The Imam's Army
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''The Imam's Army'' (
Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...
: ''İmamın Ordusu'') is a book by Turkish journalist
Ahmet Şık Ahmet Şık (; born 1970, Adana) is a Turkish investigative journalist, the author of several books, a trade unionist, and member of Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Parliament in Turkey.Details othis website; accessed on 11 April 2011 His book, ...
on the life and work of
Fethullah Gülen Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Ulama, Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement who as of 2016 had millions of followers. Gülen was an influential Neo-Ottomanism, neo-Ottomanist, A ...
and his
Gülen movement The Gülen movement () or Hizmet movement () is an Islamist fraternal movement. It is a sub-sect of Sunni Islam based on a Nursian theological perspective as reflected in Fethullah Gülen's religious teachings. It is referred to by its membe ...
. Şık was detained in March 2011, before the book was published, and the draft book was seized by the government and banned, claiming it was an "illegal organizational document" of the secret organization
Ergenekon Ergenekon is a Turkish term that may refer to: *The Epic of Ergenekon, the founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples * Necabettin Ergenekon (1926-2020), Turkish officer *Ergenekon, Turkish name of Agios Chariton, a village in Cyprus *Ergenekon ...
. Şık was detained pending trial, being eventually released pending trial in March 2012. In the interim, in an act of anti-censorship defiance, a version of the book was released in November 2011 under the name ''000Kitap'' (000Book), edited by 125 journalists, activists and academics, and published by Postacı Publishing House.


Events

On 3 March 2011 eleven people were detained in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
and
Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
, including the journalists
Ahmet Şık Ahmet Şık (; born 1970, Adana) is a Turkish investigative journalist, the author of several books, a trade unionist, and member of Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Parliament in Turkey.Details othis website; accessed on 11 April 2011 His book, ...
and
Nedim Şener Nedim Şener (; born 28 November 1966 in Germany) is a Turkish writer and journalist who has written for the ''Milliyet'' (since 1994) and '' Posta'' newspapers. He has received a number of journalism awards, including the Turkish Journalists' As ...
. On 6 March they and another seven people were arrested on the allegation they were members of the secret organization
Ergenekon Ergenekon is a Turkish term that may refer to: *The Epic of Ergenekon, the founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples * Necabettin Ergenekon (1926-2020), Turkish officer *Ergenekon, Turkish name of Agios Chariton, a village in Cyprus *Ergenekon ...
. On or around 23 March Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12 ordered the confiscation of a draft for a book that Ahmet Şık wanted to publish under the title of "The Imam's Army". On 1 April 2011 unknown people made the book available on the Internet,Background and translated passages on the website of th
Democratic Turkey Forum
(DTF); retrieved 11 April 2011
and over 200,000 copies were downloaded. Şık was indicted in the Ergenekon
Odatv case The Ergenekon trials or the Ergenekon conspiracy, were a series of high-profile trials which took place in 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Ergen ...
because of ''The Imam's Army'', a copy of which was allegedly found on
odatv OdaTV ''(also known as Odatv.com, Odatv or odaTV),'' an online news portal based in Turkey, was founded in 2007. It is one of the most followed news portals in Turkey and according to the Alexa statistics, it is the 119th most visited website in ...
computers. On 26 August 2011 İstanbul prosecutor Cihan Kansız sent a 134-page indictment on 14 defendants, 12 of them in pre-trial detention to the newly founded Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 16. One of the imprisoned defendants was Ahmet Şık. The charges included membership or support of an armed organization and incitement to hatred and enmity. Ahmet Şık was charged with support of an armed organization. On 13 September 2011 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 16 decided that the trial would start on 22 November 2011. The printing house, ''İthaki'', was the publisher that owned the rights to "''İmamın Ordusu''" (The Army of the Imam),'' Vatan'', 24 March 2011
'İmamın Ordusu' operasyonu!
retrieved 7 April 2011
but in an act of anti-censorship defiance, a version of the book was released in November 2011 under the name ''000Kitap'' (000Book), edited by 125 journalists, activists and academics, and published by Postacı Publishing House. Hurriyet Daily News, 16 November 2011
Banned book goes on sale in Istanbul book fair
/ref> Şık was released pending trial on 12 March 2012 along with fellow defendants
Coşkun Musluk Coşkun () is a Turkish name that means "enthusiastic". It may refer to: Given name * Coşkun Aral (born 1956), Turkish photo journalist, war correspondent * Coşkun Birdal (born 1973), Turkish footballer * Coşkun Büktel (1950–2018), Turkish ...
, , and
Nedim Şener Nedim Şener (; born 28 November 1966 in Germany) is a Turkish writer and journalist who has written for the ''Milliyet'' (since 1994) and '' Posta'' newspapers. He has received a number of journalism awards, including the Turkish Journalists' As ...
.


Summary

The book deals with the religious community of the Turkish Islamic preacher and former imam
Fethullah Gülen Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Ulama, Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement who as of 2016 had millions of followers. Gülen was an influential Neo-Ottomanism, neo-Ottomanist, A ...
, usually referred to as the
Gülen movement The Gülen movement () or Hizmet movement () is an Islamist fraternal movement. It is a sub-sect of Sunni Islam based on a Nursian theological perspective as reflected in Fethullah Gülen's religious teachings. It is referred to by its membe ...
. This fact has led to suspicions that Şık was arrested due to the book's contents, rather than his involvement in the alleged Ergenekon organization, which he has worked as a journalist to expose. The co-author of Ahmet Şık's earlier books on Ergenekon, Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, made a summary of the book. In the book, there are long passages on the life of Fethullah Gülen, already contained in many articles and books, but the book offers further details on the conflict between
Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician and political theorist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was la ...
and the
Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...
(MHP). The book also presents confessions of one of the founders of the Akyazılı Foundation that in 1966 became the basis for the establishment of the Gülen movement. The book also explains how Gülen developed schools and made use of certain media institutions. Relating to the government of the ruling
Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...
(AKP), the book details the installment of members of the Gülen community into the Turkish bureaucracy. The question is asked whether the community includes most members of the armed unit of the police. The Democratic Turkey Forum has translated some passages of the book into English. In his draft book, Şık draws heavily on other sources, including quoting extensively from intelligence reports from before the AKP came to power in 2002 and more recent work by other journalists and analysts. Proponents of Gülen have said that "the book aims to create a sensation, rather than provide objective information".Orhan Kemal Cengiz
Andrew Finkel, Ergenekon wars and Today's Zaman
Today's Zaman of 22 April 2011; retrieved 19 May 2011
A new section analyzing the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt was added to the newer versions of the book. In this section Şık talks about lack of unity inside the military and concludes the coup d'état attempt as two reactionary forces fighting for control.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imam's Army 2011 non-fiction books Books about Turkey 21st-century Turkish books Conservatism in Turkey