Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish cleric accused of masterminding a bloody attempted coup in 2016, has died aged 83, the Turkish foreign minister has confirmed.
The cleric, who had been living in self-imposed exile in the US, died after being admitted to a Pennsylvania hospital, according to reports in Turkish media.
Sometimes described as Turkey’s second most powerful man, Gulen was the spiritual leader of the Gulen movement, a powerful Islamic community with followers in Turkey and worldwide.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the Gulen movement for the 2016 attempted coup, accusations Gulen denied.
Speaking at a press conference in Ankara, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said intelligence sources had confirmed Gulen’s death, describing him as the leader of a “dark organisation”.
Gulen rose to prominence by arguing that young people in Turkey had lost their way and education was the best response.
He became known for promoting a tolerant Islam which emphasised altruism, modesty and hard work.
His movement – known in Turkey as Hizmet or “service” – first gained a foothold running schools, and it went on to open educational institutions across Turkey and around the world.
As the movement grew, followers expanded into business and began taking jobs inside the government and military.
Hizmet was once an ally of Erdogan’s, but the Turkish president turned on the movement in 2013, vowing to shut down hundreds of its schools and rid the government of Gulenists, who he called a “state within a state”.
Gulen-allied police officers were accused of carrying out raids against Erdogan’s allies, and the Turkish government formally declared Hizmet a terrorist organisation in May 2016.
Image source, Getty Images
In 2016, soldiers were seen on the streets of Istanbul during the attempted coup that authorities blamed on Gulen’s movement
Two months later, a faction of the Turkish army attempted to overthrow Erdogan. It said its aim was to protect democracy from the authoritarian Turkish president.
Over the course of a violent night, TV stations were raided by soldiers, explosions were heard in Istanbul and Ankara, protesters were shot and the parliament and presidential buildings were fired upon.
But the coup failed to gain support from the public or the wider military and the army faction leading it was forced to surrender.
The government blamed Gulen, but he denied the claims and condemned the coup.
Thousands of arrests followed, including almost a third of the military top brass as well as thousands of officials and bureaucrats.
Gulen avoided any rhetoric that could further inflame Turkish tensions during a 2014 BBC News interview
By that time, Gulen was already living in self-imposed exile in the US, where he moved in 1999.
Turkey requested his extradition to face trial but the US has said it needed to see evidence of his involvement in the coup first. He remained in the US until he died.
BBC News interviewed Gulen at his remote Pennsylvania estate in 2014.
The cleric proved elusive throughout the interview and dodged questions on who he would vote for in the upcoming Turkish elections.
“If I were to say anything to people I may say people should vote for those who are respectful to democracy, rule of law, who get on well with people,” he said.
