Gülen movement cannot revoke its support from AK Parti

MEHMET ALİ BİRAND

I am sure you have noticed it also. In recent months, there has been a problem sometimes referred to covertly, sometimes very openly. The issue is the tension going on between the Gülen Movement - let’s call them Cemaat, meaning the sect - and Justice and Development Party (AK Parti).
It was a known fact for a long time the relationship between Cemaat and AK Parti was not a bed of roses. Especially as the prime minister’s announcements, on the topic of Israel for example, are different than Fetullah Gülen’s views. Nowadays, the ruling party’s attitudes, especially towards democratization and the European Union, is said to have increased this tension. The last law amendments on sports law, nicknamed as match-fixing law, also generated a difference of opinion. The Cemaat does not wish the punishments in the law to be lessened. President Abdullah Gül’s approach is supported. This irritates AK Parti people.
When viewed from the outside, it looks as if there is no problem. Neither the prime minister nor Fethullah Gülen comment on these matters, but those who speak on their behalf chide each other.
Then this question comes to mind: Is this the end of an almost 10 to 15 year alliance?
This question is important in many ways. Let us not forget the Cemaat has a huge contribution to AK Parti’s election results. It worked like a secret hand behind closed doors for the AK Parti. It was supporting AK Parti at its most critical moments.
I do not believe this alliance or cooperation will collapse easily in the near future. They may criticize each other a lot and their views on the world or Turkey may not overlap from time to time, but the Cemaat and AK Parti are two institutions who must rely on each other and must support each other.
Even though the Cemaat provides very critical support to AK Parti, AK Parti is not behind in support. We should not forget that AK Parti provides a very important protection umbrella for the Cemaat.
If in the coming years AK Parti loses its power and a new party like Özal’s emerges, maybe the support of the Cemaat will shift. Unless this happens, however much a difference in opinions exists, the Gülen Movement will continue with AK Parti. There will be different views, different political lines, but there will never be a political rivalry. The Cemaat is not after political power. Fetullah Gülen does not have political ambitions.
When looked from those angles, I do not see segregation in the medium term.
[HH] Why are there no raids on any AK Parti municipalities?
Do you not ask yourselves the same question? Is corruption only happening in those municipalities governed by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) or the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP)?
Is that not so? We hear about a raid story almost every day. If you list them all, what do you see? Almost all of them are opposition party municipalities. AK Parti municipalities are all clean.
Well, is there not some kind of weirdness in this?
The AK Parti mayors, are they imported from Europe? Are they made up of different people? No, they also are from these lands, our country. They are so clean, all their accounts are very open and there is no confusion or complication in their businesses. The tenders are carried out with no problem. No bid is given to the “close ones.”
I don’t know, maybe it is like this.
Or do the police prefer opposition party municipalities because they do not want to get themselves into trouble?
I am confused. What do you think?

MEHMET ALİ BİRAND - mab@hurriyet.com.tr