Self-exiled Turkish spiritual leader Fethullah Gülen dies in Pennsylvania : NPR

SAYLORSBURG, Pa. — Fethullah Gülen, a reclusive U.S.-based Islamic cleric who impressed a world social motion whereas dealing with accusations he masterminded a failed 2016 coup in his native Turkey, has died.

Abdullah Bozkurt, the previous editor of the Gülen-linked At present’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 ailing well being.

Turkish International Minister Hakan Fidan stated the dying has been confirmed by Turkish intelligence sources.

“The chief of this darkish group has died,” he stated.

Gülen spent the final many years of his life in self-exile, dwelling on a gated compound in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, from the place he continued to wield affect amongst his thousands and thousands 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, training, science and interfaith dialogue.

Gülen started as an ally of Turkish chief Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however grew to become a foe. He known as Erdogan an authoritarian bent on accumulating energy and crushing dissent. Erdogan forged Gülen as a terrorist, accusing him of orchestrating the tried navy coup on the evening of July 15, 2016, when factions inside the navy 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 had been killed and round 2,200 others had been wounded. Round 35 alleged coup plotters had been additionally killed.

Gülen adamantly denied involvement, and his supporters dismissed the costs as ridiculous and politically motivated. Turkey put Gülen on its most-wanted record and demanded his extradition, however the USA confirmed little inclination to ship him again, saying it wanted extra proof. Gülen was by no means charged with against the law within the U.S., and he constantly denounced terrorism in addition to the coup plotters.

In Turkey, Gülen’s motion — generally often known 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 navy, and shuttered a whole lot of companies, colleges and media organizations tied to Gülen.

Gülen known 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 by some means ‘linked’ to me or the Hizmet motion and treats that alleged connection as against the law,” 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 combat in opposition to this group as they do with every kind of terrorist organizations,” Fidan stated.

He additionally known as on Gülen’s followers to show away from “this treasonous unsuitable path.”

Gülen preached that faith and science may go hand in hand

Fethullah Gülen was born in Erzurum, in japanese 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.

Educated 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 thousands and thousands of followers.

Gülen’s acolytes constructed a loosely affiliated world community of charitable foundations, skilled associations, companies and colleges in additional than 100 international locations, together with 150 taxpayer-funded constitution colleges all through the USA. In Turkey, supporters ran universities, hospitals, charities, a financial institution and a big media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

However Gülen was considered with suspicion by some in his homeland, a deeply polarized nation break up between these loyal to its fiercely secular traditions and supporters of the Islamic-based social gathering related to Erdogan that got here to energy in 2002.

Gülen had lengthy avoided overtly supporting any political social gathering, however his motion cast a de facto alliance with Erdogan in opposition to the nation’s previous guard of staunch, military-backed secularists, and Gülen’s media empire threw its weight behind Erdogan’s Islamic-oriented authorities.

Gülenists helped the governing social gathering 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 inside circle. Erdogan, who denied the allegations, grew weary of the rising affect of Gülen’s motion.

Erdogan charged Gülen with plotting to overthrow him

The Turkish chief accused Gülen’s followers of infiltrating the nation’s police and judiciary and establishing a parallel state, and started agitating for Gülen’s extradition to Turkey even earlier than the failed 2016 coup.

The cleric had lived in the USA 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.

Among the accusations in opposition to him had been primarily based 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 had been taken out of context.

The cleric was tried in absentia and acquitted, however he by no means returned to his homeland. He gained 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 condominium on the sprawling compound and left largely solely to see docs for illnesses that included coronary heart illness and diabetes, spending a lot of his time in prayer and meditation and receiving guests from all over the world.

Gülen by no means married and didn’t have youngsters. It isn’t recognized who, if anybody, will lead the motion.