated, Gulen movements organizations regularly sponsor guided trips to Turkey. Both the Boston Dialogue Foundation and the Turkish Cultural Center Boston have provided such trips. These experiences are a mechanism by which the Gulen movement can have its messaging streamed to targeted groups of Americans over an extended period of time.

Example #1: Trip to Turkey in 2008 for a group which included author Dorothy C. Buck.

Our visit to Turkey, sponsored by the Boston Dialogue Foundation's Gulen fellowship, included a pilgrimage to the Cave of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus and the House of Mary so revered by Louis Massignon as examples of shared Muslim and Christian beliefs and devotions. The Turkish poet, M. Fethullah Glen's philosophy of interfaith and intercultural exchange and dialogue was evident in the hospitality offered to us by many Turkish families and organizations...
http://www.dcbuck.com/Badaliya/53.html

Example #2: Trip to Turkey in 2012 for a group which included Vermont State Representative Mike Yantachka.

To celebrate the opening of the Turkish Cultural Center in Vermont, a display of Turkish culture was held in the Cedar Creek Room of the statehouse in April. Samples of Turkish food were provided and examples of Turkish art, music and products were displayed. In addition, the Turkish Cultural Center in Boston offered to sponsor one or more trips to Turkey subsidized by the Council of Turkic American Associations. After weighing the costs and obtaining information about the itinerary and agenda, nine members of the legislature, including myself, decided to go...
http://www.vthouse.org/blog/rep-mike-yantachka-visit-modern-turkey

Over the past decade, the Gulen movement has given hundreds, possibly thousands, of these trips to groups of Americans public officials, academics, and other influential people, as well as to the students, parents, and teachers of its charter schools. Travelers are not always aware before their departure that the itinerary has been designed by a highly controversial and secretive group which also happens to be subsidizing the trips.

A substantial number of these travelers have posted accounts of their experiences online; they reflect itineraries based on a template. Along with visits to popular tourist and historical destinations are regular stops at Gulen movement-associated sites which have been tailored according to the type of group (e.g. Zaman headquarters, Samanyolu TV headquarters, Fatih University, certain schools and hospitals, etc.).

Every few days, the groups meet with people who they are told are their trips financial sponsors, or they are taken to the home of a Turkish family (three to four different families per trip). It is not known if travelers are aware that these individuals are members of the Gulen movement who have contributed money or have volunteered to host visitors as their way to help advance their groups goals. More information about this can be found in the presentation and prepared text of a Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) event held in June 2009. http://csis.org/event/gulen-movement.

6. Pioneer Charter School of Science linkage to the Gulen movements web

There is an enormous amount of evidence linking the Pioneer Charter School of Science to the Gulen movement. It is common for Gulenists to involve themselves in more than one of the movements activities and to promote other organizations within their movements web.

For instance, nearly all PCSS founding board members have been deeply involved with the activities of the Boston Dialogue Foundation and/or the Turkish Cultural Center Boston (originally called Ace It Education), and a significant number have been involved with Gulenist organizations in other states. The same trend continues with the individuals associated with the PCSS II and PCSS IV.

It is important to know that the Turkish Cultural Center Boston (Federal Tax ID #043486384) used the name Ace It Education (AIE) from 2001 to 2009 on its IRS Form 990s. During that time it declared its primary exempt purpose as, Educational improvements. Provided low cost tutoring for middle and high school students of Medford, MA. Readers can view 990s by entering the ID number into the search box at the National Center for Charitable Statistics.
http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/PubApps/search.php

In 2010, when AIE changed its name to Turkish Cultural Center it also drastically changed its description on its tax return to report that, The foundation organizes various religious, cultural, and social activities and conferences among all types of religious and ethnic groups to support and advance the harmony and cooperation among religions and faith traditions the foundation also provides retreat and Sunday school programs.

The relationship between Ace It Education and the Boston Dialogue Foundation was more fully explained in a 2007 article (Muslim Homechoolers Graduation Ceremony. The Muslim Observer, 6/23/2007, http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=1092, accessed 12/20/2012) [emphasis added].

Their parents clapped and cheered as twelve Muslim homeschoolers received certificates of promotion and gifts on Thursday evening, June 14th. The End of School Year Celebration was held at the Boston Dialogue Foundation, an Islamic center in Revere, Massachusetts.

The celebration was a combined potluck and awards ceremony for the students. The third, fourth, and fifth grade students gave presentations on character building, while the first and second graders sang Islamic songs...

The students, who come from Revere and other nearby cities, are part of a homeschooling organization called Ace It Education. The organization offers first through fifth grade. The students learn Quran, Arabic, and Islamic studies in addition to regular school subjects. They meet Monday through Friday for six hours a day at the Boston Dialogue Foundation and are taught by a staff of five full and part-time teachers. Ace It Education functions like a fulltime Islamic school, but for various logistical reasons, such as lack of space and the difficulty of complying with Massachusetts school regulations, the organization has chosen to keep its homeschooling status, at least for another year.

At a recent parents meeting, a staff member from the Boston Dialogue Foundation said that the mosque is interested in buying a building or renting classroom space in an unused Catholic school in Revere in order to establish a full-time Islamic school...

The Boston Dialogue Foundation was founded in July 2000 to serve the Turkish community and other Muslims...

Not reported in the article was that a group of 10 individuals at least nine of which were heavily involved with both Ace It Education and the Boston Dialogue Foundation had already received approval from the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to open Pioneer Charter School of Science (PCSS), a school for grades 7-12, in either the town of Revere, Everett, or Chelsea.

PCSS opened its doors at an unused Catholic school in Revere in the fall of 2007, just months after the Ace It Education graduation event. Its charter was renewed in February 2012 as The Boston Globe reported: A regional charter middle and high school in Everett has earned the right to operate another five years, but has been denied its plan to add elementary grades... Founded in 2007, Pioneer Charter School of Science operates in leased space in Immaculate Conception parish hall on Summer Street.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/north/2012/02/05/charter-school-gains-approval-continue-but-notexpand/QDVSI7TlUSS3R7c7bTwp9N/story.html

In addition to the field trip to Ebru TV mentioned earlier, PCSS has involved its students in other interactions with the Gulen movements web of organizations. For instance, in March 2011, the PCSS student-run newspaper reported on a field trip to the Turkish Cultural Center in Boston:

A couple of weeks ago the Turkish class teacher Mr. Dere organized a fieldtrip to the Turkish Cultural Center in Boston where they welcomed the students with open arms. Their kindness and hospitality knew no bounds as they spoke and interacted with the students.
http://codexdevelopment.virtual.vps-host.net/thecuttingedge/?p=495

Students from Pioneer Charter School of Science, as well as those from the Hampden Charter School of Science, have also participated in the Turkish Olympiads sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Center New York, a regional contest for students attending Gulen private and charter schools in the states in the Council of Turkic American Associations region. Ebru TV produced a report about the event. http://news.ebru.tv/hundreds-take-part-in-turkish-olympiad

After PCSS was opened, one of its founders moved to New York and became a longtime board member of Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School (SASCS), another school that participates in the Turkish Olympiads event. Demonstrating how members of the Gulen movement are involved

in multiple organizations within their web, that individual is also the founding member of Utica Academy of Science Charter School, a recently-approved charter school in New York. He is also the president of the Turkish Cultural Center in Syracuse. In May 2011 at the 4th Annual Turkish Olympiads held in New Jersey, a team of students from the Syracuse Academy of Science performed a religious ritual dance which is usually only practiced by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order. The introduction to their performance went this way: As you know when they do it, the right hand is up bringing love from God, and the left hand is down passing that love onto the people... So here they are, Semazen, the Whirling Dervishes of Syracuse Academy of Science! [See Screenshot #3]

Screenshot #3: Video @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L87AHciZSoM&feature=player_embedded Also @ http://www.turkishcontest.com/index.php/turkish-olympiad-2011-videos, Part 11. Note the slogan on the poster that says, We speak the same language.

Gulen movement organizations around the world sponsor these annual Turkish competitions for the students attending their schools. Winners are fed to an international competition which is always held in Turkey. In 2011 the motto for that international event was One language, 7 billion people, nicely portraying one of the Gulen movements ambitions. http://www.todayszaman.com/news-273968students-from-135-countries-to-join-turkish-olympiads-this-year.html

7. Conclusion
Since 1999, the Gulen movement has been aggressively expanding its network of publicly-funded charter schools under the radar of the American public. This is being allowed to continue without open discussion or debate. The U.S. media the institution which citizens normally rely on to keep them well informed have mostly neglected to report about the serious dimensions of this phenomenon. Charter school authorizers have given aid to the Gulen movement by looking the other way.

No final decision has been universally made which concludes that the Gulen movements global efforts are totally benign. Its members and sympathizers may present it that way, but there are too many examples that contradict their claim. The best compilation of those contradictions is in Image vs. Reality, a summary by Citizens Against Special Interest Lobbying in Public Schools (CASILIPS), who writes: The single most distinguishing feature of the Gulen Movement is the massive effort it devotes to creating a public image of itself that is strikingly at odds with reality...
http://turkishinvitations.weebly.com/image-vs-reality.html

At the bare minimum, most experts agree that the Gulen movement is in the midst of a global effort to develop a heightened degree of Turkish loyalism. Gulen charter school applications, including those of Pioneer Charter School of Science, do not reveal the schools Turkish cultural focus, but a partial insight into how the Gulen movement has accomplished its task with PCSS students is in a list created in 2011 called You Know Youre From PCSS When where one entry states, You didnt know what Turkey was, you came to PCSS, and now you know all about it...
http://codexdevelopment.virtual.vps-host.net/thecuttingedge/?p=479

Anyone who knows about the Gulen movement will recognize that the student author divulged information about a fait accompli.

The American public deserves to know much, much more about the Gulen movement, including its involvement in this countrys largest network of charter schools.

8. Additional reading
There have been a wide number of complaints and findings about Gulen charter schools which relate to shady dealings, deception, collusion, and a range of other improprieties. For example:

preferential hiring of members of the movement for certain positions and using school funds to pay for their visas, plus family members; questionable admissions practices; high attrition rates; deceptive self-reporting about wait lists and the scale of student achievement; channeling school funds to close associates; abusing contractors who are not members of the "in" group; participation in biased, GM-created competitions; false claims in self-promotion/publicity; bribing; using the schools to generate political connections; teachers doing the science fair projects; reports about prayer rooms at the schools; unfair hiring and termination practices. The first known article about a charter school having a connection to the Gulen movement was published in July 2009. This list contains a link to that piece along with a number of relevant reports since published.

Utah charter schools ties to Turkey draw scrutiny. The Salt Lake Tribune, 7/19/2009, http://www.sltrib.com/education/ci_12855515 "Foreigners fill ranks of local charter school chain." Arizona Daily Star (AZ), 4/25/2010, http://azstarnet.com/staff/tim-steller/article_dec199db-be3f-5519-be3d-f6ad970db1f8.html

"Objectives of charter schools with Turkish ties questioned." USA Today, 8/18/2010,
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-17-turkishfinal17_CV_N.htm

 "The Global Imam - What does the leader of the world's most influential Islamic movement really want?" The New Republic, 11/10/2010, http://www.tnr.com/article/world/magazine/79062/global-turkeyimam-fethullah-gulen?page=0,1

"U.S. charter-school network with Turkish link draws federal attention." Philadelphia Inquirer (PA), 3/20/2011, http://articles.philly.com/2011-03-20/news/29148147_1_gulen-schools-gulen-followerscharter-schools

WikiLeaks files detail U.S. unease over Turks and charter schools. Philadelphia Inquirer (PA), 4/4/2011, http://articles.philly.com/2011-04-04/news/29380536_1_charter-schools-fethullah-gulen-truebrightscience-academy

"Charter Schools Tied to Turkey Grow in Texas." The New York Times (NY), 6/6/2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/education/07charter.html

"Records show glaring faults at school with ties to Turkish charter school network." The TimesPicayune (LA), 7/15/2011,
http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2011/07/state_shuts_down_abramson_char.html

"Questions loom about group proposing Raleigh charter school." Independent Weekly (Durham, NC), 1/25/2012, http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/questions-loom-about-group-proposing-raleigh-charterschool/Content?oid=2748999

"Letter from Turkey: The Deep State." The New Yorker, 3/12/2012,
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/03/12/120312fa_fact_filkins?currentPage=all

"Largest charter network in U.S.: Schools tied to Turkey." The Washington Post, 3/27/2012,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/largest-charter-network-in-us-schools-tied-toturkey/2012/03/23/gIQAoaFzcS_blog.html

"Allegations raised over N. Phila. charter school run by followers of Turkish imam." The Philadelphia Inquirer (PA), 4/19/2012, http://articles.philly.com/2012-04-19/news/31368006_1_charterschool-charter-office-turkish-imam

"Turkey Feels Sway of Reclusive Cleric in the U.S." The New York Times, 4/25/2012,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/world/middleeast/turkey-feels-sway-of-fethullah-gulen-a-reclusivecleric.html?_r=0

Audits for 3 Georgia Schools Tied to Turkish Movement. The New York Times, 6/5/2012,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/us/audits-for-3-georgia-charter-schools-tied-to-gulen-movement.html

"Altruistic Society or Sect? The Shadowy World of the Gulen Movement." Spiegel Online International (Germany), 8/8/2012, http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/guelen-movementaccused-of-being-a-sect-a-848763.html

 "Who is Fethullah Gulen? City Journal, Autumn 2012, http://www.cityjournal.org/2012/22_4_fethullah-gulen.html

Big questions about proposed Loudoun charter school. The Washington Post, 12/10/2012,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/12/10/big-questions-about-proposed-loudouncharter-school/

Allentown school directors question charter school applicant's ties to Glen Movement. The Morning Call (Allentown, PA) 12/16/2012, http://articles.mcall.com/2012-12-16/news/mc-allentowngulen-movement-20121216_1_charter-school-truebright-science-academy-islamic