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The Turkish Olympics: Festival into the Gulen movement

The Turkish Olympics Final is an annual two-week long cultural festival bringing together non-Turkish international students from Gulenist schools in other nations to compete in a variety of performances throughout Turkey. The performances tend to have international school children singing in Turkis...

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Main Author: Hobbs, Sean David
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2016
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access_status_str Open Access
author Hobbs, Sean David
author_browse Hobbs, Sean David
author_facet Hobbs, Sean David
author_sort Hobbs, Sean David
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.
description The Turkish Olympics Final is an annual two-week long cultural festival bringing together non-Turkish international students from Gulenist schools in other nations to compete in a variety of performances throughout Turkey. The performances tend to have international school children singing in Turkish, dancing villager dances from Anatolia, reciting Turkish poetry and acting in Turkish plays. International school children can also perform in English or their own native languages but much of the Turkish media attention is given to the school children/performers that learn Turkish. Also important at the Turkish Olympics – while the majority of performers are international non-Turkish children – there is a space given for Turkish children who go to Gulenist schools outside of Turkey. The Turkish Islamist “Gulen Movement” sponsors and organizes the Turkish Olympics Final and also organizes smaller semi-final contests in which students from their international school network compete in home countries to represent each nation at the final. In Egypt, Gulenists have organized a semi-final Turkish Olympics festival at the largest Gulenist school in the country, Salahaldin International School in Cairo. The focus of my thesis is on the Gulenist educational/dormitory/business network in Egypt. The Egyptian Gulenist network is the focus of this study for two reasons. The first reason is utilitarian in nature. As a master’s student at the American University in Cairo, I spent several years in Egypt after I lived and worked with Gulenists in Istanbul. The second reason is geopolitical. Turkey and Egypt are seminal nations in the Middle East. The only other country with a similar population size as well as cultural and economic import would be Iran. As such research on the Gulenists’ actions and business/education network in Egypt – especially after the ouster of President Morsi and the rise of President El Sisi – is an important study which touches on issues of politics, economics, Islamism and education between Turkey and Egypt.
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institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
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spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1582 The Turkish Olympics: Festival into the Gulen movement Hobbs, Sean David The Turkish Olympics Final is an annual two-week long cultural festival bringing together non-Turkish international students from Gulenist schools in other nations to compete in a variety of performances throughout Turkey. The performances tend to have international school children singing in Turkish, dancing villager dances from Anatolia, reciting Turkish poetry and acting in Turkish plays. International school children can also perform in English or their own native languages but much of the Turkish media attention is given to the school children/performers that learn Turkish. Also important at the Turkish Olympics – while the majority of performers are international non-Turkish children – there is a space given for Turkish children who go to Gulenist schools outside of Turkey. The Turkish Islamist “Gulen Movement” sponsors and organizes the Turkish Olympics Final and also organizes smaller semi-final contests in which students from their international school network compete in home countries to represent each nation at the final. In Egypt, Gulenists have organized a semi-final Turkish Olympics festival at the largest Gulenist school in the country, Salahaldin International School in Cairo. The focus of my thesis is on the Gulenist educational/dormitory/business network in Egypt. The Egyptian Gulenist network is the focus of this study for two reasons. The first reason is utilitarian in nature. As a master’s student at the American University in Cairo, I spent several years in Egypt after I lived and worked with Gulenists in Istanbul. The second reason is geopolitical. Turkey and Egypt are seminal nations in the Middle East. The only other country with a similar population size as well as cultural and economic import would be Iran. As such research on the Gulenists’ actions and business/education network in Egypt – especially after the ouster of President Morsi and the rise of President El Sisi – is an important study which touches on issues of politics, economics, Islamism and education between Turkey and Egypt. 2016-02-01T08:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/583 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1582/viewcontent/The_20Turkish_20Olympics__20_20Festival_20into_20the_20Gulen_20Movement_20.pdf The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Gulen Gülen
spellingShingle Gulen
Gülen
Hobbs, Sean David
The Turkish Olympics: Festival into the Gulen movement
title The Turkish Olympics: Festival into the Gulen movement
title_full The Turkish Olympics: Festival into the Gulen movement
title_fullStr The Turkish Olympics: Festival into the Gulen movement
title_full_unstemmed The Turkish Olympics: Festival into the Gulen movement
title_short The Turkish Olympics: Festival into the Gulen movement
title_sort turkish olympics festival into the gulen movement
topic Gulen
Gülen
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/583
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1582/viewcontent/The_20Turkish_20Olympics__20_20Festival_20into_20the_20Gulen_20Movement_20.pdf
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