US-based Turkish scholar Fethullah Gulen - now the target of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - is the inspiration behind 16 non-denominational schools across Australia and organisations that support interfaith tolerance and secular democracy.
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, is a terrorist and the mastermind of the recent attempted coup in Turkey.
The Gulen-inspired NSW Affinity Intercultural Foundation co-hosted an iftar dinner at Parliament House last month with the Multicultural Affairs Minister, John Ajaka, and shadow minister Sophie Cotsis.
NSW Governor David Hurley addressed the gathering about the importance of encouraging dialogue to avoid a clash of civilisations.
The Australian Intercultural Society in Melbourne is also rooted in the Hizmet Movement, which Gulen founded in the 1970s.
Both groups have condemned the attempted coup in Turkey. They dismiss any association with terrorism, but Ambassador Ahmet Vakur Gökdenizler told SBS: “This group is an international group. Their leader is based in the States and they are staging a coup in a democratic country".
“Of course, the decision needs to be made by the Australian authorities concerning the people who are affiliated with a terrorist group in an allied country,” Mr Gökdenizler said.
Asked if he had any evidence the groups posed any risk for Australia, Mr Gökdenizler said: “I can’t be sure what they may be doing here in Australia".
“Of course, you are aware of developments in the region," he said.
"We have IS. We have many other terrorist groups. And we have foreign terrorist fighters of Australian origin.
“We have to get rid of the idea that ‘your terrorist is bad, my terrorist is a freedom fighter’ sort of thing.
"At this stage they may not be a threat to Australian society, but you can never be sure because it happened in Turkey.”
Fethullah Gulen has challenged President Erdogan to produce evidence that he is linked to the coup – a call echoed by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is awaiting an extradition request from Turkey.
Affinity and the Australian Intercultural Society reject the ambassador’s claims but they have declined to give interviews, worried any comments could be misconstrued and inflame tensions so soon after the failed coup.
The crisis has polarised Turkish people, in Australia as well as at home.
Affinity did release a statement condemning the coup bid, saying “there is no place for military interventions in a democracy”.
“While admitting the scarcity of information at the early hours of the night, President Erdogan and figures close to him were quick to lay blame on the Hizmet ('service') Movement, a global faith-inspired civic movement inspired by the teachings of Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen," the statement said.
“This is not surprising as President Erdogan has previously blamed oppositional developments in Turkey on the Hizmet Movement and, as a pretext to purging state and civil society, claims that the Hizmet is acting as a ‘parallel state’ aiming to take over the country.
“Hizmet-affiliated or supporting organisations and persons have been targeted as a result with media organisations and schools being shut down, journalists jailed and many others arrested without sufficient evidence.
“As the Affinity Intercultural Foundation, we have always stated that the founding of our organisation was inspired by Gulen’s teaching and that we are part of the Hizmet Movement. We aim to promote social harmony locally and condemn any attempts to bring further discord into our already conflict-fraught world.
“While we cannot speak on behalf of the movement, we can clearly state that we and our affiliated organisations in Australia have never had nor have any such agendas or aims.
“We hope those responsible for trying to overthrow the government will be tried in courts of law and this incident becomes a source of motivation for strengthening Turkey’s democracy.
“We praise the people of Turkey who took a stand against a violent takeover, some at the expense of their own lives. We can only hope and pray for a peaceful resolution to this matter.
“We are particularly concerned that Turkey’s domestic troubles are used as a source of polarisation of the Turkish-speaking communities overseas.”
SBS asked Mr Ajaka if the groups posed any security risk to Australians.
He responded saying, “the NSW government is committed to maintaining good and harmonious relations with all communities, including the Turkish community".
SBS has posed the same questions to Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop’s office and to federal Attorney-General, George Brandis and is awaiting a response.
