Turkish Cleric Gulen Dies in US Exile
Controversial Turkish Cleric Gulen Dies in US Exile
The Facts
Fethullah Gulen, an influential Turkish Muslim cleric, died at the age of 83 in a US hospital where he was receiving treatment.Fethullah Gulen, an influential Turkish Muslim cleric, died Sunday at 83 in a US hospital where he was receiving treatment.
Gulen, who lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, was accused by Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of orchestrating the failed 2016 coup attempt, which he denied. The coup attempt left around 250 dead and over 2K injured.Gulen, who was living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, was accused by Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of orchestrating a failed 2016 coup attempt, which Gulen denied. The coup attempt left around 250 dead and over 2K injured.
The Spin
While Turkey has certainlynever leveledprovided much evidence for its elaborate allegations against Gulen and the US government, these theories have never included much evidence. Gulen washad a controversial figure whose history includes both positive and negativecomplicated relationsrelationship with Pres. Erdogan. Given that Gulen and Erdogan were both secularists, their differences were likely connected to the corruption charges laid against the president rather than religious beliefs.
Gulen’s long-standing ties to US interests, including alleged links to American intelligence agencies, make it completely reasonable to question whether he worked with Western powers to orchestrate the 2016 coup. Besides his residence in Pennsylvania and Washington's refusal to extradite him, not to mention testimonies in Turkey, confirmconfirmed his followers were working to destabilize the Turkish government.
