Speaking to The Globe and Mail, Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Partners LLP discussed the makeup of the transnational Gülen Movement and the threat posed by its continued presence in Canada and the US:

Many Turkish liberals really do believe that Gulen supporters have penetrated state institutions on a massive scale, with the goal of imposing some kind of Islamist regime, said Kemal Kirisci, director of the Turkey Project at the Brookings Institution. The failure of Western leaders to take the scenario seriously is a source of frustration in Turkey, and a major reason for the current international PR campaign.

“There is a 70-year relationship, and still a failure to understand Turkey at this time,” Mr. Kirisci said.

Mr. Amsterdam described a decades-long process of Gulenist infiltration in Turkish society, beginning with the recruitment of promising schoolchildren and extending to rigged military exams.

It’s like stories about the nefarious power of “the Illuminati or the Masons,” Mr. Amsterdam said – only true.

To hear the Canadian lawyer tell it, Mr. Gulen’s influence extends even to the United States. He lives at a compound in rural Pennsylvania and his network operates more than 100 American charter schools, which Mr. Amsterdam says are rife with fraud, and protected by sympathetic U.S. politicians.

If Mr. Gulen moves to Canada – and the [visiting Turkish] delegation suggested, based on rumour, that he had already bought a compound in Ontario – it could be a “landmine” for the bilateral relationship, [AKP member Cemalettin] Torun warned.

Mr. Torun had a ready explanation for what Canada could stand to lose if the Gulenists prevail.

“If Turkey fails,” he said, “many million refugees will come to the West. So our message is to support the Turkish government.”

Full article available here.