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Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania in this December 28, 2004 file photo.
Turkish president’s nemesis dies in the US
An exiled Turkish cleric who founded a global Islamic movement and was an adversary rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan died Sunday in the United States.
Fethullah Gülen rose from small-town preacher to global leader of a movement built around a moderate, civically engaged vision of Islam, which built schools and other social institutions across Turkey and more than a hundred other countries.
“Gülenists” had a strong, if secretive, presence in the Turkish bureaucracy. But Gülen himself had lived in the US since 1999, when he fled repression by the ultra-secular Turkish government of the time.
The politics: Gülen was once close with Erdogan, whose Justice and Development party in 2002 became the first Islamist party to win power in Turkey. But by the mid-2010s, the two men had begun to clash.
The break was complete in 2016, when Erdogan accused Gülen of orchestrating a failed coup against him. Turkey arrested thousands of alleged Gülenist “terrorists” in government and forced dozens of countries to extradite Gülen’s followers.
That significantly weakened Gülenism. Whether Gülen’s death will hasten further decline remains to be seen. In the short term, his passing removes a sore spot in US-Turkey relations: Washington had repeatedly denied Ankara’s requests to extradite him.
FILE PHOTO: Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, who supports Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump, gestures as he speaks about voting during an America PAC Town Hall in Folsom, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 17, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Musk doles out millions, Turkey talks Typhoon jets, Kenya delays high-level impeachment, Boeing makes progress with strikers
1 million: Elon Musk said Sunday that his political action committee supporting the Trump campaign, America PAC, will give $1 million to one registered voter in Pennsylvania every day until the election in a lottery among petition signers. The petition merely affirms support for the First and Second Amendments but also allows the PAC to gather voter data. Musk has donated $75 million to the PAC so far.
40: Despite strained ties, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his efforts to push through a sale of 40 Eurofighter Typhoon jets when the two met on Saturday. He also expressed eagerness to increase trade with Berlin, which has the largest population of ethnic Turks in Europe, who make up an important expat voting bloc for Erdogan.
7: Kenya’s High Court on Friday suspended a resolution to impeach Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for at least seven days, meaning he will remain in office until at least Oct. 24. Parliament had already approved Gachagua’s replacement, Kithure Kindiki, but the court said it needs time to decide whether the impeachment was lawful.
33,000: Troubled aircraft manufacturer Boeing reached a tentative deal that will send some 33,000 striking workers back to the assembly line after a five-week strike. The deal must be ratified by rank-and-file union members, who will vote Wednesday. They are looking at a 35% pay increase over four years but will not get their much-desired pension plan back after losing it in 2014.
Why Egypt and Turkey finally resumed relations
Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on European politics from Stockholm, Sweden.
What's going to be the division of responsibilities in the new European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen?
Well, I think we'll get a hint of that towards the end of the week, where she is supposed to present her proposal before it goes then to the European Parliament and then eventually for ratification, be that early November, or whenever. There's a significant battle, primarily over the key economic portfolios. The Italians are demanding that their nominee, Fitto, be a minister in the government, should be given a key economic role. That's somewhat controversial, because he also will be the representative of the extreme right part of the European political spectrum. The French, needless to say, want to have their present commissioner, Breton, who’s been key with the outgoing commission, as an even more important personality. So that's going to be one of the battles. Another battle is that the Hungarians want to retain control of enlargement that will, in all probability, be refused. And then trade, financial affairs, budgets are going to be heavily contested or the focus, as well.
What's the significance of the visit of Egypt's President el-Sisi to Turkey?
Well, it is really a reconciliation after what happened in 2013 when el-Sisi staged the military coup against President Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood president, who had been elected, and was heavily supported by President Erdogan, who made a jubilant visit to Cairo at the time. So, the relationship between these two important countries in eastern Mediterranean soured very considerably after 2013. And it's been a long road back to a more normal relationship that is now being established between Turkey and Egypt.
Israeli Druze mourners gathered for the funeral of the 12 children and teens killed in a Hezbollah rocket strike a day earlier at a soccer field at the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. Majdal Shams, Israel. July 28th 2024.
Can a wider Middle East war be averted?
A deadly rocket strike killed 12 youths playing on a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Saturday. The village is largely inhabited by Druze, a small syncretic ethno-religious group also found in Syria and Lebanon. Hezbollah denies responsibility, and Beirut has called for an international investigation while claiming the incident may have been a “mistake” by either the terror group or Israeli forces, rather than a deliberate attack.
But that’s not the view in Jerusalem or Washington. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs saysHezbollah has “crossed all red lines,” and on Sunday morning the Israeli military responded withretaliatory strikes against Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including weapons depots and infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinkenexpressed support for Israel's right to self-defense, and US National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson affirmed that the attack was conducted by Hezbollah. “It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control.”
At the same time, US and world leaders are cautioning against escalation. The United Nations condemned the attack andurged restraint from both sides, warning that further conflict could “engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief.” As of Sunday, the White House was talking with both the Israeli and Lebanese governments to try and contain the conflict as Israel’s War Cabinet met to consider its further response.
A Turkish surprise. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogansaid he might intervene in Israel, “just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya,” if Israel continued to victimize Palestinians in Gaza. He was speaking at a televised meeting of his party’s supporters in his hometown, and it is not clear what he meant. Turkey is a NATO ally, and war with Israel would deeply complicate the US position in the region.
We’ll be watching whether this latest incident in the Golan Heights becomes the tipping point for what many have feared for months: a greater regional war.
People view examples of the Parthenon sculptures, sometimes referred to in the UK as the Elgin Marbles, on display at the British Museum in London, Britain, November 29, 2023.
Turkey backs Greece’s Parthenon Sculptures claims
For more than a hundred years, Greece has demanded that the British Museum return a set of marble sculptures that were hacked off of the famous Parthenon temple by a British nobleman in the early 19th century, when Athens was part of the Ottoman Empire.
The Greek position is that the marbles were taken illegitimately and that they should be viewed in their original setting. But the British have always said Lord Elgin got official permission from the Sultan to take the sculptures, which he later sold to the British Museum.
But did he? The Turkish government, official successor to the Ottomans, now says that it has found no archival evidence that any such permission was ever given. Zilch.
For anyone who knows the fraught history of Turkey-Greece relations, it is very unusual for one side to give the other an assist like this.
The Daily’s Matt Kendrick suggests this meme might help to explain it …
In recent months, the possibility of the British Museum lending the marbles has gained some momentum, thought the two sides are still far apart on conditions.
We are now watching to see if the Turkish statement contributes to any unstiffening of the British Museum’s upper lip when it comes to the fate of the marbles, which we too would like to see in Athens one day (hides under desk.)
(Losing your marbles? See Alex Kliment and Molly Rubin’s GZERO Report on the Parthenon controversy and the broader politics of cultural repatriation here.)
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint statement to the media in Baghdad, Iraq April 22, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Erdoğan cannot bank on change, US asks EU to double down on sanctions, SCOTUS mifepristone ruling may not be final word, Chile’s giant camera, Menendez and his love of steak
5: Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lacks the authority to fire the country’s central bank governor, a move he’s madefive times in the past five years. It’s a remarkable rebuke for a leader who is battling 75% annual inflation and has repeatedly compromised the independence of Turkey’s leading institutions.
50 billion: According to a leaked document, the US intends to organize a$50 billion loan for Ukraine that’s repaid by profits from frozen Russian assets – but only if the EU agrees to indefinitely extend sanctions against Moscow. Washington wants to avoid accepting full responsibility for the loan if the EU lifts sanctions before the end of the war.
60: The US Supreme Court must rule by the end of the court term in late June or early July on continued legal access to the drug mifepristone, which is used inmore than 60% of all US abortions. But even if they strike down the current challenge to mifepristone, the justices could leave an opening for Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho, each of which has a Republican attorney general, to try to quickly revive the challenge to abortion pills.
3.2: Chile is set to install the largest digital camera ever built for optical astronomy, with a resolution above3.2 gigapixels, in the Atacama Desert. The camera will weigh nearly three tons and is designed to help scientists understand the nature of dark energy and dark matter in the universe.
250: A lawyer representing Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) told a judge presiding over Menendez’s trial on corruption charges, that his client dines at Washington’s famed Morton’s Steakhouse250 nights a year. That may not suggest Menendez is corrupt, but it certainly made this newsletter team feel poor – and a little bit hungrier.
Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) protest against the high cost of living and massive suffering following a hike in petrol and devaluation of the Naira in Lagos, Nigeria.
Hard Numbers: Blackouts in Nigeria, Turkey’s soaring inflation, Deadly flooding in Central Europe, A new (but familiar) face in UK election, Murdoch ties the knot (again)
4: Millions have taken to the streets in Nigeria as unions began their fourth (and indefinite) strike against President Bola Tinubu’s wage policies. Nigeria unions have shut down six power grids, leading to a national blackout at 2am on Monday that halted much of the country’s aviation activity. Unions assert the strike will not end until the government agrees to raise the monthly minimum wage, over tenfold from 30,000 Naira ($20 USD) to 500,000 Naira ($336 USD).
75.5: Inflation has surpassed 75.5% in Turkey, jumping up 5.65% in the last month. Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek reassured Turkish citizens that “the worst is over,” as the government will begin pushing down inflation in June.
5: Heavy rains over the weekend led to widespread flooding in southern Germany and France, which killed five people, including a rescue worker. States of emergency have been announced throughout the region as highways, railways, and more have been submerged beneath several meters of water.
10: On Monday, Brexit “architect” Nigel Farage announced his plan to “make Britain great again” as the Reform UK party’s candidate in next month’s election. Although his party is only polling at around 10%, it is enough to further destabilize the ruling Tories, who are expected to be beaten soundly by Labour.
5: Is the fifth time the charm? Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, 93, said “I do” last Saturday to Elena Zhukova, a 67-year-old retired molecular biologist. The couple looked very happy tying the knot in Los Angeles, CA, and showed us it’s never too late for love … particularly if you are a billionaire.
AJ McCampbell, Democrat state representative from Alabama's 71st district, calls on U.S. president Joseph R. Biden to "pick a side" on voting rights and the filibuster before a march in downtown Washington, D.C. from the African American History Museum to the White House on Wednesday, August 4, 2021.
Hard Numbers: Biden is losing Black voters, Southern Brazil gasps for air, Turkey strikes Kurdish militants, Vultures vanish from the skies of South Asia
62: A new poll finds that just 62% of Black Americans are “absolutely certain” they’ll vote in November, down 12 points since June 2020. Overall, American interest in voting dropped by four points. That’s bad news for President Joe Biden who – like all Democrats for the past half-century – has relied heavily on Black American voters at the polls. But the study, conducted by the Washington Post and IPSOS, shows Black voters, particularly younger ones, aren’t happy with his handling of the economy, criminal justice reform, or the war in Gaza.
75: At least 75 people have been killed and more than 100 reported missing after massive floods swept through the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul over the weekend, washing away roads and bridges, knocking out power and water, and causing deadly landslides. The local governor said rebuilding will require “a kind of Marshall Plan.” Trivia: You probably know a famous person from Rio Grande do Sul – supermodel Gisele Bündchen.
16: A Turkish airstrike on a camp across the border in northern Iraq reportedly killed at least 16 members of the Kurdistan Workers Party, aka PKK. The PKK, which has waged a decades-long armed insurgency against the Turkish state, has long had a presence in Kurdish-controlled regions of Northern Iraq and Syria. It is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US, and the EU. Allies of the PKK, however, have helped the US to fight against ISIS.
2: The Parsis, a tiny religious minority in South Asia who follow Zoroastrian burial rites in which dead bodies are left atop “towers of silence” to be picked clean by vultures, have a big problem: a vulture shortage. In Karachi, a city of 20 million, the 800 remaining Parsis have just two towers of silence left. In recent decades regional vulture populations have been decimated because of an anti-inflammatory drug in cattle that is lethal for the scavenging birds.