Fethullah Glen: alleged coup mastermind and friendly neighbor

The man, who was taking a break from picking cucumbers from his vegetable patch, said: Ive been to his dinners a couple of times. They treat you nice. You dont see him, he said, referring to Glen. They escort you to the building. They tell you where to park. There is an escort there, and an escort back.

Residents agree that the warm welcome and hospitality that Glen offers residents is a defining feature of the groups presence in the town. Holly Parker, a stained-glass artist who has received invitations to the dinners, said: According to the Muslim culture, they invite the neighbors for things They do it to extend themselves out into the community a little bit. I think they realize that there might be a few people in the community who might be wary.

Though none of the people the Guardian met in Saylorsburg had anything bad to say about the neighborliness of Glen, Parker suggested that some residents might feel iffy about the group being headquartered in their town. Some people are a little wary, and have questions like: why are they here? Why are they in the country? But, she insists, she has no complains to make of them. Theyve been very nice.

Some residents have gotten very close to Glen. Some of the neighbors have had more personal and close contact, Parker said. A friend of ours, whose mother lives next door to the camp, hes a contractor in the area. He did a lot of building for them, when they were building the resort situation back there.

The Guardian was not able to reach the contractor, Howard Beers Jr, but two residents confirmed that he had worked for Glen. Several years ago, they offered to take him and his wife to tour Turkey, said Parker. Beers wasnt the only resident to have been invited to Turkey by the organization. At the time, they offered to take our pastor as well. He didnt go. Parker added that, back then, the members of the movement, which often promotes interfaith dialogue, would visit her non-denominational church every once in a while.

Some locals see the presence of the well-funded Hizmet movement as a business opportunity. When I am ready to sell this house, I am going to go to the Turks, and see if they want to buy it, said the elderly neighbor who was taking a break from the vegetable patch. He added that a contractor, presumably Beers, had made his millions working for Glen.

Others in the area are catering to the movement in different ways. Parker recalled: Its interesting, the local K-Mart for a while was playing what I think was popular Turkish music down at [the nearby town of] Wind Gap. There are a lot of Turkish families moving in. You see them in the local stores sometimes.

Fleeting glimpses of the Turkish community prompts different responses among longtime residents. If you drive early in the morning, you see moms standing out with their children along the road waiting for the bus. I look and think, I just hope there is enough of a community … It must be very lonely to be a mom and isolated in this area. Chuck Parker, her husband, added: I always wave to the ladies. Sometimes they are a little shy.

If Glen is extending a hand of friendship to his neighbors, many are returning the gesture. Were all immigrants here, said Parker. In my family, were part French, Hungarian, English. This is what America is about. We werent liked when we arrived either. But were Americans now.