Türkiye, the spiritual Fethullah Gulen died in exile, in response to Ankara the mastermind of the 2016 tried coup | EUROtoday

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Fethullah Gulen, an influential Turkish Islamic preacher, believed by Ankara to be the mastermind of the tried coup towards President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 15 July 2016, has died on the age of 83. The information was revealed by Herkul, a website near the preacher, and was taken up by the main Turkish media. Gulen died in Pennsylvania, the place he lived after shifting to the USA in 1999, with out ever returning to Türkiye. Head of a non secular brotherhood with tens of millions of followers, Gulen was initially Erdogan’s ally however in 2012 the 2 got here into battle and the Turkish president accused him of getting deliberate the 2016 tried coup.

To the biography

Born in 1941 within the province of Erzurum, in japanese Turkey, into a non secular household, Gulen started preaching Islam at a really younger age after which grew to become imam and instructor within the Koranic college of Izmir, the third largest metropolis within the nation, on the coast Turkish bathed by the Aegean Sea, and its recognition started to develop exponentially in probably the most spiritual a part of Turkish society.

He grew to become the pinnacle of an Islamic brotherhood, often called the “Hizmet movement” (service, in Turkish), which between the Nineteen Eighties and Nineties managed to collect a following of tens of millions of individuals, additionally changing into recognized internationally. Over the years, a lot of his followers started to occupy essential positions within the Ankara judiciary and police power, whereas members of the motion based an unlimited community of personal faculties.

In 1999, following the 1997 navy coup, Gulen moved to the USA whereas, ranging from 2002, his motion gave assist to the primary governments of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP get together. In parallel with its affect on the judiciary, the police and the training sector by way of the community of faculties, Gulen’s motion additionally grew to become energetic within the media sector, controlling a collection of newspapers and tv channels that supported Erdogan’s AKP governments .

From ally to enemy of Erdogan

Relations between Gulen and the present Turkish president started to deteriorate in 2012 and within the following years the federal government closed faculties and media affiliated with the preacher. Erdogan accused Gulen of masterminding the 2016 coup try, the place round 250 folks died. The preacher denied the accusations however his motion was banned as a terrorist motion, Gulen was condemned by the Ankara judiciary for having deliberate the coup d’état, Turkey requested the US for his extradition, which was by no means granted, whereas at dwelling the members of his motion had been arrested.