:: Of course: 

 "Whenever I'm to come to this city I feel excitement inside. The thoughts of Mevlana envelope me. He was a great genius, an innovator for all ages." -Mustafa Kemal Ataturk here and here (Silivrikapı Mevlâna Cultural Center). 

 ::Thus, let's please remove misleading hate speech from the article. For a religiously sensitive article like Sufism, a jornal such as Guardian, can't provide quality information. 
 ::As I said, Rumi's cult, "Mevlevilik" is almost a "state run" Sufi order in Turkey. Among many other, İskenderpaşa cult is another Sufi order which was favorite of Turgut Özal and Bülent Ecevit. Özal was president and Ecevit was prime minister. Asserting that Sufism is under persecution in Turkey is ridiculous