Your trusted source

Yesterday information appeared in Turkish press and social media accusing the Ministers of Azerbaijani government of partnership with religious movement Nur, founded and led by Fethullah Gulen, Azerbaijani news portal Haqqin.az reports.

As it is stated in the portal, the content of the phone conversation between the leader of Nur movement Fethullah Gulen and the head of the Confederation of Turkish Businessmen and industrialists (TUSKON), Council of Turkey to Uganda Mustafa Gune was published in the Internet. The conversation referred to the appointment of the commander of internal troops of MIA colonel- general Zakir Hasanov as Defense Minister of Azerbaijan. In the course of the conversation Zakir Hasanov is characterized as a “man close to “jaamat”. The congratulatory letter of Gulen on the occasion of its appointment was also discussed.

However, as it is stated in the portal, the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan issued an official statement which says, “Zakir Hasanov doesn’t have any kind of relationships either with Fethullah Gulen or Mustafa Gune.”

Today, as the article reads, Turkish news portal Haber10 has published an analogous article that tells about another Azerbaijani Minister: Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is a supporter of Fethullah Gulen and one of the key persons that promote and create conditions for the spread of religious movement Nur.

Haber10 notes that Gulen strengthens its positions in the energy sector of Azerbaijan and together with the assistance of U.S. and Israel hinders the realization of Turkey’s energy interests. The Turkish portal states that already millions of dollars have been spent to achieve this purpose.

Haqqin.az notes that the publication of Haber10 is connected with the national intelligence of Turkey and the phone conversations of Gulen and his men are published exclusively in this portal. The portal often publishes about the activities of “parallel state” created by Gulen to overthrow Erdoğan’s government.

It is stated in the article, that the Turkish portal supporting the “fact based nature” of its arguments refers to the “the documents proving the existence of Gulen groups that lobby in U.S. against the energy politics of Turkey and Azerbaijan”, published in kemallevent.wordpress.com blog the day before the protests in the park of Gezi.

As noted in the article the blog discussed the conference held in Baku at the end of the May of 2013 which was dedicated to the strategic cooperation of Azerbaijan and United States and attended by U.S. senators and congressmen. The conference was sponsored by Fethullah Gulen’s organization Turkuaz Conucil. The American participants of the conference were paid 1.5 million dollars. It is claimed in the website that during the conference questions against energy interests of Turkey in Azerbaijan were discussed.

“Moreover, the portal holds the idea that the strengthening of Nur “jamaat” in Azerbaijan has been carried out in parallel with the strengthening of relations between Baku and Tel Aviv. Even the hijab ban in Azerbaijan meets the interests of the union of Israel-U.S.-Gulen,” Haqqin.az writes.

As it is stated in the article the portal also accused State oil company (SOCAR) of Azerbaijan of having a “partnership” with Gulen.
“What comes to official Baku it seems that it is interested in maintenance of good relations with the religious leader as in Azerbaijan no pressure on schools and other organizations of Nur movement take place. Members of the movement haven’t become the subjects of harassment and no interference into their activities occurred. The situation didn’t change even after the open struggle between Erdogan and Gulen started. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani government cooperates and will continue to cooperate with the government of Turkey for common interests,” the portal writes.

Note that Fethullah Gulen is a leader of religious and philosophical movement of Nur. As a media magnate he as well owns large industrial and financial companies and holdings all over the world. Gulen owns a network of schools and educational institutions. In 1998 he was accused of attempts to overthrow the existing regime in secular Turkey. At that time to avoid the punishment he migrated to the U.S. When AKP (Justice and Development party) came to power all charges against him were lifted. The PM of Turkey, Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party as a whole are accused of partnership with Gulen. According to various estimates almost 5 million people in Turkey and abroad (particularly in Azerbaijan and Central Asia) are involved in Gulen movement.

In some countries, particularly in Russia, the Gulen sect “Nurjurlar” (or Nur) is prohibited and its followers are held accountable for the spread of extremism. Federal service of security of Russia believes that members of the sect are engaged in intelligence service of Turkey and has connections with terrorists of North Caucasus.