Political Trial of Fethulla Gulen

Tue., Feb. 4, 2014 4:30 p.m.

Location: Classroom Building, Room CL 127, University of Regina Main Campus

Lecture Title: Free Speech, Religious Freedom, and Democracy in Turkey: The Political Trials and Times of Fethulla Gulen

Organized by: Intercultural Dialogue Institute Regina and the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts

Speaker: Dr. James Harrington

Dr. James Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project and Adjunct Professor at the School of Law in the University of Texas will talk about the political trial of Fethulla Gulen, a moderate Turkish religious leader, helped to greatly expand civil liberties and strengthen democracy in Turkey. The trial began in 2000 in an Ankara state security court and ended in 2008 in an appeals court in Gulen's favour.

Dr. Harrington will also talk about the Hizmet (Gulen) Movement, which originated in 1970s Turkey as a faith-inspired initiative to improve educational opportunities for a local community; and which since then, has grown into a transnational educational, inter-cultural and interfaith movement.