- Fethullah Gülen, a U.S.-based Islamic cleric who led a worldwide social motion, has died in his eighties after a long-term sickness.
- Gülen was confirmed useless by his nephew and Turkish intelligence sources, with Turkish International Minister Hakan Fidan calling him the chief of a “darkish group.”
- As soon as an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Gülen turned a foe, with Erdogan accusing him of orchestrating the failed 2016 army coup in Turkey.
Fethullah Gülen, a reclusive U.S.-based Islamic cleric who impressed a worldwide social motion whereas going through accusations he masterminded a failed 2016 coup in his native Turkey, has died.
Abdullah Bozkurt, the previous editor of the Gülen-linked Immediately’s Zaman newspaper, who’s now in exile in Sweden, stated Monday that he spoke to Gülen’s nephew, Kemal Gülen, who confirmed the dying. Fethullah Gülen was in his eighties and had lengthy been in unwell well being.
Turkish International Minister Hakan Fidan stated the dying has been confirmed by Turkish intelligence sources.
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“The chief of this darkish group has died,” he stated.
Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen speaks to members of the media at his compound in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, in July 2016. Gülen, a reclusive U.S.-based Islamic cleric who impressed a worldwide social motion whereas going through accusations he masterminded a failed 2016 coup in his native Turkey, has died. (AP Photograph/Chris Publish, File)
Gülen spent the final a long time of his life in self-exile, dwelling in a gated compound in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains from the place he continued to wield affect amongst his tens of millions of followers in Turkey and all through the world. He espoused a philosophy that blended Sufism — a mystical type of Islam — with staunch advocacy of democracy, schooling, science and interfaith dialogue.
Gülen started as an ally of Turkish chief Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however turned a foe. He referred to as Erdogan an authoritarian bent on accumulating energy and crushing dissent. Erdogan solid Gülen as a terrorist, accusing him of orchestrating the tried army coup on the evening of July 15, 2016, when factions inside the army used tanks, warplanes and helicopters to attempt to overthrow Erdogan’s authorities.
Heeding a name from the president, hundreds took to the streets to oppose the takeover try. The coup-plotters fired at crowds and bombed parliament and different authorities buildings. A complete of 251 folks have been killed and round 2,200 others have been wounded. Round 35 alleged coup plotters have been additionally killed.
Gülen adamantly denied involvement, and his supporters dismissed the fees as ridiculous and politically motivated. Turkey put Gülen on its most-wanted record and demanded his extradition, however the US confirmed little inclination to ship him again, saying it wanted extra proof. Gülen was by no means charged with a criminal offense within the U.S., and he persistently denounced terrorism in addition to the coup plotters.
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In Turkey, Gülen’s motion — generally referred to as Hizmet, Turkish for “service” — was subjected to a broad crackdown. The federal government arrested tens of hundreds of individuals for his or her alleged hyperlink to the coup plot, sacked greater than 130,000 suspected supporters from civil service jobs and greater than 23,000 from the army, and shuttered a whole lot of companies, faculties and media organizations tied to Gülen.
Gülen referred to as the crackdown a witch hunt and denounced Turkey’s leaders as “tyrants.”
“The final yr has taken a toll on me as a whole lot of hundreds of harmless Turkish residents are being punished just because the federal government decides they’re in some way ‘linked’ to me or the Hizmet motion and treats that alleged connection as a criminal offense,” he stated on the one-year anniversary of the failed coup.
Turkish International Minister Fidan stated Monday that Gülen’s dying “is not going to make us complacent or relaxed. This group has been a risk hardly ever seen within the historical past of our nation.”
“Our nation, our state will proceed to battle in opposition to this group as they do with every kind of terrorist organizations,” Fidan stated.
He additionally referred to as on Gülen’s followers to show away from “this treasonous fallacious path.”
Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen meets members of the media at his compound in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, in July 2016. (AP Photograph/Chris Publish, File)
Fethullah Gülen was born in Erzurum, in jap Turkey. His official beginning date was April 27, 1941, however that has lengthy been in dispute. Y. Alp Aslandogan, who leads a New York-based group that promotes Gülen’s concepts and work, stated Gülen was really born someday in 1938.
Skilled as an imam, or prayer chief, Gülen gained discover in Turkey some 50 years in the past. He preached tolerance and dialogue between faiths, and he believed faith and science may go hand in hand. His perception in merging Islam with Western values and Turkish nationalism struck a chord with Turks, incomes him tens of millions of followers.
Gülen’s acolytes constructed a loosely affiliated world community of charitable foundations, skilled associations, companies and faculties in additional than 100 nations, together with 150 taxpayer-funded constitution faculties all through the US. In Turkey, supporters ran universities, hospitals, charities, a financial institution and a big media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.
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However Gülen was seen with suspicion by some in his homeland, a deeply polarized nation cut up between these loyal to its fiercely secular traditions and supporters of the Islamic-based get together related to Erdogan that got here to energy in 2002.
Gülen had lengthy avoided overtly supporting any political get together, however his motion solid a de facto alliance with Erdogan in opposition to the nation’s outdated guard of staunch, military-backed secularists, and Gülen’s media empire threw its weight behind Erdogan’s Islamic-oriented authorities.
Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen meets members of the media at his compound in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, in July 2016. (AP Photograph/Chris Publish, File)
Gülenists helped the governing get together win a number of elections. However the Erdogan-Gulen alliance started to crumble after the motion criticized authorities coverage and uncovered alleged corruption amongst Erdogan’s interior circle. Erdogan, who denied the allegations, grew weary of the rising affect of Gülen’s motion.
The Turkish chief accused Gülen’s followers of infiltrating the nation’s police and judiciary and organising a parallel state, and commenced agitating for Gülen’s extradition to Turkey even earlier than the failed 2016 coup.
The cleric had lived in the US since 1999, when he got here to hunt medical remedy.
In 2000, with Gülen nonetheless within the U.S, Turkish authorities charged him with main an Islamist plot to overthrow the nation’s secular type of authorities and set up a spiritual state.
Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen meets members of the media at his compound in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, in July 2016. (AP Photograph/Chris Publish, File)
A few of the accusations in opposition to him have been based mostly on a tape recording on which Gülen was alleged to have advised supporters of an Islamic state to bide their time: “If they arrive out too early, the world will quash their heads.” Gülen stated his feedback have been taken out of context.
The cleric was tried in absentia and acquitted, however he by no means returned to his homeland. He received a prolonged authorized battle in opposition to the administration of then-President George W. Bush to acquire everlasting residency within the U.S.
Hardly ever seen in public, Gülen lived quietly on the grounds of an Islamic retreat middle within the Poconos. He occupied a small residence on the sprawling compound and left largely solely to see medical doctors for illnesses that included coronary heart illness and diabetes, spending a lot of his time in prayer and meditation and receiving guests from world wide.
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Gülen by no means married and didn’t have youngsters. It isn’t identified who, if anybody, will lead the motion.
