Turkey

Fethullah Gülen: The self-exiled sworn enemy of Erdoğan died at the age of 86

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Among other accusations, the Islamic cleric was accused by the Erdoğan government of being the mastermind of the coup attempt in Turkey in 2016.

Fethullah Gülen, the sworn enemy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, passed away at the age of 86 in the USA.

According to the announcement of his death on Herkul, he passed away in a hospital in Pennsylvania where he was being treated for the health problems he had been facing for several years.

The Erdoğan government had accused Gülen of masterminding the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey and of running a parallel state in the country to seize control of some government functions.

He was a former imam and prominent political figure in Turkey, and founded the movement Hizmet (which means "service" in Turkish) and lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, USA.

Who was Fethullah Gülen?

He was formerly an ally of Erdoğan. However, relations between the two men soured in 2013 when Erdoğan accused Gülen of instigating corruption investigations that targeted and implicated dozens of government and ruling party officials.

The Islamic preacher was at the top of Turkey's most-wanted terrorists list, accused of leading a terrorist organisation, and taught a soft version of Islam that believes in science, interfaith dialogue and multi-party democracy.

He had started dialogue with other religions, the Vatican, and Jewish organisations, as well as heading the Gülen movement, which promotes social dialogue on the future of Turkey and the Turkish State.

The Gülen movement has hundreds of schools in Turkey and other countries and has previously been accused of infiltrating and influencing Turkish police.

Gülen himself and his followers use market and technology structures and are active users of social media, digital technologies, and public relations.

READ MORE: The Wedding of Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis.

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