Fethullah Gülen, leader of Gülen movement, dies in US at 83
Fethullah Gülen, an Islamic cleric living in a self-imposed exile in the United States for 25 years, died at the age of 83. Once Erdoğan’s ally, he was accused of orchestrating a coup attempt against the Turkish government in 2016.
Duvar English
Fethullah Gülen, the leader of Gülen movement, died on Oct. 20 at the age of 83. Gülen had been living in a self-imposed exile in a Pennsylvania compound in the United States since 1999.
A website close to his movement announced his death, saying Gülen “devoted every moment of his life in service to the religion of Islam and humanity.”
His nephew Ebuseleme Gülen also confirmed his death. Ebuseleme Gülen recently became a staunch critic of Fethullah Gülen and his movement.
Gülen was born in 1941 in the eastern Erzurum province. He spent most of his life as a preacher in Turkey.
His movement is known for its expansion of education institutions not only in Turkey, but also in the world, training and placing its own members for key state positions, especially in education and security.
The Gülen movement was once close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), but their ties were strained in 2013 following a graft probe.
The Dec. 17-25, 2013 corruption investigations targeted figures close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Former ministers Erdoğan Bayraktar, Egemen Bağış, Muammer Güler, and Zafer Çağlayan resigned from the Cabinet after the graft operation highlighted their relations with Reza Zarrab - a shady Turkish-Iranian businessman who allegedly paid the ministers a number of bribes over several years.
The probe broke the AKP's once-friendly ties to the Gülen movement as prosecutors purportedly close to the movement launched the wide-ranging probes.
Moreover, the Turkish government says Gülen and his movement organized the coup attempt of July 2016 and has designated his network as a terrorist group, dubbing it “Fethullahist Terror Organization,” or “FETÖ.”
More than 150,000 government employees have been dismissed or suspended from their jobs since the failed coup in 2016, in what the AKP government says is an effort to cleanse the state apparatus of Gülenists, though among those purged have included high numbers of Kurds, leftists, and union members.
The movement is not publicly active in Turkey anymore, with most of its members being jailed.