title: Hakan Şükür

text: In the summer of 1990, Şükür joined fellow first division side Bursaspor. He scored six goals in 27 games in his second season, helping the team to a sixth-place finish, and making his Turkish national team debut shortly after.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: Subsequently, Şükür signed for national giants Galatasaray SK. Nicknamed the "Bull of the Bosphorus", he scored 19 goals in 30 matches in his first year with the club, helping it win both the league and cup titles, adding 16 and 19, respectively, in the next two seasons and attracting the attention of Torino FC. In 1995 he moved to the Italian club, becoming the second Turkish player to ever play in Serie A, but returned to his country and Galatasaray in the following winter transfer window, failing to settle and only netting once in the league.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: Upon his return to Galatasaray, Şükür regained his scoring form, scoring 16 goals in the league and helping the club win the cup. The following season, he collected 38 goals in the league, tying him for second-most goals scored in a season with Metin Oktay, one goal behind record holder Tanju Çolak; both players were playing for Galatasaray when they broke the record. Şükür also finished third in the ESM Golden Boot rankings with 57 points, behind Mário Jardel (60) and Ronaldo (68). He won the "Gol Kralı" award the following two seasons, netting 33 and 18 goals respectively, with the Istanbul side winning the title in all three seasons.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: In the 1999–2000 season, Şükür's last with Galatasaray in his second stint, the team completed a domestic double for the second year in succession, and added the year's UEFA Cup, becoming the first Turkish side to win a European title; in the 4–1 penalty shootout win against Arsenal he scored on his attempt, having netted ten times in 17 games during the campaign.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: Şükür then moved to Italy again, this time to Inter Milan, scoring six goals in 35 official matches. His appearances were limited by the presence of Ronaldo and Christian Vieri in the team's attack and January 2002, after one and a half seasons, he signed with another team in the country, Parma FC, but was unable to produce again, only finding the net three times. He helped Parma win the Coppa Italia but only played in the first leg of the final.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: Having been released, on 9 December 2002 Şükür joined Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League for the remainder of the campaign, signed by former Galatasaray manager Graeme Souness. His spell began with him sustaining a broken leg in training which ruled him out for two months, after which made his debut for the club on 1 March 2003, replacing the injured Egil Østenstad at half time in a 1–0 home win over Manchester City; he scored twice from nine appearances, both goals coming in a 4–0 defeat of Fulham at Loftus Road on 7 April.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: Şükür returned to Galatasaray on 7 July 2003, after failing to negotiate a new contract with Blackburn. He scored 12 times in 28 league games in his first season and 18 in the following, with the team winning the 2005 Turkish cup during that timeframe. Also, on 3 December 2003, he found the net twice in a 2–0 home defeat of Juventus F.C. for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League; in November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as Turkey's Golden Player by the Turkish Football Federation, as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: In the 2005–06 season, Şükür again scored in double digits (ten) as Galatasaray again won the league. After helping the club win a record-tying 17th first division title in 2007–08, netting 11 goals, he decided to retire from the game aged nearly 37. Subsequently, he often appeared as a television pundit on Turkish Radio and Television Corporation; during his career, he scored 38 goals in all European competitions.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: Şükür won his first cap for Turkey in a friendly with Luxembourg in March 1992 – his debut being awarded by German manager Sepp Piontek – scoring his first international goal in his next match, against Denmark, and totalling six in his first 11 appearances. He netted seven in qualification for UEFA Euro 1996 and started all of the matches at the finals in England, in which they were eliminated in the group stage without scoring a single goal.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: Şükür scored eight times in qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup: half of those in a 6–4 home win over Wales on 20 August 1997, but Turkey did not reach the play-offs. At Euro 2000 he netted twice for the quarterfinalists, in a 2–0 group stage win against co-hosts Belgium.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: During the 2002 World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan, Şükür scored once for Turkey in seven matches as the national team finished in third place. On 29 June he scored the fastest ever goal in a FIFA World Cup, netting against South Korea 10.8 seconds into the third-place play-off (3–2 win).


title: Hakan Şükür

text: Of his 112 senior appearances, Şükür captained Turkey in 30. After appearing in some Euro 2008 qualifiers, notably scoring four against Moldova in a 5–0 win in Frankfurt, Germany, he was not selected for the finals, his last game being a 0–1 home loss to Greece at the age of 36 (17 October 2007).


title: Hakan Şükür

text: Şükür is of Albanian origin. Both of his parents are immigrants from Yugoslavia, his father being born in Pristina, and his mother in Skopje. His surname is spelled "Shykyr" in Albanian. His first wife, Esra Elbirlik, married him in a ceremony broadcast live on television, initiated by Prime Minister Tansu Çiller and performed by Mayor of Istanbul Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: The couple divorced after four months, and Elbirlik and her family died in the 1999 İzmit earthquake. Şükür fathered three children with his second spouse, Beyda. In 2010, the football stadium of Sancaktepe was named after him. In April 2014, his name was removed again.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: On 18 June 2011, Şükür was elected as a Member of Parliament to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in the 2011 general elections, from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), representing the 2nd electoral district of Istanbul Province.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: On 16 December 2013, Şükür, known for his links to the Islamic Gülen movement of the Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, resigned from his position in protest after the interdiction of the group's "dershane" system, and decided to continue working as an independent MP. He subsequently went on to work as a football pundit for Turkish Radio and Television Corporation.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: In February 2016, Şükür was charged with insulting president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Twitter. In August, a warrant was issued for his arrest as he was charged with being a member of the Gülen movement, designated as a terrorist organization in Turkey.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: Şükür fled Turkey in November 2017, taking up self-exile in San Francisco, California and planning to become a restaurateur in Palo Alto. He left this job because "strange people kept coming into the bar".


title: Hakan Şükür

text: In January 2020, Şükür told Germany's "Welt am Sonntag" that he was working as an Uber driver and selling books in the United States. He also said that his houses, businesses and bank accounts in Turkey had been seized by the government.


title: Hakan Şükür

text: The Turkish government seems to be still very sensitive to the subject. In December of 2022 during the TRT broadcast of a World Cup match, a commentator (Alper Bakircigil) mentioned a record held by Şükür. He was removed from the broadcast at half-time and fired from his job later that day. News accounts speculated that his firing was due to his employer (state-run TRT) reacting to the mention of the name.


title: Gülen movement

text: The Gülen movement (), referred to by its participants as Hizmet ("service") or Cemaat ("community") and since 2016 by the Government of Turkey as FETÖ ("Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation" or, more commonly, "Fethullah Terrorist Organisation"; ), is an Islamist fraternal movement led by Fethullah Gülen, a Muslim preacher who has lived in the United States since 1999. The movement is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, Pakistan, Northern Cyprus, and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Owing to the outlawed status of the Gülen movement in Turkey, some observers refer to the movement's volunteers who are Turkish Muslims as effectively a sub-sect of Sunni Islam; these volunteers generally hold their religious tenets as generically Turkish Sunni Islam.


title: Gülen movement

text: A U.S.-based umbrella foundation which is affiliated with the movement is the Alliance for Shared Values. The movement has attracted supporters and drawn the attention of critics in Turkey, Central Asia, and other parts of the world. It is active in education and operates private schools and universities in over 180 countries. It has initiated forums for interfaith dialogue. It has substantial investments in media, finance, and for-profit health clinics. Despite its teachings which are stated conservative in Turkey, some have praised the movement as a pacifist, modern-oriented version of Islam, and an alternative to more extreme schools of Islam such as Salafism. But it has also been reported of having a "cultish hierarchy" and of being a secretive Islamic sect.


title: Gülen movement

text: The Gülen movement is a former ally of the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP). When the AKP came to power in 2002 the two formed, despite their differences, a tactical alliance against military tutelage and the Turkish secular elite. It was through this alliance that the AKP had accomplished an unprecedented feat in Turkish republican history by securing national electoral victories sufficient to form three consecutive majority governments in 2002, 2007, and 2011. The Gülen movement gained influence on the Turkish police force and the judiciary during its alliance with conservative President Erdoğan, which saw hundreds of Gülen supporters appointed to positions within the Turkish government. Once the old establishment was defeated around 2010 to 2011 disagreements emerged between the AKP and the Gülen movement. The first breaking point was the so-called ″MIT crisis″ of February 2012, it was also interpreted as a power struggle between pro-Gülen police and judiciary and the AKP. After the 2013 corruption investigations in Turkey into stated corrupt practices by several bureaucrats, ministers, mayors, and family members of the ruling AKP of Turkey was uncovered, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blamed the movement for initiating the investigations as a result of a break in previously friendly relations. President Erdoğan said Gülen attempted to overthrow the Turkish government through a judicial coup by the use of corruption investigations and seized the group-owned newspaper ("Zaman"— one of the most circulated newspapers in Turkey before the seizure) and several companies that have ties with the group.


title: Gülen movement

text: Since May 2016, the Gülen movement has been classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey under the assigned names Fethullahist Terrorist Organization () (FETÖ) and Parallel State Structure () (PDY). After the failed coup attempt in 2016, the government of Turkey blamed the group for the coup and authorities have arrested thousands of soldiers and judges. Over ten thousand education staff were suspended and the licenses of over 20,000 teachers working at private institutions were revoked for stated affiliation to Gülen. Fethullah Gülen condemned the coup and denied any involvement.


title: Gülen movement

text: The movement states that it is based on moral values and advocacy of universal access to education, civil society, tolerance and peace. The emphasis among participants is to perform "service" (also the meaning of the Turkish word "hizmet") as arising from individuals' personal commitments to righteous imperatives. Along with "hizmet," the movement, which has no official name, is termed the Gülen movement or "cemaat" (the latter also used to describe participants in Sufi orders, meaning "congregation," "community," or "assembly.") The movement has been characterized as a "moderate blend of Islam". Gülen and the Gülen movement are technology-friendly, work within current market and commerce structures, and are savvy users of modern communications and public relations. In 2008, Gülen was described as "the modern face of the Sufi Ottoman tradition", who reassures his followers, including many members of "Turkey's aspirational middle class", that "they can combine the statist-nationalist beliefs of Atatürk’s republic with a traditional but flexible Islamic faith" and "Ottoman traditions that had been caricatured as theocratic by Atatürk and his 'Kemalist' heirs".


title: Gülen movement

text: In the early 2000s, the Gülen movement was seen as keeping a distance from established Islamic political parties.


title: Gülen movement

text: Sources state that the Gülen movement is vying to be recognized as the world's leading Muslim network, one that is more reasonable than many of its rivals. The movement builds on the activities of Gülen, who has won praise from non-Muslim quarters for his advocacy of science, interfaith dialogue, and multi-party democracy. It has earned praise as "the world's most global movement".


title: Gülen movement

text: "It is impossible to calculate the size of the Gülen movement" since the movement is not a centralized or formal organization with membership rosters, but rather a set of numerous, loosely organized networks of people inspired by Gülen. Estimates of the size of the movement vary, with one source stating that between 200,000 supporters and 4 million people are influenced by Gülen's ideas (1997 "Tempo" estimate), and another stating that Gülen has "hundreds of thousands of supporters". The membership of the movement consists primarily of students, teachers, businessmen, academics, journalists and other professionals. Its members have founded schools, universities, an employers' association, charities, real estate trusts, student organizations, radio and television stations, and newspapers.


title: Gülen movement

text: The movement's structure has been described as a flexible organizational network. Movement schools and businesses organize locally and link themselves into informal networks. Akin to Turkey's Sufi tariqas (lay religious orders), banned in Turkey in 1925, The movement skirted Kemalist Turkey's prohibitions against assembling in non-state sponsored religious meetings. (As a young man, future President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan belonged to the Naqshbandi tariqa, then technically banned in Turkey.)


title: Gülen movement

text: Each local Gülen movement school and community has a person designated its "informal" (in the sense of not being Turkish state-sponsored) prayer leader (imam). In the Gülen movement, this individual is a layman who serves for a stint within this volunteer position. His identity is kept confidential, generally only purposely made known to those with close connections to those participating in decision-making and coordinating councils within the local group. Above a grouping of such "secret" (not-publicly-acknowledged) imams is another such volunteer leader. This relationship tree continues on up the laddar to the nation-level imam and to individuals who consult with Gülen himself. (These individuals closest to Gülen, having degrees from theology schools, are offhandedly referred to within the movement as "mullahs.") Gülen's position, as described in the foregoing, is analogous to that of a shaykh (master) of a Sufi tariqa. Unlike with traditional tariqas, no-one makes pledges of any sort, upon joining the Gülen movement; one becomes a movement participant simply by working with others to promote and effect the movement's objectives of education and service.


title: Gülen movement

text: The Gülen movement works within the given structures of modern secular states; it encourages affiliated members to maximize the opportunities those countries afford rather than engaging in subversive activities. In the words of the leader himself and the title of a cornerstone of his philosophy, Gülen promotes "an Ottoman Empire of the Mind".


title: Gülen movement

text: Detractors of the movement "have labeled Gülen community members as secretive missionaries, while those in the Movement and sympathetic observers class it as a civil society organization".


title: Gülen movement

text: Critics have complained that members of the Gülen movement are overly compliant to the directions from its leaders, and Gülen's "movement is generally perceived by its critics as a religio-political cult". The "Guardian" editorial board described the movement in 2013 as having "some of the characteristics of a cult or of an Islamic Opus Dei".


title: Gülen movement

text: Scholars such as Simon Robinson disagree with the characterization, writing that although "[t]here is no doubt that Gülen remains a charismatic leader and that members of the movement hold him in the highest respect", the movement "differs markedly from a cult in several ways", with Gülen stressing "the primacy of the scriptures" and "the imperative of service" and consistently avoiding "attempts to institutionalize power, to perceive him as the source of all truth, or to view him as taking responsibility for the movement". Zeki Saritoprak says that the view of Gülen as "a cult leader or a man with ambitions" is mistaken, and contends that Gülen should be viewed in the context of a long line of Sufi masters who have long been a center of attention "for their admirers and followers, both historically and currently".


title: Gülen movement

text: Beginning in 2008, the Dutch government investigated the movement's activities in the Netherlands in response to questions from Parliament. The first two investigations, performed by the AIVD, concluded that the movement did not form a breeding ground for radicalism and found no indications that the movement worked against integration or that it was involved in terrorism or religious radicalization. A further academic study sketched a portrait of a socially conservative, inwardly directed movement with an opaque organizational structure, but said that its members tend to be highly successful in society and thus form no threat to integration.


title: Gülen movement

text: The movement is active in education (kindergarten–university) as well as civic opportunities in other areas such as for interfaith dialogue, humanitarian aid, media, finance, and health. Most Gülen Movement schools are private. By 2017 it was estimated 1.2 million Turks have passed through Hizmet schools (including Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son in-law, Berat Albayrak); and its educational footprint extends to over 160 countries. In 2009 it was estimated that members of the Gülen Movement ran schools around the world in which more than two million students were enrolled. Estimates of the number of schools and educational institutions vary widely; it appears there are about 300 Gülen Movement schools in Turkey and over 1,000 schools worldwide.


title: Gülen movement

text: Beyond the borders of Turkey, many Gülen schools can be found in countries with large populations of people of Turkish descent. Gülen schools in predominantly non-Turkish Muslim countries provide families with an alternative to madrasa education.


title: Gülen movement

text: In June 2021, the Turkish-Kyrgyz educator and the head of the Sapat educational network in Kyrgyzstan, Orhan Inandi, went missing from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, leading to mass protests. Inandi, 53, had lived in Kyrgyzstan since 1995 and holds dual Turkish-Kyrgyz citizenship. One month later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on July 5 that Turkish intelligence agents had abducted Inandi, accusing him of being “a top Central Asian leader” of the Gülen movement led by U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen. Kyrgyz officials have denied claims they colluded with Turkish intelligence to abduct a Turkish-Kyrgyz educator who disappeared from Bishkek.


title: Gülen movement

text: In 2011, it was estimated that over 120 charter schools in the United States in 25 states were operated by participants of the Gülen movement. The largest numbers of such schools were in Texas (60 schools, Harmony schools, run by the Cosmos Foundation); Ohio (19 schools, known as Horizon Science Academies and operated by Concept Schools Inc.); and California (14 schools, operated by the Magnolia Foundation). The "Philadelphia Inquirer" reported at the time that Gülen schools were one of the largest users of H1B visas, receiving approval for 684 such visas in 2009. The "Inquirer" reported that the FBI, Labor Department, and Education Department were investigating whether some charter school employees employed via H1B visas misused funds by kicking back a portion of their salaries to movement groups. The investigation had no tie to terrorism, and there was "no indication the American charter network has a religious agenda in the classroom".


title: Gülen movement

text: A "60 Minutes" episode profiled Gülen movement-operated charter schools in the U.S. in May 2012. The profile estimated that there were about 130 affiliated schools nationwide, with about 36 Harmony School in Texas, serving "mostly underprivileged students" and all emphasizing math and science. The episode said that the schools generally received high marks for the quality of education, but also said that Gülen's reclusive nature "invites conspiracy theories that he's running Turkey from the Poconos and is bent on global Muslim domination" and that "[o]ne statement involves immigration fraud: that the schools are providing work visas for hundreds of Gülen followers from Turkey."


title: Gülen movement

text: Professor Joshua Hendrick of Loyola University Maryland, who studies the movement, said that Gülen himself "does not have a direct hand in operating" the charter schools, and it was reported that Gülen has never visited the schools. The Harmony Schools in Texas do not teach religion, and the charter network says that some 7.8% of its teachers are non-Americans.


title: Gülen movement

text: The "Wall Street Journal" reported in 2016 that around 150 U.S. charter schools were tied to the Gülen movement, "ranging from networks in Texas, Illinois and Florida to stand-alone academies in Maryland". The "Journal" stated that like other charter schools "blacks and Hispanics in underserved neighborhoods" made up the majority of the student body, with common themes including "an emphasis on math and science education, Turkish language classes and sponsored trips to Turkey". Hendrick said that in the upheaval following the 2016 Turkish coup attempt, proposed new charter schools and charters up for renewal "that are run by Turkish-Americans and are said to be connected with the cleric" could run into increased opposition, as the Turkish government has sought "to bring down Mr. Gülen through U.S. charter schools they claim are connected to him".


title: Gülen movement

text: The movement's avowal of interfaith dialogue grew out of Gülen's personal engagement in interfaith dialogue, largely inspired by the example of one of his influences, Said Nursi. Gülen has met with leaders of other religions, including Pope John Paul II, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and Israeli Sephardic Head Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron. Gülen advocates cooperation between followers of different religions as well as those practicing different forms of Islam (such as Sunnism or Alevism).


title: Gülen movement

text: Gülen movement participants have founded a number of institutions across the World that promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue activities. Among these are the "Journalists and Writers Foundation" in Istanbul, the "Rumi Forum" in Washington and the "Indialogue Foundation" in New Delhi.


title: Gülen movement

text: Movement participants have set up a number of media organizations to promote its core values such as love, tolerance, hope, dialogue, activism, mutual acceptance and respect. These media organs include TV stations (Samanyolu TV, Mehtap TV), (Ebru TV) (English), the newspapers "Zaman", "Today's Zaman" (English), magazines and journals in Turkish like "Aksiyon", "Sızıntı", "Yeni Ümit", "The Fountain Magazine" (English), "Hira" (Arabic), "The International Cihan News Agency" and the radio station .


title: Gülen movement

text: The movement runs charity and humanitarian aid organizations which are transnationally active. The leading one among them is the Istanbul-based Kimse Yok Mu Association (KYM). KYM organizes charity campaigns to help those in need in different parts of the world. Like any other activities of the Gülen-movement, KYM runs local projects responding to specific needs. KYM holds UN Ecosoc Special status.


title: Gülen movement

text: Another charity organization Embrace Relief was established in New Jersey and is active in the Americas, Asia and Africa.


title: Gülen movement

text: While being both praised and criticized for being market friendly, the Gülen movement has established various professional associations and business networks. Among them Istanbul based TUSKON is the major non-profit business confederation which states to promote economic solutions as well as social and political ones. Another one called TUCSIAD is based in China, in addition to DTIK's Asia-Pacific Group which supports the Gülen movement outside of Turkey in China, hoping to influence Turkish politics from the outside.


title: Gülen movement

text: Fethullah Gülen's and the Gülen movement's views and practices have been discussed in international conferences. In October 2007 in London a conference was sponsored by the University of Birmingham, the Dialogue Society, the Irish School of Ecumenics, Leeds Metropolitan University, the London Middle East Institute, the Middle East Institute and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Niagara Foundation of Chicago, together with several academic institutions, organized "The Gülen Movement: Paradigms, Projects and Aspirations" conference, which was held at University of Chicago on 11–13 November 2010.


title: Gülen movement

text: In 2017 German magazine "Der Spiegel" called the movement a "secretive and dangerous cult" while calling Gülen a suspicious individual. Saying, "the movement calls itself a tolerant service movement, while those who have left the movement call it a secretive Islamist organization with Fethullah Gülen as its leader". The article said pupils attending the "cults" schools in Germany were under immense pressure from their "abi's" (tutors) who were telling them which books to read, which movies to watch, which friends to meet and whether to see their families or not. While the "abi's" were keeping a protocol of all those staying in the cult's dormitories.


title: Gülen movement

text: "Der Spiegel" also criticized the movement regarding its activities towards freedom of the press. Despite Gülen emphasizing how much he cares of the freedom of the press in interviews, the movement launched a campaign towards the newspaper in 2012 after an article was written regarding the "cult", in which about 2000 readers wrote letters of complaint to the press council, all of which were alike each other, and which were all rejected. "Der Spiegel" said the movement distorted events, threatened those who spoke against it, and accused "Der Spiegel" of having ties to the Turkish mafia. While Gareth Jenkins of "The Sunday Times" said, despite portraying itself as a peaceful educational movement, the Gülen organization never hesitates using anti-democratic and anti-liberal methods.


title: Gülen movement

text: The "Süddeutsche Zeitung" quoted a German lawyer calling the organization "more powerful than the Illuminati" and "not transparent as opposed to the claims", and reported that the organization tried to reorganize in Swabia region of Germany.


title: Gülen movement

text: On November 9, 2005, a bookstore was bombed in Şemdinli. The Prosecutor of the case, Ferhat Sarıkaya, prepared a criminal indictment in which Turkey's Commander of Land Forces Yaşar Büyükanıt was accused of forming a gang and plotting the bombing. A decade later, prosecutor Sarıkaya confessed that he was ordered by Gülenists to include General Yaşar Büyükanıt into the criminal indictment, in order to prevent his promotion in the army (Chief of General Staff) and to ease the grip on Gülenist structures within the army.


title: Gülen movement

text: The role of Gülen movement in the assassination of journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul was brought to public attention. Hakan Bakırcıoglu, one of Hrant Dink's lawyers, said in an interview with "Deutsche Welle" that the underaged perpetrator, Ogün Samast, had help from third parties, including people connected to the Istanbul and Trabzon police forces.


title: Gülen movement

text: Four prosecutors in the trial have been dismissed from their posts due to their ties with the movement, and for failing to make progress with the case. Furthermore, police commissioners Ramazan Akyürek and Ali Fuat Yılmazer were accused of not sharing their foreknowledge of the attack with the prosecutors, gendarmarie, or the intelligence services despite being briefed of a planned assassination several times.


title: Gülen movement

text: According to investigative journalist Nedim Şener, the Gülen movement used the assassination of Hrant Dink, the assassination of priest Andrea Santoro, the Zirve Publishing House murders as well as other events, to create an atmosphere and illusion of a clandestine Kemalist ultra-nationalist organization holding responsible for these misdeeds. With the start of the Ergenekon trials, this alleged organization was called "Ergenekon terrorist organization". The Gülenist media, in particular Taraf, Zaman and Samanyolu Haber TV, were instrumental in shaping the public opinion during these operations. In these court cases, military officials, parliamentarians and journalists were accused of plotting a violent coup to oust the government. It later turned out that these cases were based on fabricated evidence, and that most such fabrications were produced by the Gülenists in the police. In 2011, Nedim Şener was included to the Ergenekon trials for being member of Ergenekon and subsequently was arrested and held in pre-trial detention.


title: Gülen movement

text: In 2010, the exam questions and answer keys of the Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS) were stolen and handed out to certain Gülenist members. The members with high scores were placed strategically in the critical state bodies.


title: Gülen movement

text: Members of the Gülen movement inside the intelligence agency were accused of reshaping Turkish politics to a more "workable form" by leaking secretly filmed sex tapes and corruption tapes of both government members and opposition members, with the resignation of main opposition leader Deniz Baykal in 2010 as one of the most notable example. Politicians with no recorded scandalous behavior are believed to be killed like the Great Union Party leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, who died in a helicopter crash in 2009.


title: Gülen movement

text: Turkish officials declared the Gülen movement to be responsible for the assassination of Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov, while Russian officials accused the shooter of aiming to damage Russia–Turkey relations that had been normalizing since the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt.


title: Gülen movement

text: Since 2013 Gülen movement has been accused by the Turkish Government of collaborating with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). In 2014 the movement reportedly conducted several meeting with the PKK, in parts of Northern Iraq under PKK control. In 2015, Turkish Government said the movement had leaked the identity of 329 Turkish Gendermarie informants to the PKK. Who were then executed by the PKK.


title: Gülen movement

text: On 15 April 2016, during the Kurdish–Turkish conflict Gülen movement member Brigadier General Ali Osman Gürcan deliberately sent 17 soldiers to a house that was packed with IEDs according to the testimony of his companions. Which led to the death of a police officer and wounding of eight soldiers. The house was marked on a map with the code 'P368' for IED's, which Gürcan erased from the map. Leading to a brawl that led to his companions calling him a "traitor". Gürcan later participated in 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt under the Peace at Home Council. He was arrested after the coups failure and charged with life imprisonment.


title: Gülen movement

text: Gülen movement is deemed a designated terrorist group by the following countries and international organizations:


title: Gülen movement

text: Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Turkey and considered by the international community to be part of the Republic of Cyprus, also designated the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization in July 2016.


title: Gülen movement

text: In 2017, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and to the British Parliament's Foreign Affairs Select Committee there was no "evidence to justify the designation of the Gülenists as a terrorist organisation by the UK". The same year, Gilles de Kerchove, EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator, said that the European Union didn't see the Gülen movement as a terrorist organisation and that the EU would need "substantive" evidence to change its stance. In 2018, in a conference with Turkish President Erdogan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany needed more evidence to classify the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization.


title: Gülen movement

text: According to academic researcher Svante E. Cornell, director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, "With only slight exaggeration, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as well as the government it has led could be termed a coalition of religious orders." "[...T]he Gülen movement stayed away from electoral politics, focusing instead on increasing its presence in the state bureaucracy. The Hizmet movement’s stated success in this regard would initially make it Erdoğan’s main partner, but also his eventual nemesis."


title: Gülen movement

text: From 2002 to 2013, the Gülen movement comprehensively collaborated with the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in obtaining political power in Turkey.


title: Gülen movement

text: Questions have arisen about the Gülen movement's possible involvement in the ongoing Ergenekon investigation, which critics have characterized as "a pretext" by the government "to neutralize dissidents" in Turkey. In March 2011, seven Turkish journalists were arrested, including Ahmet Şık, who had been writing a book, "Imamin Ordusu" ("The Imam's Army"), which states that the Gülen movement has infiltrated the country's security forces. As Şık was taken into police custody, he shouted, "Whoever touches it [the movement] gets burned!". Upon his arrest, drafts of the book were confiscated and its possession was banned. Şık has also been charged with being part of the stated Ergenekon plot, despite being an investigator of the plot before his arrest.


title: Gülen movement

text: In a reply, Abdullah Bozkurt, from the Gülen movement newspaper "Today's Zaman", said Ahmet Şık was not being an investigative journalist conducting "independent research", but was hatching "a plot designed and put into action by the terrorist network itself".


title: Gülen movement

text: According to Gareth H. Jenkins, a Senior Fellow of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Joint Center at Johns Hopkins University:


title: Gülen movement

text: The Gülen movement has also been implicated in what the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) - and after 2013 also President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - have said were illegal court decisions against members of the Turkish military, including many during the Ergenekon investigation.


title: Gülen movement

text: On 17 December 2013, an investigation into stated corrupt practices by several bureaucrats, ministers, mayors, and family members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey was uncovered, resulting in widespread protests and calls for the resignation of the government led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Due to the high level of political influence by the Gülen movement in Turkey, it is rumored to be facilitated by the movement's influence on the Turkish police force and the judiciary, the investigation was said to be a result of a break in previously friendly relations between the Islamist-rooted government and the movement.


title: Gülen movement

text: President Erdoğan and the AKP (the ruling party of Turkey) have targeted the movement since December 2013. Immediately after the corruption statements, the government subjugated the judiciary, media and civil society which were critical of the government's authoritarian trend in recent years. After the corruption statements surfaced, Erdogan labelled it as a "civilian coup" against his government. Since then, Erdogan has shuffled, dismissed or jailed hundreds of police officers, judges, prosecutors and journalists in the name of fighting against a "Parallel State" within the Turkish state.


title: Gülen movement

text: On 14 December 2014, Turkish police arrested more than two dozen senior journalists and media executives connected with the Gülen movement on various charges.


title: Gülen movement

text: A statement by the US State Department cautioned Turkey not to violate its "own democratic foundations" while drawing attention to raids against media outlets "openly critical of the current Turkish government".


title: Gülen movement

text: EU Foreign Affairs chief Federica Mogherini and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that the arrests went "against European values" and "are incompatible with the freedom of media, which is a core principle of democracy".


title: Gülen movement

text: On 20 January 2015, Turkish police launched raids in Ankara and three other cities, detaining some 20 people suspected of illegally eavesdropping on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other senior officials. The suspects are linked to Turkey's telecommunications authority and to its scientific and technological research center TUBITAK. Local media said the move was aimed at the "parallel structure" — the term Erdogan uses to refer to Gülen's supporters in the judiciary, police and other institutions.


title: Gülen movement

text: The Turkish government took over the Gülenist "Zaman Daily", on 4 March 2016. Turkish police entered the Zaman's headquarters by force and fired tear gas at the protesting journalists and civilians. Hundreds of protestors were injured. In his efforts to eradicate the movement within the country the Turkish National Security Council has identified the movement as the "Gülenist Terror Organisation" ("Fethullahçı Terör Örgütü", FETÖ). The government has also been targeting individuals and businessmen who have supported the movement's organizations and activities.


title: Gülen movement

text: In reaction to the 15 July 2016 coup attempt, led by a military faction operating outside the chain of command, the Turkish government quickly stated the coup's leader to be Gülen. In following days and weeks, a massive crackdown affected all entities affiliated to the Gülen movements, from individuals to businesses, newspapers to schools and universities.


title: Gülen movement

text: Following the assassination of Andrey Karlov, the Turkish government was reportedly investigating the assassin's links to the "Gülenist Terrorist Organisation" (FETÖ); in a speech, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the perpetrator was a member of FETÖ.


title: Gülen movement

text: Since the 2016 coup attempt, authorities arrested or imprisoned more than 90,000 Turkish citizens and closed more than 1,500 nongovernmental organizations, primarily for alleged ties to the Gülen movement.


title: Gülen movement

text: In 2018, approximately 25,000 Turkish asylum requests were filed by alleged Gülenists in the European Union (a rise of 50% from 2017), with Germany's share 10,000 and Greece's about 5,000. Within the U.S., according to news reports, a number of Gülenists successfully receiving political asylum status are resettled in New Jersey.


title: Gülen movement

text: In 2019 it was reported that Interpol had denied Turkey's appeals of the agency's rejections of Turkey's red notice requests regarding 464 fugitives, citing Interpol's legal definition of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt as not terrorism but a failed military putsch.


title: Gülen movement

text: , Turkey had successfully pressured a number of countries, especially those in Africa and the former Soviet Union, to extradite


title: Gülen movement

text: Among Turkish citizens within Turkey convicted for alleged memberships in the Gülen movement are Turkey's honorary president of Amnesty International, Taner Kilic, and Amnesty's Turkish branch, Idil Eser, in July 2020.


title: Bardo

text: In some schools of Buddhism, bardo ( Wylie: "bar do") or antarābhava (Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese: 中有, romanized in Chinese as "zhōng yǒu" and in Japanese as "chū'u") is an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state between death and rebirth. The concept arose soon after Gautama Buddha's death, with a number of earlier Buddhist schools accepting the existence of such an intermediate state, while other schools rejected it. The concept of "antarābhava", an intervening state between death and rebirth, was brought into Buddhism from the Vedic-Upanishadic (later Hindu) philosophical tradition. Later Buddhism expanded the bardo concept to six or more states of consciousness covering every stage of life and death. In Tibetan Buddhism, "bardo" is the central theme of the "Bardo Thodol" (literally "Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State"), the "Tibetan Book of the Dead", a text intended to both guide the recently deceased person through the death bardo to gain a better rebirth and also to help their loved ones with the grieving process.


title: Bardo

text: Used without qualification, "bardo" is the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth. According to Tibetan tradition, after death and before one's next birth, when one's consciousness is not connected with a physical body, one experiences a variety of phenomena. These usually follow a particular sequence of degeneration from, just after death, the clearest experiences of reality of which one is spiritually capable, and then proceeding to terrifying hallucinations that arise from the impulses of one's previous unskillful actions. For the prepared and appropriately trained individuals, the bardo offers a state of great opportunity for liberation, since transcendental insight may arise with the direct experience of reality; for others, it can become a place of danger as the karmically created hallucinations can impel one into a less than desirable rebirth.


title: Bardo

text: Metaphorically, "bardo" can be used to describe times when the usual way of life becomes suspended, as, for example, during a period of illness or during a meditation retreat. Such times can prove fruitful for spiritual progress because external constraints diminish. However, they can also present challenges because our less skillful impulses may come to the foreground, just as in the "sidpa bardo".


title: Bardo

text: From the records of early Buddhist schools, it appears that at least six different groups accepted the notion of an intermediate existence ("antarabhāva"), namely, the Sarvāstivāda, Darṣṭāntika, Vātsīputrīyas, Saṃmitīya, Pūrvaśaila and late Mahīśāsaka. The first four of these are closely related schools. Opposing them were the Mahāsāṃghika, early Mahīśāsaka, Theravāda, Vibhajyavāda and the "Śāriputrābhidharma" (possibly Dharmagupta).


title: Bardo

text: Some of the earliest references to an "intermediate existence" are to be found in the Sarvāstivādin text the Mahāvibhāṣa (阿毘達磨大毘婆沙論). For instance, the Mahāvibhāṣa indicates a "basic existence" (本有), an "intermediate existence" (中有), a "birth existence" (生有) and a "death existence" (死有) (CBETA, T27, no. 1545, p. 959, etc.). André Bareau's "Les sectes bouddhiques du Petit Véhicule" provides the arguments of the Sarvāstivāda schools as follows:


title: Bardo

text: The intermediate being who makes the passage in this way from one existence to the next is formed, like every living being, of the five aggregates (skandha). His existence is demonstrated by the fact that it cannot have any discontinuity in time and space between the place and moment of death and those of rebirth, and therefore it must be that the two existences belonging to the same series are linked in time and space by an intermediate stage. The intermediate being is the Gandharva, the presence of which is as necessary at conception as the fecundity and union of the parents. Furthermore, the Antarāparinirvāyin is an Anāgamin who obtains parinirvāṇa during the intermediary existence. As for the heinous criminal guilty of one of the five crimes without interval (ānantarya), he passes in quite the same way by an intermediate existence at the end of which he is reborn necessarily in hell.


title: Bardo

text: Deriving from a later period of the same school, though with some differences, Vasubandhu’s "Abhidharmakośa" explains (English trs. p. 383ff):


title: Bardo

text: What is an intermediate being, and an intermediate existence? Intermediate existence, which inserts itself between existence at death and existence at birth, not having arrived at the location where it should go, cannot be said to be born. Between death—that is, the five skandhas of the moment of death—and arising—that is, the five skandhas of the moment of rebirth—there is found an existence—a "body" of five skandhas—that goes to the place of rebirth. This existence between two realms of rebirth (gatī) is called intermediate existence.


title: Bardo

text: He cites a number of texts and examples to defend the notion against other schools which reject it and claim that death in one life is immediately followed by rebirth in the next, without any intermediate state in between the two. Both the "Mahāvibhāṣa" and the "Abhidharmakośa" have the notion of the intermediate state lasting "seven times seven days" (i.e. 49 days) at most. This is one view, though, and there were also others.


title: Bardo

text: Similar arguments were also used in Harivarman’s *"Satyasiddhi Śāstra", and the Upadeśa commentary on the "Prajñāpāramitā" Sūtras, both of which have strong influence from the Sarvāstivāda school. Both of these texts had powerful influence in Chinese Buddhism, which also accepts this idea as a rule.


title: Bardo

text: The "Saddharma-smṛty-upasthāna Sūtra" (正法念處經) classifies 17 intermediate states with different experiences.


title: Bardo

text: Fremantle (2001) states that there are six traditional bardo states known as the Six Bardos: the Bardo of This Life (p. 55); the Bardo of Meditation (p. 58); the Bardo of Dream (p. 62); the Bardo of Dying (p. 64); the Bardo of Dharmata (p. 65); and the Bardo of Existence (p. 66).


title: Bardo

text: Shugchang, "et al." (2000: p. 5) discuss the Zhitro (Tibetan: Zhi-khro) cycle of teachings of Karma Lingpa which includes the "Bardo Thodol" and list the Six Bardo: "The first bardo begins when we take birth and endures as long as we live. The second is the bardo of dreams. The third is the bardo of concentration or meditation. The fourth occurs at the moment of death. The fifth is known as the bardo of the luminosity of the true nature. The sixth is called the bardo of transmigration or karmic becoming.


title: Bardo

text: Since the Bardo Thodol was translated into English, different conceptions of the bardo have emerged over the years (Lopez, 1998: p. 43 and 83). In the translation of Walter Y. Evans-Wentz in 1927, the description of the bardo was an “esoteric” view of rebirth as an evolutionary system in which regression to the brutish realms was impossible. Almost four decades later, in 1964, Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert saw the intermediate states as being really about life, profitable as an account of an eight-hour acid trip. Chögyam Trungpa portrays the realms of rebirth as psychological states in 1975, and Sogyal Rinpoche uses his discussion of the six realms as an opportunity to lampoon California surfers and New York bankers, in the translation that was published in 1992. Two years later Robert Thurman (1994) interpreted the bardo, which is described originally as a Nyingma text, from a Geluk frame.


title: Bardo

text: Fremantle (2001: p. 53–54) charts the development of the bardo concept through the Himalayan tradition:


title: Bardo

text: Originally bardo referred only to the period between one life and the next, and this is still its normal meaning when it is mentioned without any qualification. There was considerable dispute over this theory during the early centuries of Buddhism, with one side arguing that rebirth (or conception) follows immediately after death, and the other saying that there must be an interval between the two. With the rise of mahayana, belief in a transitional period prevailed. Later Buddhism expanded the whole concept to distinguish six or more similar states, covering the whole cycle of life, death, and rebirth. But it can also be interpreted as any transitional experience, any state that lies between two other states. Its original meaning, the experience of being between death and rebirth, is the prototype of the bardo experience, while the six traditional bardos show how the essential qualities of that experience are also present in other transitional periods. By refining even further the understanding of the essence of bardo, it can then be applied to every moment of existence. The present moment, the now, is a continual bardo, always suspended between the past and the future. Yongey Mingur Rinpoche (2011, p. 66) adds another modern view and emphasises on the bardo of becoming: “When we move past the convenience of language and categories, every second manifests the bardo of becoming. Becoming and becoming. All phenomena always just become [...] When we sensitize ourselves to the subtle transitions of emotions, or of bodily change, or shifts in social circumstances, or environmental transformations such as differences in landscape and light, or developments in language, art, or politics-we see that it’s all always changing, dying, and becoming.”


title: Bardo

text: Theravāda Abhidhamma texts like the "Kathavatthu" traditionally reject the view that there is an intermediate or transitional state ("antarabhāva") between rebirths, they hold that rebirth happens instantaneously (in one mind moment) through the re-linking consciousness ("patisandhi citta").


title: Bardo

text: However, as has been noted by various modern scholars like Bhikkhu Sujato, there are passages in the Theravāda Pali Canon which support the idea of an intermediate state, the most explicit of which is the "Kutuhalasāla Sutta".


title: Bardo

text: This sutta states: [The Buddha:] "Vaccha, I declare that there is rebirth for one with fuel [with grasping], not for one without fuel. Vaccha, just as fire burns with fuel, not without fuel, even so, Vaccha, I declare that there is rebirth for one with fuel [with grasping], not for one without fuel."


title: Bardo

text: [Vaccha replies:] "But, master Gotama, when a flame is tossed by the wind and goes a long way, what does master Gotama declare to be its fuel?"


title: Bardo

text: [Buddha:] "Vaccha, when a flame is tossed by the wind and goes a long way, I declare that it is fueled by the air. For, Vaccha, at that time, the air is the fuel."


title: Bardo

text: [Vaccha:] "Master Gotama, when a being has laid down this body, but has not yet been reborn in another body, what does the master Gotama declare to be the fuel?"


title: Bardo

text: [Buddha:] "Vaccha, when a being has laid down this body, but has not yet been reborn in another body, it is fuelled by craving, I say. For, Vaccha, at that time, craving is the fuel." Furthermore, some Theravāda scholars (such as Balangoda Ananda Maitreya) have defended the idea of an intermediate state and it is also a very common belief among some monks and laypersons in the Theravāda world (where it is commonly referred to as the "gandhabba" or "antarabhāva"). According to Sujato, it is also widely accepted among Thai forest tradition teachers.


title: Bardo

text: East Asian Buddhism generally accepts the main doctrines of the Yogacara tradition as taught by Vasubandhu and Asanga. This includes the acceptance of the intermediate existence (中有, Chinese romanization: "zhōng yǒu", Japanese: "chūu"). The doctrine of the intermediate existence is mentioned in various Chinese Buddhist scholastic works, such as Xuanzang's "Cheng Weishi Lun" ("Discourse on the Perfection of Consciousness-only)."


title: Bardo

text: The Chinese Buddhist Canon contains a text called the "Antarabhava sutra," which is used in funerary rituals.


title: Bardo

text: The founder of Soto Zen, Dogen, wrote the following regarding how to navigate the intermediate state:“When you leave this life, and before you enter the next life, there is a place called an intermediary realm. You stay there for seven days. You should resolve to keep chanting the names of the three treasures without ceasing while you are there. After seven days you die in the intermediary realm and remain there for no more than seven days. At this time you can see and hear without hindrance, like having a celestial eye. Resolve to encourage yourself to keep chanting the names of the three treasures without ceasing: ‘I take refuge in the Buddha. I take refuge in the Dharma. I take refuge in the Sangha.’ After passing through the intermediary realm, when you approach your parents to be conceived, resolve to maintain authentic wisdom. Keep chanting refuge in the three treasures in your mother’s womb. Do not neglect chanting while you are given birth. Resolve deeply to dedicate yourself to chant and take refuge in the three treasures through the six sense roots. When your life ends, your eye sight will suddenly become dark. Know that this is the end of your life and be determined to chant, ‘I take refuge in the buddha.’ Then, all buddhas in the ten directions will show compassion to you. Even if due to conditions you are bound to an unwholesome realm, you will be able to be born in the deva realm or in the presence of the Buddha. Bow and listen to the Buddha.”


title: Bardo

text: --- "Shobogenzo," section 94, "Mind of the Way”, translated by Peter Levitt & Kazuaki Tanahashi (2013):


title: Raven Software

text: Raven Software Corporation is an American video game developer based in Wisconsin and founded in 1990. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them. After the acquisition, many of the studio's original developers, largely responsible for creating the "Heretic" and "" games, left to form Human Head Studios.


title: Raven Software

text: Raven Software was founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel. Originally a three-person company, they were discovered by John Romero, co-founder of id Software, who collaborated with Raven to make games using their game engine beginning with "ShadowCaster". Raven then started making games with id Software and even briefly moved to the same street as id Software. They used id's engines for many of their games, such as "Heretic," "" and "Hexen II".


title: Raven Software

text: In 2005 and 2009, Raven developed two games from id's catalog: "Quake 4" and "Wolfenstein" respectively.


title: Raven Software

text: The company was independent until 1997 when it was acquired by Activision for $12 million. They were still collaborating with id Software but at the same time developed other titles as well such as "Soldier of Fortune" in 2000, "" in 2003, "X-Men Legends" in 2004 and many more.


title: Raven Software

text: In August 2009, following poor performance and possible over-budget of "Wolfenstein," the company made a major layoff of 30-35 staff, leaving two development teams. This was reduced to one after more layoffs in October 2010, after delays with "Singularity;" as many as 40 staff were released. Following the layoffs and after id Software was bought over by ZeniMax Media, Raven has since become a primary developer for the "Call of Duty" series.


title: Raven Software

text: In December 2021, Activision fired several members of the quality assurance (QA) department. One of the associate managers said that "valuable members" were fired although they "were promised, for months, that Activision was working towards a pay restructure to increase their wages". Following these firings as well as other controversies revolving Activision Blizzard, a strike has been initiated. On January 21, 2022, Raven's QA team formed a union named the Game Workers Alliance with Communications Workers of America.


title: Raven Software

text: In May 2022, a group of quality assurance testers from Raven Software successfully organized a union known as the Game Workers Alliance, with the vote being 19 for and 3 against. In June 2022 Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated that the company would recognize the union and begin negotiations with it.


title: Raven Software

text: In 2012, Raven began hiring employees for a game, and were announced as collaborating with Infinity Ward on "" in May 2013.


title: Raven Software

text: On April 3, 2013 following the closure of LucasArts, Raven Software released the source code for "" and "" on SourceForge under the GPL-2.0-only license.


title: Raven Software

text: In April 2014, the company became lead developer of the now shutdown free-to-play Chinese "Call of Duty" title, "". The company also remade "," titled "".


title: Raven Software

text: In 2020, Raven Software collaborated with Infinity Ward on the game "". The company is considered the face of maintaining, updating and debugging the game as they regularly provide status updates and patch notes on Twitter and their official website (though it is unclear if they are the sole studio responsible behind-the-scenes).


title: John III Sobieski

text: John III Sobieski (; ; ; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696.


title: John III Sobieski

text: Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Europe in his youth. As a soldier and later commander, he fought in the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the Russo-Polish War and during the Swedish invasion known as the Deluge. Sobieski demonstrated his military prowess during the war against the Ottoman Empire and established himself as a leading figure in Poland and Lithuania. In 1674, he was elected monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth following the sudden and unexpected death of King Michael.


title: John III Sobieski

text: Sobieski's 22-year reign marked a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of previous conflicts. Popular among his subjects, he was an able military leader, most famous for his victory over the Turks at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. The defeated Ottomans named Sobieski the "Lion of Lechistan", and the Pope hailed him as the saviour of Western Christendom. Suffering from poor health and obesity in later life, Sobieski died in 1696 and was buried at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. He was succeeded by Augustus II of Poland and Saxony.


title: John III Sobieski

text: John Sobieski was born on 17 August 1629, in Olesko, now Ukraine, then part of the Ruthenian Voivodeship in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to a renowned noble family de Sobieszyn Sobieski of Janina coat of arms. His father, Jakub Sobieski, was the Voivode of Ruthenia and Castellan of Kraków; his mother, Zofia Teofillia Daniłowicz was a granddaughter of Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski. John Sobieski spent his childhood in Żółkiew. After graduating from Bartłomiej Nowodworski College in Kraków in 1643, young John Sobieski then graduated from the philosophical faculty of the University of Kraków in 1646. After finishing his studies, John and his brother Marek Sobieski left for western Europe, where he spent more than two years travelling. They visited Leipzig, Antwerp, Paris, London, Leiden, and The Hague. During that time, he met influential contemporary figures such as Louis II de Bourbon, Charles II of England and William II, Prince of Orange, and learned French, German, and Italian, in addition to Latin.


title: John III Sobieski

text: Both brothers returned to the Commonwealth in 1648. Upon receiving the news of the death of king Władysław IV Vasa and the hostilities of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, they volunteered for the army. They both fought in the siege of Zamość. They founded and commanded their own banners ("chorągiew") of cavalry (one light, "cossack", and one heavy, of Polish hussars). Soon, the fortunes of war separated the brothers. In 1649, Jakub fought in the Battle of Zboriv. In 1652, Marek died in Tatar captivity after his capture at the Battle of Batih. John was promoted to the rank of "pułkownik" and fought with distinction in the Battle of Berestechko. A promising commander, John was sent by King John II Casimir as one of the envoys in the diplomatic mission of Mikołaj Bieganowski to the Ottoman Empire. There, Sobieski learned the Tatar language and the Turkish language and studied Turkish military traditions and tactics. It is likely he participated as part of the briefly allied Polish-Tatar forces in the 1655 Battle of Okhmativ.


title: John III Sobieski

text: After the start of the Swedish invasion of Poland known as "The Deluge", John Sobieski was among the Greater Polish regiments led by Krzysztof Opaliński, Palatine of Poznań which capitulated at Ujście, and swore allegiance to King Charles X Gustav of Sweden. However, around late March 1656, he abandoned their side, returning to the side of Polish king John II Casimir Vasa, enlisting under the command of hetmans Stefan Czarniecki and Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski.


title: John III Sobieski

text: By 26 May 1656 he received the position of the "chorąży koronny" (Standard-bearer of the Crown). During the three-day-long battle of Warsaw of 1656, Sobieski commanded a 2,000-man strong regiment of Tatar cavalry. He took part in a number of engagements over the next two years, including the Siege of Toruń in 1658. In 1659 he was elected a deputy to the Sejm (Polish parliament), and was one of the Polish negotiators of the Treaty of Hadiach with the Cossacks. In 1660 he took part in the last offensive against the Swedes in Prussia, and was rewarded with the office of "starost" of Stryj. Soon afterward he took part in the war against the Russians, participating in the Battle of Slobodyshche and Battle of Lyubar, and later that year he again was one of the negotiators of a new treaty with the Cossacks (the Treaty of Cudnów).


title: John III Sobieski

text: Through personal connections, he became a strong supporter of the French faction in the Polish royal court, represented by Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga. His pro-French allegiance was reinforced in 1665, when he married Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d'Arquien and was promoted to the rank of Grand Marshal of the Crown.


title: John III Sobieski

text: In 1662 he was again elected a deputy to the Sejm, and took part in the work on reforming the military. He was also a member of the Sejm in 1664 and 1665. In between he participated in the Russian campaign of 1663. Sobieski remained loyal to the King during the Lubomirski Rebellion of 1665–66, though it was a difficult decision for him. He participated in the Sejm of 1665, and after some delays, accepted the prestigious office of the Marshal of the Crown on 18 May that year. Around late April or early May 1666 he received another high office of the Commonwealth, that of the Field Crown Hetman. Soon afterward, he was defeated at the Battle of Mątwy, and signed the Agreement of Łęgonice on 21 July, which ended the Lubomirski Rebellion.


title: John III Sobieski

text: In October 1667 he achieved another victory over the Cossacks of Petro Doroshenko and their Crimean Tatar allies in the Battle of Podhajce during the Polish–Cossack–Tatar War (1666–71). This allowed him to regain his image as a skilled military leader. Later that year, in November, his first child, James Louis Sobieski was born in Paris. On 5 February 1668 he achieved the rank of Grand Hetman of the Crown, the highest military rank in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and thereby the "de facto" commander-in-chief of the entire Polish Army. Later that year he supported the French candidacy of Louis, Grand Condé for the Polish throne, and after this candidacy fell apart, Philip William, Elector Palatine. Following the election of Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki he joined the opposition faction; he and his allies helped veto several sejms (including the coronation ones), and his attitude once again resulted in him losing popularity among the regular "szlachta". While his pro-French stance in politics alienated some, his military victories against invading Tatars in 1671 helped him gain other allies. The year 1672 saw internal politics destabilizing the Commonwealth, as the pro-French faction of Sobieski and pro-court faction of King Michał formed two confederations, which despite major Ottoman incursions in the south seemed more concerned with one another than with uniting to defend the country. The court faction called openly for confiscation of his estates and dismissal from office, and declared him an "enemy of the state". This division culminated in the humiliating Treaty of Buchach, where the Commonwealth was forced to cede territories to the Ottomans, but promise an annual tribute. Sobieski eventually succeeded in balancing politics and national defense, and a combination of his military victories over the invaders, and successful negotiations at the Sejm in April 1673, led to a compromise in which the court faction dropped its demands and challenges against him.


title: John III Sobieski

text: On 11 November 1673 Sobieski added a major victory to his list, this time defeating the Ottomans in the Battle of Khotyn and capturing the fortress located there. The news of the battle coincided with the death of King Michal the day before the battle. This made Sobieski one of the leading figures of the state, so on 19 May the following year, he was elected monarch of the Commonwealth. His candidacy was almost universally supported, with only a dozen or so members of the diet opposing him (mainly centered around magnates of the Lithuanian Pac family). In light of the war, requiring Sobieski to be on the front lines, the coronation ceremony was significantly delayed – he was crowned John III almost two years later, on 2 February 1676.


title: John III Sobieski

text: Though Poland-Lithuania was at that time the largest and one of the most populous states of Europe, Sobieski became a king of a country devastated by almost half a century of constant war. The treasury was almost empty and the court had little to offer the powerful magnates, who often allied themselves with foreign courts rather than the state.


title: John III Sobieski

text: Sobieski had a number of long-term plans, including establishing his own dynasty in the Commonwealth, regaining lost territories, and strengthening the country through various reforms. One of his ambitions was to unify Christian Europe in a crusade to drive the Turks out of Europe. At the beginning of his reign, however, the Polish state was in dire fiscal straits and faced military threats to the north. King Louis XIV of France promised to mediate a truce between the Ottomans and Poland so that Sobieski could focus his attentions on Prussia. The negotiations ended in failure and Sobieski's Baltic goals had to be tempered by the immediate reality of the Ottoman threat to the south.


title: John III Sobieski

text: In the autumn of 1674, he recommenced the war against the Ottomans and managed to recapture a number of cities and fortresses including Bratslav, Mogilev, and Bar, which re-established a strongly fortified line defending Poland's southern border in Ukraine. In 1675, Sobieski defeated a Turkish and Tatar offensive aiming at Lviv. In 1676, the Tatars began a counter-offensive and crossed the Dneper, but could not retake the strategic town of Żórawno, and a peace treaty (the Treaty of Żurawno) was signed soon afterwards. Although Kamieniec Podolski and much of Podolia remained a part of the Ottoman Empire, Poland gained the return of the towns of Bila Tserkva and Pavoloch.


title: John III Sobieski

text: The treaty with the Ottomans began a period of peace that was much needed for the repair of the country and strengthening of the royal authority. Sobieski managed to reform the Polish army completely. The army was reorganised into regiments, the infantry finally dropped pikes, replacing them with battle-axes, and the Polish cavalry adopted hussar and dragoon formations. Sobieski also greatly increased the number of cannon and introduced new artillery tactics.


title: John III Sobieski

text: Sobieski wanted to conquer Prussia with Swedish troops and French support. Regaining control of this autonomous province was in the Commonwealth's best interest, and Sobieski also hoped for it to become part of his family domain. To this end he made the secret Treaty of Jaworów (1675), but he achieved nothing. The wars with the Ottoman Empire were not decisively won by the Commonwealth, the ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia made treaties with France, Prussia defeated the Swedish invasion, and Sobieski's plans for the Commonwealth's own military campaign against Prussia was opposed by Commonwealth magnates, many of them taking the Prussian side. Backed by Brandenburg and Austria, internal enemies of Sobieski even planned to dethrone him and elect Charles of Lorraine.


title: John III Sobieski

text: The French-Prussian treaty of 1679 meant that Sobieski lost the major foreign ally for his planned campaign against Prussia; consequently he started to distance himself from the pro-French faction, which in turn resulted in the cooling down of the Polish-French relations. During the Sejm of 1683, the French ambassador was expelled for involvement with a plan to dethrone Sobieski, definitely marking the end of the Polish-French alliance. At the same time Sobieski made peace with the pro-Habsburg faction and started to gravitate towards an alliance with Austria. This did not end the existence of strong internal opposition to Sobieski; however, it changed a number of allegiances, and further opposition was temporarily weakened through the king's successful political maneuvering, including granting the Grand Hetman office to one of the opposition's chief leaders, Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski.


title: John III Sobieski

text: Conscious that Poland lacked allies and risked war against most of its neighbours (a situation similar to the Deluge), by 1683 Sobieski allied himself with Leopold I, of the Holy Roman Empire. Both sides promised to come to one's another aid if their capitals were threatened. The alliance was signed by royal representatives on 31 March 1683, and ratified by the Emperor and Polish parliament within weeks. Although aimed directly against the Ottomans and indirectly against France, it had the advantage of gaining internal support for the defense of Poland's southern borders. This was a beginning of what would become the Holy League, championed by Pope Innocent XI to preserve Christendom.


title: John III Sobieski

text: Meantime, in the spring of 1683, royal spies uncovered Turkish preparations for a military campaign. Sobieski feared that the target might be the Polish cities of Lwów and Kraków. To counteract the threat, Sobieski began the fortification of the cities and ordered universal military conscription. In July, the Austrian envoy asked for Polish assistance. Soon afterward, the Polish army started massing for an expedition against the Ottomans, and in August was joined by Bavarians and Saxon allies under Charles of Lorraine.


title: John III Sobieski

text: Sobieski's greatest success came in 1683, with his victory at the Battle of Vienna, in joint command of Polish and German troops, against the invading Ottoman Turks under Kara Mustafa. Upon reaching Vienna on 12 September, with the Ottoman army close to breaching the walls, Sobieski ordered a full attack. In the early morning, the united army of about 65,000–76,000 men (including 22,000,-27,000 Poles) attacked a Turkish force of about 143,000 men. At about 5 pm, after observing the infantry battle from the Kahlenberg hilltop, Sobieski led the Polish husaria cavalry along with Austrians and Germans in a massive charge down the hillside. Soon, the Ottoman battle line was broken and the Ottoman forces scattered in disarray. At 5:30 pm, Sobieski entered the deserted tent of Kara Mustafa and the Battle of Vienna ended.


title: John III Sobieski

text: The Pope and other foreign dignitaries hailed Sobieski as the "Savior of Vienna and Western European civilization." In a letter to his wife, he wrote, "All the common people kissed my hands, my feet, my clothes; others only touched me, saying: 'Ah, let us kiss so valiant a hand!'"


title: John III Sobieski

text: The war with the Ottomans was not yet over, and Sobieski continued the campaign with the Battle of Párkány on 7–9 October. After early victories, the Polish found themselves a junior partner in the Holy League, gaining no lasting territorial or political rewards. The prolonged and indecisive war also weakened Sobieski's position at home. For the next four years Poland would blockade the key fortress at Kamenets, and Ottoman Tatars would raid the borderlands. In 1691, Sobieski undertook another expedition to Moldavia, with slightly better results, but still with no decisive victories.


title: John III Sobieski

text: Although the King spent much time on the battlefields, which could suggest a good state of health, towards the end of his life he became seriously and increasingly ill.


title: John III Sobieski

text: King John III Sobieski died in Wilanów, Poland on 17 June 1696 from a sudden heart attack. His wife, Marie Casimire Louise, died in 1716 in Blois, France, and her body was returned to Poland. They are interred together in Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, although his heart is interned separately in the Church of the Transfiguration in Warsaw, Poland. He was succeeded by Augustus II.


title: John III Sobieski

text: Sobieski is remembered in Poland as a "hero king", victor at Vienna who defeated the Ottoman threat, an image that became particularly well recognized after his story was told in many works of 19th-century literature. In the "Polish Biographical Dictionary" he is described as "an individual above his contemporaries, but still one of them"; an oligarch and a magnate, interested in personal wealth and power. His ambitions for the most part were instilled in him by his beloved wife, whom he undoubtedly loved more than any throne (when being forced to divorce her and marry the former Queen as a condition to gain the throne, he immediately refused the throne) and tended to obey, at times blindly.


title: John III Sobieski

text: He failed to reform the ailing Commonwealth, and to secure the throne for his heir. At the same time, he displayed high military prowess, he was well educated and literate, and a patron of science and arts. He supported the astronomer Johannes Hevelius, mathematician Adam Adamandy Kochański and the historian and poet Wespazjan Kochowski. His Wilanów Palace became the first of many palaces that would dot the lands of the Commonwealth over the next two centuries.


title: John III Sobieski

text: On 5 July 1665, he married the widow of Jan "Sobiepan" Zamoyski, Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d'Arquien (1641–1716), of Nevers, Burgundy, France. Their children were:


title: Miao people

text: The Miao are a group of linguistically-related peoples living in Southern China and Southeast Asia, who are recognized by the government of China as one of the 56 official ethnic groups. The Miao live primarily in southern China's mountains, in the provinces of Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hainan. Some sub-groups of the Miao, most notably the Hmong people, have migrated out of China into Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Northern Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand). Following the communist takeover of Laos in 1975, a large group of Hmong refugees resettled in several Western nations, mainly in the United States, France, and Australia.


title: Miao people

text: Miao is a Chinese term, while the component groups of people have their own autonyms, such as (with some variant spellings) Hmong, Hmu, Xong (Qo-Xiong), and A-Hmao. These people (except those in Hainan) speak Hmongic languages, a subfamily of the Hmong–Mien languages including many mutually unintelligible languages such as the Hmong, Hmub, Xong and A-Hmao.


title: Miao people

text: Not all speakers of the Hmongic languages belong to the Miao. For example, the speakers of the Bunu and Bahengic languages are designated as the Yao, and the speakers of the Sheic languages are designated as the She and the Yao.


title: Miao people

text: The Kem Di Mun people in Hainan, despite being officially designated as Miao people, are linguistically and culturally identical to the Kim Mun people in continental China who are classified as a subgroup of the Yao.


title: Miao people

text: The term "Miao" gained official status in 1949 as a "minzu" (ethnic group) encompassing a group of linguistically-related ethnic minorities in Southwest China. This was part of a larger effort to identify and classify minority groups to clarify their role in the national government, including establishing autonomous administrative divisions and allocating the seats for representatives in provincial and national government.


title: Miao people

text: Historically, the term "Miao" had been applied inconsistently to a variety of non-Han peoples. Early Chinese-based names use various transcriptions: Miao, Miao-tse, Miao-tsze, Meau, Meo, mo, Miao-tseu etc. In Southeast Asian contexts, words derived from the Chinese "Miao" took on a sense which was perceived as derogatory by the subgroups living in that region. The term re-appeared in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), by which time it had taken on the connotation of "barbarian." Being a variation of Nanman, it was used to refer to the indigenous people in southern China who had not been assimilated into Han culture. During this time, references to “raw” (生 Sheng) and ”cooked” (熟 Shu) Miao appear, referring to the level of assimilation and political cooperation of the two groups, making them easier to classify. Not until the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) do more finely grained distinctions appear in writing. Even then, discerning which ethnic groups are included in various classifications can be complex. There has been a historical tendency by the Hmong, who resisted assimilation and political cooperation, to group all Miao peoples together under the term Hmong because of the potential derogatory use of the term Miao. In modern China, however, the term continues to be used regarding the Miao people there.


title: Miao people

text: Though the Miao themselves use various self-designations, the Chinese traditionally classify them according to the most characteristic color of the women's clothes. The list below contains some of these self-designations, the color designations, and the main regions inhabited by the four major groups of Miao in China:


title: Miao people

text: Compared to the Confucian principles traditionally exercised over women in some regions of China, the Miao culture is generally less strict in categorization of women’s roles in society. Miao women exercise relatively more independence, mobility and social freedom. They are known to be strong willed and politically minded. They actively contribute to their communities in social welfare, education, arts and culture, and agricultural farming.


title: Miao people

text: Miao women demonstrate great skill and artistry when making traditional clothing and handicrafts. They excel at embroidering, weaving, paper-cutting, batik, and intricate jewelry casting. From vests, coats, hats, collars and cuffs, to full skirts, and baby carriers, the patterns on their clothes are extremely complicated and colorful with clean lines. Girls of around seven will learn embroidering from mothers and sisters, and by the time they are teenagers, they are quite deft. Additionally, Miao silver jewelry is distinctive for its design, style and craftsmanship. Miao silver jewelry is completely handmade, carved with fine decorative patterns. It’s not easy to make and there is not one final masterpiece exactly the same as another. The Miao embroidery and silver jewelry are highly valued, delicate and beautiful.


title: Miao people

text: Silver jewelry is a highly valuable craftwork of the Miao people. Apart from being a cultural tradition, it also symbolises the wealth of Miao women. As a Miao saying goes, “decorated with no silver or embroidery, a girl is not a girl”, Miao women are occasionally defined by the amount of silver jewelry she wears or owns. It is especially important to wear heavy and intricate silver headdresses and jewelry during significant occasions and festivals, notably during weddings, funerals and springtime celebration. Silver jewelry is an essential element of Miao marriages, particularly to the bride. Miao families would begin saving silver jewellery for the girls at an early age, wishing their daughters could marry well with the large amount of silver jewelry representing the wealth of the family. Although a growing Miao population is moving from rural Miao regions to cities, the new generation respects the families' silver heritage and is willing to pass on the practice as a cultural tradition more than a showcase of family wealth.


title: Miao people

text: Although Miao women are not strictly-governed, their social status is often seen as lower than that of men, as in most patriarchal societies. Be it in the subsistence economy or otherwise, men are the main economic force and provide the stable source of income for the family. Women are primarily involved in social welfare, domestic responsibilities, and additionally earn supplementary income.


title: Miao people

text: As tourism became a major economic activity to this ethnic group, Miao women gained more opportunities to join the labor force and earn an income. Women mostly take up jobs that require modern day customer service skills; for example, working as tour guides, selling craftwork and souvenirs, teaching tourists how to make flower wreaths, and even renting ethnic costumes. These jobs require soft skills and hospitality and more visibility in public, but provide a low income. On the contrary, Miao men take up jobs that require more physical strengths and less visibility in public, such as engineering roads, building hotels, boats and pavilions. These jobs generally provide a more stable and profitable source of income.


title: Miao people

text: The above example of unequal division of labor demonstrates, in spite of socioeconomic changes in China, men are still considered the financial backbone of the family.


title: Miao people

text: While the Miao people have had their own unique culture, the Confucian ideology exerted significant influences on this ethnic group. It is expected that men are the dominant figures and breadwinners of the family, while women occupy more domestic roles (like cooking and cleaning). There are strict social standards on women to be “virtuous wives and good mothers”, and to abide by “three obediences and four virtues”, which include cultural moral specifications of women’s behavior.


title: Miao people

text: A Miao woman has some cultural freedom in marrying a man of her choice. However, like many other cultures in Asia, there are strict cultural practices on marriage, one being clan exogamy. It is a taboo to marry someone within the same family clan name, even when the couple are not blood related or from the same community.


title: Miao people

text: In contrast to the common practice of the right of succession belonging to the firstborn son, the Miao’s inheritance descends to the youngest son. The older sons leave the family and build their own residences, usually in the same province and close to the family. The youngest son is responsible for living with and caring for the aging parents, even after marriage. He receives a larger share of the family’s inheritance and his mother’s silver jewelry collection, which is used as bridal wealth or dowry.


title: Miao people

text: Some imperially commissioned Han Chinese chieftaincies assimilated with the Miao. Those became the ancestors of a part of the Miao population in Guizhou.


title: Miao people

text: The origin of the Tunbao people traces back to the Ming dynasty when the Hongwu Emperor sent 300,000 Han Chinese male soldiers in 1381 to conquer Yunnan, with some of the men marrying Yao and Miao women.


title: Miao people

text: The presence of women presiding over weddings was a feature noted in "Southeast Asian" marriages, such as in 1667 when a Miao woman in Yunnan married a Chinese official. Some Sinicization occurred, in Yunnan a Miao chief's daughter married a scholar in the 1600s who wrote that she could read, write, and listen in Chinese and read Chinese classics.


title: Miao people

text: According to a Tang dynasty Chinese legend, the Miao who descended from the Jiuli tribe led by Chiyou () were defeated at the Battle of Zhuolu (, a defunct prefecture on the border of present provinces of Hebei and Liaoning) by the military coalition of Huang Di () and Yan Di, leaders of the Huaxia () tribe as the two tribes struggled for supremacy of the Yellow River valley.


title: Miao people

text: The San Miao, according to legend, are the descendants of the Jiuli Tribe. Chinese records record a San Miao (三苗, Three Miao) kingdom around Dongting Lake. It was defeated by Yu the Great. Another Miao kingdom may have emerged in Yunnan around 704 BC that was subjugated by the Chinese in the 3rd century BC. In 2002, the Chu language has been identified as perhaps having influence from Tai–Kam and Miao–Yao languages by researchers at University of Massachusetts Amherst.


title: Miao people

text: The Miao were not mentioned again in Chinese records until the Tang dynasty (618–907). In the following period, the Miao migrated throughout southern China and Southeast Asia. They generally inhabited mountainous or marginal lands and took up swidden or slash-and-burn cultivation techniques to farm these lands.


title: Miao people

text: During the Miao Rebellions of the Ming dynasty, thousands of Miao were killed by the imperial forces. Mass castrations of Miao boys also took place.


title: Miao people

text: During the Qing Dynasty the Miao fought three wars against the empire. The issue was so serious that the Yongzheng emperor sent one of his most officials, Ortai, to be the Viceroy of the provinces with significant Miao populations in 1726, and through 1731, he spent his time putting down rebellions. In 1735 in the southeastern province of Guizhou, the Miao rose up against the government's forced assimilation. Eight counties involving 1,224 villages fought until 1738 when the revolt ended. According to Xiangtan University Professor Wu half the Miao population were affected by the war.


title: Miao people

text: The second war (1795–1806) involved the provinces of Guizhou and Hunan. Shi Sanbao and Shi Liudeng led this second revolt. Again, it ended in failure, but it took 11 years to quell the uprising.


title: Miao people

text: The greatest of the three wars occurred from 1854 to 1873. Zhang Xiu-mei led this revolt in Guizhou until his capture and death in Changsha, Hunan. This revolt affected over one million people and all the neighbouring provinces. By the time the war ended Professor Wu said only 30 percent of the Miao were left in their home regions. This defeat led to the Hmong people migrating out of China into Laos and Vietnam.


title: Miao people

text: During Qing times, more military garrisons were established in southwest China. Han Chinese soldiers moved into the Taijiang region of Guizhou, married Miao women, and the children were brought up as Miao. In spite of rebellion against the Han, Hmong leaders made allies with Han merchants.


title: Miao people

text: The imperial government had to rely on political means to bring in Hmong people into the government: they created multiple competing positions of substantial prestige for Miao people to participate and assimilate into the Qing government system. During the Ming and Qing times, the official position of "Kiatong" was created in Indochina. The Miao would employ the use of the "Kiatong" government structure until the 1900s when they entered into French colonial politics in Indochina.


title: Miao people

text: During the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Miao played an important role in its birth when they helped Mao Zedong to escape the Kuomintang in the Long March with supplies and guides through their territory.


title: Miao people

text: In Vietnam, a powerful Hmong named Vuong Chinh Duc, dubbed the king of the Hmong, aided Ho Chi Minh's nationalist move against the French, and thus secured the Hmong's position in Vietnam. In Điện Biên Phủ, Hmongs fought on the side of the communist Viet Minh against the pro-French Tai Dam aristocrats. During the Vietnam War, Miao fought on both sides, the Hmong in Laos primarily for the US, across the border in Vietnam for the North-Vietnam coalition, the Chinese-Miao for the Communists. However, after the war the Vietnamese were very aggressive towards the Hmong who suffered many years of reprisals. Most Hmong in Thailand also supported a brief Communist uprising during the war.


title: Miao people

text: Some of the origins of the Hmong and Miao clan names are a result of the marriage of Hmong women to Han Chinese men, with distinct Han Chinese-descended clans and lineages practicing Han Chinese burial customs. These clans were called "Han Chinese Hmong" ("Hmong Sua") in Sichuan, and were instructed in military tactics by fugitive Han Chinese rebels. Such Chinese "surname groups" are comparable to the patrilineal Hmong clans and also practice exogamy.


title: Miao people

text: Han Chinese male soldiers who fought against the Miao rebellions during the Qing and Ming dynasties were known to have married with non-Han women such as the Miao because Han women were less desirable. The Wang clan, founded among the Hmong in Gongxian county of Sichuan's Yibin district, is one such clan and can trace its origins to several such marriages around the time of the Ming dynasty suppression of the Ah rebels. Nicholas Tapp wrote that, according to "The Story of the Ha Kings" in the village, one such Han ancestor was Wang Wu. It is also noted that the Wang typically sided with the Chinese, being what Tapp calls "cooked" as opposed to the "raw" peoples who rebelled against the Chinese.


title: Miao people

text: Hmong women who married Han Chinese men founded a new Xem clan among Northern Thailand's Hmong. Fifty years later in Chiangmai two of their Hmong boy descendants were Catholics. A Hmong woman and Han Chinese man married and founded northern Thailand's Lau2, or Lauj, clan, , with another Han Chinese man of the family name Deng founding another Hmong clan. Some scholars believe this lends further credence to the idea that some or all of the present day Hmong clans were formed in this way.


title: Miao people

text: Jiangxi Han Chinese are claimed by some as the forefathers of the southeast Guizhou Miao, and Miao children were born to the many Miao women married Han Chinese soldiers in Taijiang in Guizhou before the second half of the 19th century.


title: Miao people

text: According to André-Georges Haudricourt and David Strecker's claims based on limited secondary data, the Miao were among the first people to settle in present-day China. They claim that the Han borrowed a lot of words from the Miao in regard to rice farming. This indicated that the Miao were among the first rice farmers in China. In addition, some have connected the Miao to the Daxi Culture (5,300 – 6,000 years ago) in the middle Yangtze River region. The Daxi Culture has been credited with being amongst the first cultivators of rice in the Far East by Western scholars. However, in 2006 rice cultivation was found to have existed in the Shandong province even earlier than the Daxi Culture. Though the Yuezhuang culture has cultivated rice, it is more of collected wild rice and not actual cultivated and domesticated rice like that of the Daxi.


title: Miao people

text: A western study mention that the Miao (especially the Miao-Hunan) has its origins in southern China but have some DNA from the Northeast people of China. Recent DNA samples of Miao males contradict this theory. The White Hmong have 25% C, 8% D, & 6% N(Tat) yet they have the least contact with the Han population.


title: Miao people

text: According to the 2000 census, the number of Miao in China was estimated to be about 9.6 million. Outside of China, members of the Miao sub-group or nations of the Hmong live in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Burma due to outward migrations starting in the 18th century. As a result of recent migrations in the aftermath of the Indochina and Vietnam Wars from 1949–75, many Hmong people now live in the United States, French Guiana, France and Australia. Altogether, there are approximately 10 million speakers in the Miao language family. This language family, which consists of 6 languages and around 35 dialects (some of which are mutually intelligible) belongs to the Hmong/Miao branch of the Hmong–Mien (Miao–Yao) language family.


title: Miao people

text: A large population of the Hmong have emigrated to the northern mountainous reaches of Southeast Asia including Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Burma. However, many continue to live in far Southwest China mostly in the provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi and to a very limited extent in Guizhou.


title: Miao people

text: 3,600,000 Miao, about half of the entire Chinese Miao population, were in Guizhou in 1990. The Guizhou Miao and those in the following six provinces make up over 98% of all Chinese Miao:


title: Miao people

text: In the above provinces, there are 6 Miao autonomous prefectures (shared officially with one other ethnic minority):


title: Miao people

text: Several thousands of Miao left their homeland to move to larger cities like Guangzhou and Beijing. There are 789,000 Hmong spread throughout northern Vietnam, Laos, Burma, and on other continents. 174,000 live in Thailand, where they are one of the six main hill tribes.


title: Miao people

text: (Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >0.25% of mainland China's Miao population.)


title: Miao people

text: Miao fish is a dish made by steaming fish with a mixture of fresh herbs, green peppers, ginger slices and garlic.


title: Medieval Warm Period

text: The Medieval Warm Period (MWP), also known as the Medieval Climate Optimum or the Medieval Climatic Anomaly, was a time of warm climate in the North Atlantic region that lasted from to . Climate proxy records show peak warmth occurred at different times for different regions, which indicate that the MWP was not a globally uniform event. Some refer to the MWP as the "Medieval Climatic Anomaly" to emphasize that climatic effects other than temperature were also important.


title: Medieval Warm Period

text: The MWP was followed by a regionally cooler period in the North Atlantic and elsewhere, which is sometimes called the Little Ice Age (LIA).


title: Medieval Warm Period

text: Possible causes of the MWP include increased solar activity, decreased volcanic activity, and changes in ocean circulation.


title: Medieval Warm Period

text: The Medieval Warm Period (MWP) is generally thought to have occurred from –, during the European Middle Ages. In 1965, Hubert Lamb, one of the first paleoclimatologists, published research based on data from botany, historical document research, and meteorology, combined with records indicating prevailing temperature and rainfall in England around and around . He proposed, "Evidence has been accumulating in many fields of investigation pointing to a notably warm climate in many parts of the world, that lasted a few centuries around – AD, and was followed by a decline of temperature levels till between and the coldest phase since the last ice age occurred."


title: Medieval Warm Period

text: The era of warmer temperatures became known as the Medieval Warm Period and the subsequent cold period the Little Ice Age (LIA). However, the view that the MWP was a global event was challenged by other researchers. The IPCC First Assessment Report of 1990 discussed the "Medieval Warm Period around 1000 AD (which may not have been global) and the Little Ice Age which ended only in the middle to late nineteenth century." It stated that temperatures in the "late tenth to early thirteenth centuries (about AD 950-1250) appear to have been exceptionally warm in western Europe, Iceland and Greenland." The IPCC Third Assessment Report from 2001 summarized newer research: "evidence does not support globally synchronous periods of anomalous cold or warmth over this time frame, and the conventional terms of 'Little Ice Age' and 'Medieval Warm Period' are chiefly documented in describing northern hemisphere trends in hemispheric or global mean temperature changes in past centuries."


title: Medieval Warm Period

text: Global temperature records taken from ice cores, tree rings, and lake deposits have shown that the Earth may have been slightly cooler globally (by 0.03 °C) than in the early and the mid-20th century.