Erdogan rival Fethullah Gulen dies at 83 in the US
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Family members and Gulen-linked accounts, including his nephew Ebuseleme Gulen, have confirmed that the Turkish opposition cleric died from cardiovascular issues.
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Turkish opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, the United States, on September 24, 2013. (AP)
Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish opposition cleric accused by Ankara of orchestrating the failed July 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has died at the age of 83 in the United States, where he had been living in exile.
On Monday, Herkul, a website dedicated to Gulen’s sermons, announced on its X account that Gulen passed away on Sunday evening in a Pennsylvania hospital, where he was receiving treatment.
Family members and Gulen-linked accounts, including his nephew Ebuseleme Gulen, confirmed that he died from cardiovascular issues.
Gulen rose to prominence by emphasizing the need for Turkish youth to return to their values, advocating education as the most effective solution. His movement, known in Turkiye as Hizmet, initially focused on running schools and expanded to establish educational institutions both within the country and globally.
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As Gulen’s movement expanded, his followers branched into business and began securing positions within key Turkish institutions, particularly in the military, police, and judiciary.
Once an ally of President Erdogan, Gulen had a dramatic falling out with him, with Erdogan later accusing him of orchestrating the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. The coup, in which 252 people were killed and over 2,700 injured, involved a faction of the Turkish military declaring it had taken control of the country. However, the attempt was quashed within hours.
Following the coup, the Turkish government outlawed Gulen’s movement, labeling it the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO). This led to mass arrests, including nearly a third of the military's top leadership and thousands of other officials and bureaucrats.
Gulen, who had been living in a large estate in Pennsylvania for over 20 years, used the property as the base of operations for his group. Reports in May indicated that Gulen had been moved from the Chestnut Retreat Center to a different location, and the center was vacated a month prior.
Despite repeated calls from Turkish officials for the US to extradite Gulen, their requests were never fulfilled.
