Death of Fethullah Gulen: Polarising cleric's controversial legacy
Fetullah Gulen has passed away at the age of 83, Turkish media reported on Monday. Gulen was an Islamic preacher accused by Ankara of orchestrating the failed coup in 2016 against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The cleric had been residing in the United States.
Media associated with Gulen reported that he passed away on Sunday evening at a hospital in Pennsylvania due to circulatory system failure.
Gulen was the leader of the Hizmet (Service) religious movement, inspired by Sufism. Ankara describes Gulen's network of supporters as FETO and considers it a terrorist organisation.
The Turkish authorities accuse Gulen, who had been in self-imposed exile in the United States since the late 1990s, of a long-running campaign to weaken the state by infiltrating its institutions, including the military, police and judiciary.
The foiled coup in 2016: thousands were injured
During the night of 15 to 16 July 2016, a group of officers from the Turkish armed forces attempted a coup to overthrow the president. During the coup attempt, approximately 250 people were killed, and over 2,000 were injured.
The cleric, once an ally and later an adversary of Erdogan, denied any involvement in the 2016 coup attempt and emphasised that the movement he led is a network of peaceful non-governmental organisations.
After the foiled coup in Turkey, mass arrests and job dismissals ensued. Critics of Erdogan claim that the leader used the coup attempt as a pretext to crack down on political opponents.
