Corrupt Politicians and Tools of the Gulen Movement
Disclaimer: if some videos are disabled this is the work of the Gulen censorship which has filed fake copyright infringement complaints to UTUBE.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
- A Gulen Charter School: California Congressman sends letter to Secretary o...
Magnolia Science Academy - A Gulen Charter School: California Congressman sends letter to Secretary o...: Congressman Alan Lowenthal Gulen Charter School Letter from Gulen Cemaat
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Thursday, November 10, 2016
USA FETO operation who are the money men?
Thank you German Turkish researchers.
Kemal Oksuz is missing in action during the US House Ethics Committee Investigation
Adem Arici is in jail
Saturday, November 5, 2016
What was California educational reformer Caprice Young doing in Texas??
At a Charter School rally in Texas with Lt. Governor Patrick.
both are making a wad of money off of privatizing education
both are making a wad of money off of privatizing education
 |
| Scene from Killing Ed Caprice Young is the CEO of Gulenist operated Magnolia Science Academies in California and founding CEO of CCSA (California Charter School Association) Caprice Young a "Leader" |
Friday, November 4, 2016
Gulen Loves Assembly Candidate Laura Friedman in California ugly connections to dirty money
Gulen Movement always getting involved with elections, campaign donations and political wrangling.
Friday, October 28, 2016
Gulen Terrorist Organization Bribes Political and State officials DIALO...
http://www.wftv.com/news/local/sheriff-demings-receives-award-from-group-led-by-man-accused-in-turkey-coup-attempt-/460610039
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings is the latest to receive an award from the Atlantic Institute.
The man behind the organization is Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of being behind a coup attempt in Turkey and hiding out in the United States.
The group has given awards to local mayors and officials, including the president of the University of Central Florida.
The Atlantic Institute’s website said Gulen has dedicated his life to “interfaith and intercultural dialogue.”
But sources contacted Channel 9 to look into the awards given out by the group.
They said that community leaders such as Demings should stay away from the group, especially after the Pulse massacre.
According to CNN reports, Gulen is accused of being the mastermind behind a failed coup in Turkey earlier this year.
He has been living in exile in Pennsylvania and denies that he had anything to do with trying to overthrow the Turkish government.
CNN reports that Gulen has a loyal following, who subscribe to the Hizmet, or “Gulen movement.”
Community leaders have accepted awards from the group for years.
Demings accepted the award for public and community service from its members Oct. 13.
People at odds with the group and its ideology told Channel 9 it was a lack of judgment for a sheriff on the campaign trail.
But Demings is just one of a long list of people who have accepted an award from the institute.
On the group’s website, the list of awardees includes Hitt, E. Ann McGee, who is head of Seminole State College, Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.
Dyer’s office said the awards are meant to recognize leaders who promote diversity and intercultural exchange.
Channel 9 contacted the Istanbul Cultural Center and Atlantic Institute, but has not heard back.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has not said if it will comment on the award.
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Pacifica Institute Gulen West Coast Lobbying and Idaho Politicians- Gulen Link to Chobani Yogurt & Turkish owner
Over the course of 2011, 13 Idaho legislators toured Turkey.
The lawmakers had to pay their own way halfway across the globe, but once they got to Turkey, their hotels, meals and travels were bankrolled by the Pacifica Institute, a group of Turkish-Americans. The group said its mission was “to develop social capital — the creation and extension of positive connections within and between disparate social networks.”
During the trip, the lawmakers toured Turkish schools and universities. Senate President Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, said the tour provided lawmakers a chance to meet with political, education and business leaders.
Why are those trips of interest, five years after the fact? The Pacifica Institute is aligned with Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen. And Gulen figures prominently in the fallout from Friday’s failed military coup in Turkey — although Gulen’s role in the coup is open to debate. Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Gulen with orchestrating the attempted coup. Gulen has denied any involvement, and has accused Erdogan of staging the coup, NBC News reported Monday.
Also of note, in any discussion of Gulen and K-12 policy, is his role in the charter schools movement. As the Washington Post reported Saturday, Gulen has ties to 160 charter schools across the nation — which would constitute one of the nation’s largest charter school networks.
I wrote about the legislators’ trips to Turkey at the time, in my former life as an Idaho Statesman editorial writer and columnist. I hadn’t given those columns much thought until the weekend, when a fellow reporter reminded me of the Idaho-Gulen connection.
So, which legislators took the Pacifica Institute up on its invite?
The list includes five current legislators, in addition to Hill: outgoing Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, now a candidate for state Supreme Court; Sen. Lee Heider, R-Twin Falls; Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum; Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston; and outgoing Rep. Donna Pence, D-Gooding.
The list also includes seven former lawmakers: Sens. John McGee, R-Caldwell, Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston; John Tippetts, R-Montpelier, Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello; and Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello; and Reps. Janice McGeachin, R-Idaho Falls; and Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot.
NEW UPDATE 9/13/2018 on connection to Idaho and the Chobani yogurt plant- Owner Hamid Ulukaya
Hamdi Ulukaya is a member of the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrials (TUSKON), an organization of 40,000 employers (which also includes Godiva Chocolate) with strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. So in addition to his dairy product activities, he is deeply committed to civilizational jihad, a “pre-violent” form of jihad, through the Gulen Movement, a transnational religious and social effort led by the somewhat reclusive Turkish Islamic scholar and preacher, Fethullah Gulen, who currently resides in Pennsylvania.
Gulen has been depicted as a Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr., but he runs a $25 billion international network and was furtively responsible for changing Turkey from a secular to a strongly Islamized state, now governed by Erdogan. Along with the AKP party that turned Turkey away from the West toward Russia, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria, Gulen’s sect portrays itself as a supporter of tolerance and education,
More here https://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm/blog_id/63565/The-Chobani-Gulen-Connection
Chobani Plant in Twin Falls, Idaho where refugees resettle to work
for Gulenist Hamid Ulukaya
https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2016/01/16/more-evidence-that-big-business-is-a-driver-of-refugee-resettlement-in-america/
Where is Ozkur / Oskur Yildez on the Gulen hierarchy on the west coast?
very high up - he has even taught at Sonoran Science Academy in Arizona and did special
Turkish cultural classes for Magnolia Science Academy at the Pacifica Institute/Magnolia Headquarters they once shared. Today Magnolia Headquarters shares an office with CCSA-California Charter School Association 250 E. First St., Los Angeles, CA.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
In their own words: The Gulen Terror-Cult
Gulen US Political bribes @ 30:50 excellent video by those that know him best.
Saturday, August 13, 2016
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Gulen and the Islamic terrorism ties to Clinton
BREAKING: Julian Assange Just Delivered The Next Batch Of Emails! She’s TOAST
!
There has never been a time in US history where our leadership has failed us this badly. Over the last either years, Obama, with the help of Hillary Clinton, has done everything in his power to destroy what makes this country great.
Obama wants our military depleted, he wants the world not to be afraid of us, he wants millions of immigrants to come and go as they please, and he is perfectly content with allowing ISIS to grow into the global threat that they are today.
There’s absolutely no denying that WikiLeaks has been a world champion of bringing justice to those that are corrupt and abuse their political powers, like Hillary Clinton.
In a BRAND NEW leak late last night, Julian Assange (Editor-In-Chief for WikiLeaks) not only guaranteed that he had enough evidence on Hillary Clinton to put her in jail, he released a PDF file that we have our hands on.
The file from Congress reveals that there are strong ties between Hillary Clinton and high members of the Islamic cleric in Turkey.
Remember about a month ago when you saw thousands of people in Turkey try to pull off a coup against their leader Erdoğan? WikiLeaks has proven Hillary Clinton was one of the chief architects behind that.
Sources speaking anonymously have indicated that the connection between Clinton and acolytes of the imam, Fethullah Gulen, will end the relationship between the U.S. and Turkey, a key NATO ally, if Hillary Clinton wins the White House.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has initiated an extreme retaliation against Gulen and his followers, as well. Erdoğan, who was once allied with Gulen, has asked President Obama several times to pull strings to have Gulen extradited to his other home in Pennsylvania.
The WikiLeaks documents indicate that Erdoğan blamed Gulen for the uprising against the Turkish government. The documents show that on April 1, 2009, an email from a Gulen follower named Gokhan Ozkok asked a Clinton deputy chief of staff, Huma Abedin, for help in connecting one of his allies to President Obama.
The documents show that Ozkok is a founding board member of the Turkish Cultural Center and part of a large business apparatus that is closely tied in with the Gulen movement, also known as Hizmet.
Had WikiLeaks not gained control of these emails, we never would have been able to see this major connection. The documents show us that Ozkok served as the national finance co-chair of the pro-Clinton Ready PAC. He is on record contributing $10,000 to the committee in 2014 and $2,700 to Clinton’s campaign in 2015.
He is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, and has given between $25,000 and $50,000 to the Clinton charity.
In these documents, we also found out that there is a connection between Gulenists and Hillary Clinton in that a Gulen-aligned group called the Alliance for Shared Values hired the Clinton-connected Podesta Group to lobby Congress on its behalf.
The Podesta Group primarily exists for those wanting influence from Clinton. The firm was co-founded by John Podesta, which is Clinton’s campaign chairman. See the connections building?
Erdoğan has had trouble stopping the Gulen’s influence in the US, but it hasn’t worked because he is closely tied into a network with Hillary Clinton.
In 2011, the New York Times conducted an investigation and proved that the Gulen’s were given work-visas (by the State Department when Hillary was Secretary of State) in order to teach at Turkish schools in the US. The teachers were forced to give nearly all of their salaries back to the Gulen movement.
The idea was that the teachers could come to the US for a better life, but nearly all of their money would go to their bosses, the Gulen Movement, and then the Gulen’s would make large contributions to Hillary Clinton in exchange for her allowing them to bring thousands of workers over here from Turkey.
in 2015, the documents reveal that Gulen followers donated to Clinton’s various political campaigns and to her family charity in sums of $500,000 and $1 million. .
WikiLeaks provided the following email to Huma Abedin (Hillary’s long-time aide) showing a Gulen follower had direct access to Clinton’s staff and wanted a favor.
Ihsanoglu, a Gulen ally, not only met with Obama in Istanbul days after this email, Obama invited him back to the White House where he asked Obama to create a U.S. ambassador to the Muslim world in 2009.
CIA officials have indicated that Ihsanoglu has a very long history of working with the terrorist group Hamas, but Hillary and Obama turned their cheek to that.
The new leaks clearly show that the Podesta Group made connections with several Turkish companies even though they had known ties to terrorist organizations. The leaked documents show that Clinton took millions in donations in exchange for allowing Turkish schools to be run in the US by terrorist supporters.
Julian Assange also leaked documents PROVING the Podesta Group represented Uranium One, a Russia-controlled uranium company that was approved to buy 1/5 of our uranium by Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State. Documents show that Hillary received $145 million to her “Foundation” in return.
An anonymous FBI source indicated that this is a very serious situation and that Hillary could end up being prosecuted if more information is released proving she took money in exchange for political influence. The source indicates that she could be in prison before the election in November if WikiLeaks dumps more information like this.
https://conservativedailypost.com/breaking-julian-assange-just-delivered-the-next-batch-of-emails-shes-toast/
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Shameful photo bombing of Gulen lobbyists at White House- Emre Celik and Faruk Taban
What other country can you go from h1-b Visa teacher to leading a top Gulen Lobbying group called Turkic American Alliance? Ask Faruk Taban, who arrived to the USA to teach in Nevada at the Gulen - Coral Academy of Science. Faruk went on to develop Accord Institute which was ordered severed by Judge Lavin in Los Angeles to severe ties with Gulen inspired Magnolia Science Academy http://www.magnoliascienceacademy.blogspot.com
From Accord Institute who basically double bills all the Gulen inspired charter schools west of the Mississippi - Faruk Taban hit the big time to becoming the President of Gulen's Turkic American Alliance. Look at these two fraudsters, making like they are some important part of American politics when their bribe money got them the invitation to the White House.
http://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2016/07/22/as-turkey-seeks-fethullah-gulens-extradition-obama-hosts-leading-gulenists-at-white-house
From Accord Institute who basically double bills all the Gulen inspired charter schools west of the Mississippi - Faruk Taban hit the big time to becoming the President of Gulen's Turkic American Alliance. Look at these two fraudsters, making like they are some important part of American politics when their bribe money got them the invitation to the White House.
http://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2016/07/22/as-turkey-seeks-fethullah-gulens-extradition-obama-hosts-leading-gulenists-at-white-house
Turkey this week submitted the extradition request to Washington for the Pennsylvania-based Imam, Fethullah Gülen, suspected as the mastermind of the failed coup in the country.
Top U.S. officials responded to the Turkish government's extradition request, and said they would review the materials as soon as possible. The U.S. government, however, decided to ignore Turkey's concerns by inviting leading Gülenists to a reception at the White House hosted by President Barack Obama on Thursday.
Good to be celebrating #WhiteHouse #Eid with #Hizmet friend Faruk Taban -- #HizmeteDevam dlvr.it/Lrq0qf
President of the Rumi Forum, Emre Çelik and President of the Turkic American Alliance (TAA) attended the Eid Reception at the White House. The Rumi Forum's website says its honorary president is Fethullah Gülen. TAA is also known to be a Gülenist business organization for Turkish-American entrepreneurs. A quick search on TAA's website brings up countless articles in support of Gülen and his ideas.
Thousands of Turks marched and chanted today for the extradition of Fethullah Gülen from the United States on Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, where putschists killed at least two unarmed civilians and injured dozens. In return, Rumi Forum's Çelik took selfies at the White House and smiled to cameras. "Special meetings in the Green Room #WhiteHouse" he tweeted.
This is not the first time that the White House showed its support for Gülen-run institutes in Washington.
President Obama sent a letter to Gülen-tied "International Festival of Language and Culture" (IFLC), held in Washington last April. Obama underlined the IFLC's efforts to unite young people from across the globe. The festival was co-hosted by the Rumi Forum and TAA.
Previously, The White House officials declined to comment on the letter.
Meanwhile the US Department of State offered assistance to Turkish authorities in the extradition process of Fethullah Gülen as well as forming a joint team to work through the process.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said "We have offered, as the Justice Department has offered to assist Turkish authorities as they work through this extradition process. We've even offered to host a team, a Turkish team here or to send a team there, a joint team, to help them work through the process."
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Pacifica Institute - A Gulen Dialogue road show: Hillary and Bill Clinton
Pacifica Institute - A Gulen Dialogue road show: Gulen Movement Political Bribes and Manipulations ...: More info about Hillary and Bill Clinton's connections to the Gulen Movement In addition to muddying that complex geopolitical dynam...
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Ethiopia -- Ayka Addis Textile: One of the biggest foreign investments i...
Gulen TUSKON group has engulfed Ethiopia and Africa with industry, political bribes
and social control via Turkish Cultural centers, Turkish Schools and Mosques
Gulenists with President of Ethiopia showing Fethullah Gulen pamphlets and propaganda
June 28, 2016 Ethiopia gets non-Permanent UN Security Seat
http://www.dw.com/en/ethiopia-gets-non-permanent-un-security-council-seat/a-19362933
June 25, 2016 Ethiopia and Kenya sign oil pipeline deal
http://www.theafricareport.com/East-Horn-Africa/ethiopia-and-kenya-in-oil-pipeline-deal.html
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
House Ethics Committee didn't prosecute politicians, Gulenists Kemal Oksuz Missing
esterday, I reported on the House Ethics Committee's 28-page exoneration of Danny Davis and lots of other representatives in the matter of an illegal junket arranged by former Niagara Foundation Executive Director Kemal Oksuz.
In short, the Committee found no major wrongdoing on the part of the representatives, and it took a ridiculous swing at the Washington Post for leaking information about the investigation. The Committee is not going to do anything else about the scandal, although the report was very clear that laws were probably broken, and that Mr. Oksuz exercised his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to a subpoena.
It looked like a dodge to me. It looked to me like the Committee was looking for a way to avoid looking into the central question of the whole thing: how did Azerbaijan's gas project get a mysterious exemption from the Iran sanctions?
It's a pretty big question, and they took a dive on it. *[See below for one theory.]
I still don't know why, but I did look into the Committee's membership, and what I found was this: out of the ten members of the Ethics Committee, only five can't be connected to other junkets sponsored by Gulen-linked organizations.
So, a committee of ten looking into the ethics of a giant Gulen-linked junket to Azerbaijan (and Turkey) has five members who have been on the receiving end of very similar junkets, sponsored by people easily connected to the people at play in the Azerbaijan junket.
Let's look at the Committee: The names highlighted in yellow are people who are somewhat compromised on this topic because they're connected to Gulen-sponsored junkets.
Only one Committee member appears to have recused herself. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) sat out because she herself was on the Azerbaijani junket--- the one being investigated. Good for her. It was already common knowledge that she was on the trip, but I don't think it's widely understood that her junket-provider was another one of these shell foundations--- not one of the phony-baloney Texas ones that Mr. Oksuz cooked up, and has since lawyered up over. Ms. Clarke got sent by this Council of Turkic American Associations thing out of New York.
Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and her spouse went on Gulen-sponsored junket in 2011, sponsored by the West America Turkic Council, another one of these 503 (c)'s.
There's a name that keeps coming up, that particular fellow. Two charter schools connected to him (Sonoran Science Academy, Tuscon; BayTech, Oakland). He's the guy that can't find qualified math teachers in the US, so he brings people in from.... you guessed it....
I guess it's remotely possible that Ms. Sanchez could fail to connect the dots between her 2011 junket and this 2013 junket, even though her host and the 2013 host are closely connected to each other and politically well connected, I might add. In all likelihood, though, she probably should have recused herself. She put herself in a position of having to police the friends of friends and people who've given her gifts. I apologize for this error; it was Ms. Sanchez's sister -- who is also in Congress--- who took this junket. Probably still a hazy area of ethics, but my feeling right now is that it wouldn't call for a recusal.
There is some discussion online about the Mr. Yildiz's changing appearance over time. I'll let you research it; I can't verify any of it, but in chronologically close images he does seem to be one person and then another.
John Larson (D-CT) has not reported a Gulen-sponsored junket for himself, but two of his staff members have been guests of the Gulen Movement. His staffers have received trips from non-Gulenist Turkish organizations as well, so Mr. Larson might have some insights about the different agendas of these trips, but who knows? Interestingly, Mr. Larson's staffer's junkets were paid for by the same group that paid for Yvette Clarke's 2013 junket --- and she recused herself. For example, this one:
Are you following? Rep. Clarke recused herself because she went to Azerbaijan in 2013 during the mega-junket under investigation. Rep. Larson, on the other hand, had staffers going to Turkey earlier in time, paid for by the same dude. It's right there in the gray zone, in terms of ethics, isn't it? He probably should have recused himself. If this thing were a jury, he'd have to declare that relationship.
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA) also had a staffer go on a Gulen-sponsored junket, in the early days of the Gulen junket program (2008). The itinerary is fascinating; it's a laundry list of Gulenist organizations, as well as Turkish political figures. It shows how closely connected the Gulen Movement was to the Turkish government in 2008.
This particular junket was sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Center of New York, which we don't hear much about here in the midwest. They were the group that glommed onto Bill Clinton in 2008.
Mr. Yoncu, the sponsor, can be found in the Gulenist press from time to time.
This connection to Rep. Capuano is a bit tenuous--- it was long ago; I would be surprised is Representative Capuano's staffer even realized there was a connection. It's fine with me that he didn't recuse himself.
Democrat Ted Deutch appears to be completely untouched by Gulen-linked travel. He's been to Turkey, and so have his staffers, but the travel has not been sponsored by any of the Gulenist organizations.
Of the Republicans on the Committee... only Charlie Dent (from Pennsylvania, oddly) is touched by Gulen-sponsored travel. He appears to have been on the same junket as the Larson staffers in 2011. So, he probably should have recused himself from the Azerbaijani investigation. Rep. Dent is the chair of the Ethics Committee; he traveled to Turkey in 2011 on the dime of the very same person who sent Rep. Clarke to Azerbaijan in 2013. He definitely should have recused himself, now that I think about it.
The other Republicans on the Committee are apparently clean, in terms of Gulen-sponsored travel. Ms. Brooks is very new to Congress, although the Gulenists are reaching out to her, big time. Here she is with FBI search warrant target Bilal Eksili. Mr. Gowdy has not reported any Turkish travel, nor has the Texan, Mr. Marchand (he has made a cameo at one of the Gulen-linked charter schools in that dreadful state, or they visited him. I can't tell from the picture.)
I guess I understand why the Committee didn't pursue the big question of the Azerbaijani episode: both the chair and the ranking member have personal exposure, and so do other members. But I think the Republicans might have been asleep at the wheel here.
Given how much the Republicans are moaning and groaning about the possible lifting of the Iran sanctions, they probably could have painted this thing as another example of the Democrats going out of their way to weaken the Iran sanctions before eventually just bargaining them away. But then again, the Republicans have their own exposure with the Ethics Committee chair. I'm glad they didn't go down that road, but they could have.
It may be over, but it still stinks. The event itself was appalling, and the investigation was pretty much a whitewash. If there's any question about the value these junkets have as an investment for the Gulen Movement, there shouldn't be. It's obvious.
*About the Shah Deniz exemption to the Iran sanctions: Evidently the exemption was sponsored by Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), at least according to this. Meeks was on the junket.Here he is with with Kemal Oksuz, the guy who took the 5th Amendment rather than get into a discussion with the Ethics Committee. So, Meeks possibly did the quid pro quo for the junket, but I'm guessing he wasn't alone. The weirder thing is that the Ethics Committee isn't taking the issue up at all.
In short, the Committee found no major wrongdoing on the part of the representatives, and it took a ridiculous swing at the Washington Post for leaking information about the investigation. The Committee is not going to do anything else about the scandal, although the report was very clear that laws were probably broken, and that Mr. Oksuz exercised his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to a subpoena.
It looked like a dodge to me. It looked to me like the Committee was looking for a way to avoid looking into the central question of the whole thing: how did Azerbaijan's gas project get a mysterious exemption from the Iran sanctions?
It's a pretty big question, and they took a dive on it. *[See below for one theory.]
I still don't know why, but I did look into the Committee's membership, and what I found was this: out of the ten members of the Ethics Committee, only five can't be connected to other junkets sponsored by Gulen-linked organizations.
So, a committee of ten looking into the ethics of a giant Gulen-linked junket to Azerbaijan (and Turkey) has five members who have been on the receiving end of very similar junkets, sponsored by people easily connected to the people at play in the Azerbaijan junket.
Let's look at the Committee: The names highlighted in yellow are people who are somewhat compromised on this topic because they're connected to Gulen-sponsored junkets.
Only one Committee member appears to have recused herself. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) sat out because she herself was on the Azerbaijani junket--- the one being investigated. Good for her. It was already common knowledge that she was on the trip, but I don't think it's widely understood that her junket-provider was another one of these shell foundations--- not one of the phony-baloney Texas ones that Mr. Oksuz cooked up, and has since lawyered up over. Ms. Clarke got sent by this Council of Turkic American Associations thing out of New York.
Tuck that name away; it comes up later in this post.
If you're going to follow this story, you just have to accept that there are dozens of these 503 (c)'s around the country; I can't keep up with them. It's all run by a relatively small number of guys; they just keep inventing group names and changing them. That's how they roll. By the way, Mr. Kosar --- the guy sponsoring Ms. Clarke-- is affiliated with at least three Gulen-linked charter schools.
You also have to accept that none of these Ethics Committee people are willing to acknowledge publicly the long reach of the Gulen Movement in the Azerbaijani scandal, or in their own junketing experiences. They don't mention the name; they don't acknowledge the relationships, the long courtship, the favors, the money. The Gulen Movement is the invisible hand behind the entire scandal; it touches the investigators and the targets.
Interestingly, Patrick Meehan (R-PA), one of the four completely clean members of this Committee, was the US Attorney who argued against Fethullah Gulen's visa in court in 2008. (Fascinating, read it some time. It's pretty blunt.) It doesn't surprise me that he's never been on a Gulen-sponsored junket to Turkey, Azerbaijan, or anywhere else. He can probably smell a rat from pretty far away.
So, who on the Committee is compromised, to one extent or another? It's mainly the Democrats, as you can see above. It always pains me a bit to go after the political party I usually vote for, but that's just how this has all played out.
Look, here's her (sister's) host, Ozkur Yildiz, schmoozing with President Obama. Mr. Oksuz might also be in that picture; it's hard to tell. He was at the event.
There is some discussion online about the Mr. Yildiz's changing appearance over time. I'll let you research it; I can't verify any of it, but in chronologically close images he does seem to be one person and then another.
John Larson (D-CT) has not reported a Gulen-sponsored junket for himself, but two of his staff members have been guests of the Gulen Movement. His staffers have received trips from non-Gulenist Turkish organizations as well, so Mr. Larson might have some insights about the different agendas of these trips, but who knows? Interestingly, Mr. Larson's staffer's junkets were paid for by the same group that paid for Yvette Clarke's 2013 junket --- and she recused herself. For example, this one:
Are you following? Rep. Clarke recused herself because she went to Azerbaijan in 2013 during the mega-junket under investigation. Rep. Larson, on the other hand, had staffers going to Turkey earlier in time, paid for by the same dude. It's right there in the gray zone, in terms of ethics, isn't it? He probably should have recused himself. If this thing were a jury, he'd have to declare that relationship.
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA) also had a staffer go on a Gulen-sponsored junket, in the early days of the Gulen junket program (2008). The itinerary is fascinating; it's a laundry list of Gulenist organizations, as well as Turkish political figures. It shows how closely connected the Gulen Movement was to the Turkish government in 2008.
This particular junket was sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Center of New York, which we don't hear much about here in the midwest. They were the group that glommed onto Bill Clinton in 2008.
Mr. Yoncu, the sponsor, can be found in the Gulenist press from time to time.
This connection to Rep. Capuano is a bit tenuous--- it was long ago; I would be surprised is Representative Capuano's staffer even realized there was a connection. It's fine with me that he didn't recuse himself.
Democrat Ted Deutch appears to be completely untouched by Gulen-linked travel. He's been to Turkey, and so have his staffers, but the travel has not been sponsored by any of the Gulenist organizations.
Of the Republicans on the Committee... only Charlie Dent (from Pennsylvania, oddly) is touched by Gulen-sponsored travel. He appears to have been on the same junket as the Larson staffers in 2011. So, he probably should have recused himself from the Azerbaijani investigation. Rep. Dent is the chair of the Ethics Committee; he traveled to Turkey in 2011 on the dime of the very same person who sent Rep. Clarke to Azerbaijan in 2013. He definitely should have recused himself, now that I think about it.
The other Republicans on the Committee are apparently clean, in terms of Gulen-sponsored travel. Ms. Brooks is very new to Congress, although the Gulenists are reaching out to her, big time. Here she is with FBI search warrant target Bilal Eksili. Mr. Gowdy has not reported any Turkish travel, nor has the Texan, Mr. Marchand (he has made a cameo at one of the Gulen-linked charter schools in that dreadful state, or they visited him. I can't tell from the picture.)
I guess I understand why the Committee didn't pursue the big question of the Azerbaijani episode: both the chair and the ranking member have personal exposure, and so do other members. But I think the Republicans might have been asleep at the wheel here.
Given how much the Republicans are moaning and groaning about the possible lifting of the Iran sanctions, they probably could have painted this thing as another example of the Democrats going out of their way to weaken the Iran sanctions before eventually just bargaining them away. But then again, the Republicans have their own exposure with the Ethics Committee chair. I'm glad they didn't go down that road, but they could have.
It may be over, but it still stinks. The event itself was appalling, and the investigation was pretty much a whitewash. If there's any question about the value these junkets have as an investment for the Gulen Movement, there shouldn't be. It's obvious.
*About the Shah Deniz exemption to the Iran sanctions: Evidently the exemption was sponsored by Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), at least according to this. Meeks was on the junket.Here he is with with Kemal Oksuz, the guy who took the 5th Amendment rather than get into a discussion with the Ethics Committee. So, Meeks possibly did the quid pro quo for the junket, but I'm guessing he wasn't alone. The weirder thing is that the Ethics Committee isn't taking the issue up at all.
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