Ankara: Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen has died in America at the age of 83. Fethullah Gulen was also considered a staunch rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan accused Gulen of orchestrating a deadly failed coup attempt in 2016. Later, a Turkish court also found Fethullah guilty of attempting a coup, although he had always denied such charges. The US-based cleric’s death was announced on Monday by Herkul Nagme, a news outlet linked to Gulen. It is believed that President Erdogan will benefit the most from Gulen’s death.
Türkiye considers Gulen a terrorist
Herkul Nagme issued a statement on The statement also said that he was undergoing treatment in the hospital for some time. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan confirmed Gulen’s death at a news conference in Ankara, and vowed to continue the fight against the cleric’s group, which is designated as a terrorist organization in Turkey.
How Gulen reached the top in Türkiye
Born in 1941, Gulen rose to the top of Türkiye’s religious bureaucracy and became an influential imam. He maintained a huge base of followers for decades. However, in 1999, to avoid controversy and government pressure from Erdogan, Gülen left Turkey and went into self-exile to the United States and settled in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. Gülen’s supporters describe him as a peaceful and liberal cleric who supported inter-religious dialogue.
Gulen’s tremendous influence in Türkiye
Gülen’s devout Muslim supporters, who were disenfranchised by Türkiye’s staunchly secular power circles at the time, formed a movement called Hizmet. Gülen’s movement has established schools, free tuition centres, hospitals and relief agencies, which is credited with solving some of Turkey’s social problems. Within Türkiye, Gülen’s supporters also owned TV stations, newspapers, gold mines, and at least one bank. The movement also created a global network of schools and universities that operate in more than 100 countries.
Gulen went to America in 1999
When Gülen moved to the United States in 1999, his supporters cited medical reasons. Whereas, his critics claim that he was trying to weaken the secular government by establishing a religious government in Türkiye. However, Gülen denied the allegations from government supporters.
Gulen was once an ally of Erdogan
When Erdoğan took power in 2002, the Hizmet movement supported him as prime minister. There were many Gülenists (supporters of Gülen) among Erdogan’s allies. In fact, it was with the help of the Gülenists that Erdogan previously launched military purges and dubious court cases targeting secular generals and officials. But relations between the two began to deteriorate in the early 2010s, as the Erdogan government tried to close Gülenist educational centers. At the same time, Gulenists accused senior administrative officials of bribery.
Gülen accused of attempting a coup in Türkiye
In 2016, there was an attempted coup in Türkiye, in which 290 people were killed and more than 1,400 were injured. After a wave of violence that included rolling tanks through the city streets, the coup attempt was suppressed. Erdogan did not waste any time in pointing the finger at Gülen, and action was taken thereafter. Thousands of people have been arrested or fired from their jobs on suspicion of links to Gulen.
Erdogan quarreled with America because of Gulen
Turkey asked the US to extradite the cleric but the US refused to do so. Due to this, relations between Türkiye and America had reached a low level at that time. However, Gülen repeatedly denied these allegations. He had said, “As someone who faced several military coups during the past five decades, it is particularly insulting to be accused of having any connection with such an attempt. I categorically reject such allegations.” I deny.”