Gulenists, accused of orchestrating coup in Turkey, have been very active in Maine

Fehtullah Gulen, an influential imam who has lived in exile in the Poconos of Pennsylvania for decades, stands accused by Turkey's increasingly autocratic president, Recep Erdogan, of masterminding the recent military coup attempt in Turkey. Gulenists -- followers of Gulen and his Hizmet movement -- are being ejected from their jobs or rounded up by the tens of thousands, from journalists and teachers to military officers and police leaders as Erdogan seeks to snuff out what he calls a "tumor" on his nation.

Bizarrely, Gulenists have also been extremely active here in Maine. In this week's Maine Sunday Telegram, I have a commentary essay reviewing the vigorous cultural and diplomatic outreach programs Gulen's followers have been engaged in for the past four years in Maine, where they've attempted to open two charter schools and developed a bipartisan group of friends and allies in the legislature, governor's office, and among civic leaders.

The essay is a sequel to and update on this Press Herald story I wrote back in 2013, which revealed the Gulenist connections at the first proposed charter school.

Incidentally, I'm a fan of Turkish culture and the impressive cultural legacy of the Ottoman Empire, whose former territories I lived in for most of the 1990s. My most recent story from Turkey was this 1998 travel piece for the Christian Science Monitor from Cappadocia.

Maine: Virtual charter schools back on the table

For those who recall my 2012 investigation of virtual charter school policy in Maine -- which won a George Polk Award last year -- there's been a new development this week.

The state's authorizing body, the charter school commission, surprised many by giving initial approval to the applications of two twice-rejected virtual school applicants, those backed by controversial national online school providers K12 Inc and Connections Learning. The two companies have been in hot water across the country for running schools that score badly in most standardized quality metrics and for having too much control over the local boards that are supposed to be their bosses. Indeed, in Maine my reporting showed that K12 and Connections provided the impetus for the creation of the local boards for their respective schools.

The charter school commission's move follows unsuccessful legislative action to curb or ban virtual charter schools from the state, or to create a state run virtual school that would presumably have more distance from the for-profit providers; the governor's digital education advisory panel failed to champion the virtual schools -- where tuition is paid for by local taxpayers -- in their initial report last year.

The commission also gave a preliminary nod to a Lewiston-Auburn charter school with links to the curious Gulen movement, thought to be one of the key players in the current political crisis in Turkey. The Gulen-linked Turkish Cultural Center of Maine has sponsored trips for several state legislators and held an awards dinner for Gov. Paul LePage recently in Portland. Gulen's followers also has a penchant for creating U.S. charter schools, as revealed by the New York Times a few years back.

Don't get me wrong: when I was based in the Balkans, I was a frequent visitor to Turkey and think it an impressive and fascinating place. But one does wonder: why all the attention to diplomacy and education in the Pine Tree State? No other country save perhaps Canada has given our humble corner of the U.S. so much, and they're our neighbor, one-time source of emigrants to Maine, and a major economic partner. Perhaps all will soon be clear.

On Turks, charter schools, and alewives

In today's Maine Sunday Telegram, I have stories on two entirely unrelated topics:

The first answers the question: what do Bangor, Maine and perhaps the most powerful socio-cultural movement in Turkey have in common? The answer: the proposed Queen City Academy Charter School, which backers hope to resubmit for consideration later this year.

As the front page piece describes, the proposed school would be part of an informal worldwide network of schools, cultural institutions, and business groups created by followers of the reclusive and influential Turkish imam Fethullah Gulen. As you'll see in the piece, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but their track record in both the U.S. and Turkey includes a number of things to be aware of, including a lack of transparency.

For those interested in further reading, here are links to the earlier New York Times pieces from Texas and Turkey, the referenced USA Today piece, and the "60 Minutes" segment.

The second story updates the strange saga of the alewives of the St. Croix river, whose spawning runs were blocked from entering the fishways on the river's dams by 1995 and 2007 acts of the Maine legislature. I covered the issue in some detail in this feature back in July. Now two rival bills seek to open the river to the fish, one more slowly and less comprehensively than the other.