Kelly Ayotte returns campaign contributions tied to controversial Turkish religious sect
Sen. Kelly Ayotte has refunded $43,100 in campaign contributions she received on a single day from 19 Turkish Americans associated with the Gülen movement, a secretive and controversial Turkish religious sect.
The action came in response to questions that arose during an investigation by USA Today, which revealed some of the large donations were attributed to individuals with modest incomes who did not appear to know much about Ayotte. “He’s a good guy. He’s doing good so far. … I know him,” one of the donors told USA Today.
An international Islamic movement
The Gülen movement is a moderate Islamic movement that emphasizes altruism, hard work and education. The movement is named for its founder, Fethullah Gülen, a self-exiled cleric who has been living on a secluded compound in rural Pennsylvania since 1999, when Turkish authorities accused him of scheming to transform Turkey into a religious Islamist state.
International Business Times reports Gülen has been placed on Turkey’s most-wanted terrorist list and has been charged with attempting a coup against Turkey’s secular government. During Pres. Obama’s recent trip to Turkey, the president of Turkey reportedly pressed Obama to extradite Gülen.
The Gülen movement, also known as Hizmet, has attracted millions of followers and billions of dollars from around the world but has no apparent formal structure or official membership. Many groups linked to the movement say they are “inspired” by Gülen but deny an official affiliation.
U.S.-based Gülenist groups have developed the nation’s largest charter school network (which has come under fire for a number of questionable practices) and maintain scores of organizations and nonprofits that promote Turkish culture and interfaith dialog.
The Turkic American Alliance (TAA) is an umbrella group that coordinates joint efforts among more than 200 U.S.-based Gülenist organizations. One of the six regional federations that make up the TAA is the Council of Turkic American Associations (CTAA), which serves the northeast and New England. CTAA member organizations include Turkish Cultural Center, with 14 locations around the region.
Ayotte returns donations ‘out of an abundance of caution’
One of the campaign contributions Ayotte returned was a $1,000 donation from Suleyman Aydogan, the New York regional director of the Council of Turkic American Associations and a former vice president with the Turkish Cultural Center in Brooklyn.
In a 2014 interview with BuzzFeed, Aydogan acknowledged fundraising for Ayotte but said “his role in the Turkish Cultural Center, his sympathies for Gülen, and his work as a political fundraiser were completely separate from one another.”
USA Today determined some of the returned donations came from individuals who are employed by Gülenist schools or organizations, have shared Gülenist material on social media or have participated in Gülen events. All 19 were from out-of-state; most live in greater New York or Houston, hubs for the movement and areas where Gülen supporters have increased their involvement in U.S. politics.
Ayotte campaign manager Jon Kohan told USA Today that the Ayotte campaign returned the donations “out of an abundance of caution.” Ayotte called on others who have received similar donations to return them also.
The USA Today report concluded that the movement may have “provided hundreds of thousands of dollars of improper campaign donations to congressional and presidential candidates during the past several years…” Candidates from both parties received the questionable contributions including Pres. Obama, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush.
Buzzfeed reports congressional lawmakers benefiting from donations linked to the movement include liberal Democrats Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Al Green (D-TX), as well as conservative Republicans Ted Poe (R-TX) and Pete Olson (R-TX).
A separate USA Today investigation determined the movement also “secretly funded as many as 200 trips to Turkey for members of Congress and staff since 2008, apparently repeatedly violating House rules and possibly federal law.”
Gülen activities in the Granite State
The most prominent organization in the Granite State with links to the Gülen movement is Turkish Cultural Center New Hampshire (TCCNH) in Manchester, a member of the Council of Turkic American Associations.
The TCCNH website lists “testimonials” from New Hampshire politicians on both sides of the aisle including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte, Congressman Frank Guinta and former Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter.
The group describes its mission as promoting cross-cultural awareness based on mutual respect and understanding of the Turkish culture. To further that mission, it organizes and sponsors numerous educational and cultural activities.
Each year, the group hosts a “Friendship Dinner” and presents awards to government officials (Gov. Maggie Hassan and Attorney General Michael Delaney), community leaders (Bill Shaheen) and media figures (Joe McQuaid and Kevin Landrigan). Gülen critics say the awards ceremonies are a strategic tactic to flatter recipients who may be useful for the movement.
Last year Gov. Hassan led a trade mission to Turkey that was sponsored by TCCNH and the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON), a Turkish organization known for its close association with the Gülen movement. The Concord Monitor reported that TUSKON paid the travel costs for Hassan and a member of the state police. Other participants received a reduced rate of $2500, which was also underwritten by TUSKON.
“We are just trying to build a good relationship between different communities, different ethnic backgrounds,” TCCNH president Eyup Sener told the Union Leader.
Critics who insist the movement has ulterior motives point to a Gülen speech that surfaced in a 1999 video. “You must move in the arteries of the system without anyone noticing your existence until you reach all the power centers,” the cleric told his followers.