‘Mid-February I had the opportunity to participate in the ‘Hizmet International Conference: Responses to Contemporary Challenges’ held in Long Beach, California. What is Hizmet, what was the conference about and what is Hizmet’s relationship to Tendai Buddhist Institute? Too often I drop the opportunity to discuss such important interactions. Let me not make that mistake this time.
What is Hizmet in their own words, from an Alliance for Shared Values website. AFSV is an affiliate organization in the U.S. They say it more concisely than I can.
“Hizmet is a transnational civil society initiative that advocates for the ideals of human rights, equal opportunity, democracy, non-violence and the emphatic acceptance of religious and cultural diversity. It began in Turkey as a grassroots community in the 1970s in the context of social challenges being faced at the time: violent conflict among ideologically and politically driven youth, desperate economic conditions and decades of state-imposed ideology of discrimination where the un-elected members of the state penetrated excessively in people’s lives and mandated a particular lifestyle. Hizmet literally means “service” in English.
. . . Hizmet is not a religious effort; it is open to every person who shares its core values regardless of whether their values are rooted in Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, agnostic, or any other faith. In fact, in areas where Hindu, Buddhist or other religions are a majority, Hizmet supporters include members of those faiths.
. . . Hizmet participants are inspired by the ideas, life example and vision of Fethullah Gülen, who advocated for deeper personal spiritual devotion that is expressed in social work through the understanding that serving fellow humans is serving God.” (https://afsv.org/about-us/hizmet-movement/)
You may have heard or read about Fethullah Gülen, a somewhat controversial figure who lives in exile in Eastern Pennsylvania. The imam promotes a tolerant Islam which emphasizes altruism, hard work and education.
The current government of Türkiye, led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, an authoritarian president, has declared Hizmet a terrorist organization. Gülen is charged with orchestrating a coup against the government in July 2016. This would run counter to all the demonstrated values of Gülen and Hizmet and there has never been any evidence to support the claim. By doing so however, Erdoğan has targeted Hizmet supporters, jailing, torturing and killing hundreds, tens of thousands of professionals, in and out of government have lost their jobs. Hizmet supporters outside Türkiye have also been targeted by the government and they may not enter Türkiye without fear of being jailed or worse.
Hizmet is active in education and operates private schools and universities in over 140 countries. It has initiated forums for interfaith dialogue. It has substantial investments in media, finance, and for-profit health clinics Despite its teachings which are stated conservative in Türkiye, some have praised the movement as a pacifist, modern-oriented version of Islam, and an alternative to more extreme schools of Islam.
The two-day Hizmet conference, hosted by the Department of Religious Studies, California State University at Long Beach, in southern Los Angeles County, was significant for several reason. First the quality of the presentations, most were academic, some took the form of national reports. Second was the opportunity to create and strengthen relationships with many international interfaith leaders. It provided me with the opportunity to strengthen my ties with Hizmet and gain a deeper understanding of the Hizmet Movement. Finally, I heard reports of the devastation from the earthquakes in Southern Türkiye and Northern Syria.
Mr. Medet Onel, Executive Director of the Hizmet affiliate in the Capital District and I traveled together to the conference. It was exciting to be with so many people with shared interfaith values. There were approximately 250 invited participants from 22 countries: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and Southeast Asian Pacific Islands. Attendees and participants were in equal number of men and women. There were many references to racial equity and LBGTQ+ rights.
About 165 of the participants were scholars, and 85 were Hizmet workers in the form of, primary and secondary school and university teachers and administrators, as well as community organizers. There is no distinction made at the conference between those who are active full-time employees of Hizmet versus those of us who are supporters or allies.
There was a Roundtable Discussion dedicated to ‘The Earthquake: Coping with Greif, Helping Victims, and Planning for the Future’. In general, much of the discussion about the devastating quake was that the government did not and has not, adequately responded to the needs of the people, whether we are addressing, food, shelter, medical attention, etc. This is not seen as malicious; it is due to lack of preparation and incompetence. For those of us wishing to do something positive we should concentrate on donating money to https://www.embracerelief.org/. This is a vetted relief organization that has a good track record in this part of the world.
Many of the victims of the earthquake are Syrian refugees who fled their homeland as a result of the civil war there. They are now confronting even more death and destruction in their refuge. As of this writing there are over 50,000 people declared dead in Türkiye and Syria. This number is sure to rise. This is compounded by the mass destruction of homes, hospitals, and other important infrastructure. Keep the peoples of Türkiye and Syria in our prayers.
Tendai Buddhist Institute’s relationship with Hizmet started in 2011. In 2015 I was invited and participated in a Hizmet sponsored trip to Türkiye, that was led by Veysel Ucan, the then Executive Director of the Albany Turkish Cultural Center. Since then, Tendai Buddhist Institute has participated in many events with the Turkish Cultural Center (a Hizmet organization) in Albany, as well as having our Turkish friends join us, and we with them, for Iftar (breaking fast) during Ramadan and American Thanksgiving. The Turkish Cultural Center morphed into the Albany Community Center, now located in Rensselaer, NY. The change of name and location is partly attributed to the persecution of Hizmet by Erdoğan’s government.
Hizmet and the people of Türkiye are very important to Tendai Buddhist Institute. We have an ever developing, close relationship. Tendai Buddhist Institute is committed to a Buddhist Path as a means of working with and for people of all faiths, ethnicities, races and gender. I hope today’s offering provides further insight to how this works in real time.
With Love and Gassho . . . Monshin