He rose from a simple preacher to the leader of a movement known as nationality that created a cult of personality around him – and who became the greatest enemy of the state: the archetype of Erdogan Fethullah Gülen has died.
Fethullah Gülen, the leader of Turkey‘s Gülen sect, has died in the US at the age of 83. There was no information about the cause of death.
From preacher to culture leader
Gülen made a name for himself in Turkey as a preacher with rhetorical prowess, especially in the 1980s. More and more followers gathered around him – a personality cult began around the preacher. The Gülen movement established a media and business empire in Turkey. Among other things, the sect controlled several educational institutions, radio and television stations and numerous companies.
During its rise in the 1980s and 1990s, the Gülen movement was considered highly controversial in Turkey. A speech leaked in 1999 in particular, in which Gülen asked his followers to work patiently and gain control of the state, made waves. That same year, he traveled to the United States allegedly for health reasons and did not return to Turkey. However, according to observers, this was an attempt by Gülen to escape criminal prosecution in Turkey.
The end of Gülen’s schools led to a dispute with Erdogan
Until 2013, fee-based student tuition institutions were considered to be the sector’s most important source of income. With nearly 4,000 private educational institutions, the Gülen movement prepared many Turkish students for entrance exams for high schools and universities, as teaching in state schools was considered inadequate in Turkey for many years.
When the government of then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to close Gülen’s facilities in 2013, there was a break with the Gülen movement. According to his own statement, Erdogan wanted to avoid the establishment of a second private school system in exchange for state education – a major obstacle to the Gülen movement. After Erdogan’s decision, the sect’s media houses criticized his government, with the tone becoming harsher.
Master the coup attempt?
The bitter dispute between the Turkish government and the Gülen sect reached its peak in 2016: After the resulting attempted coup, Gülen was responsible for the incident as the mastermind, as he is said to have mobilized his followers in the Turkish armed forces. Gülen denied the allegations.
Erdogan had been insisting on Gülen’s extradition to Ankara since 2016, but Washington did not comply with Türkiye’s demands. Since the attempted coup, the Gülen movement in Turkey has been classified as a terrorist organization.
In the video: Erdogan demands that Crimea be returned to Ukraine
Sources used:
BBC: Turkish investigation into widespread Islamic sect
Euronews: Erdoğan’s government is determined to close private teaching institutions
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