An influential US-based Islamic cleric who was accused of masterminding a failed coup in Turkey in 2016 has died.
Fethullah Gulen, who was 83, had been ill for a protracted interval and died in a hospital in Pennsylvania on Sunday, in accordance with stories. Turkey’s authorities additionally confirmed the loss of life.
The cleric, who moved to the US in 1999, was as soon as an ally of Turkish chief Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier than the pair fell out.
He referred to as Mr Erdogan an authoritarian decided to build up energy and crush any dissent.
Mr Gulen was by no means charged with a criminal offense within the US, and he persistently denounced terrorism in addition to the tried coup in Turkey on 15 July 2016, releasing a press release on the time to name hyperlinks to his involvement “insulting”.
However Mr Erdogan insisted he was a terrorist who had orchestrated the plot when factions throughout the Turkish navy used tanks, planes and helicopters to attempt to overthrow the federal government.
Parliament and different authorities buildings had been bombed, whereas 251 individuals had been killed and greater than 2,000 injured because the violence unfold.
Mr Gulen continued to disclaim his involvement within the failed coup, however his motion was designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey.
His supporters have consistently dismissed the accusations as ridiculous and politically motivated.
Turkish international minister Hakan Fidan confirmed Mr Gulen’s loss of life, describing him because the chief of a “dark organisation”.
Picture:
Chaos on the streets of the Turkish capital of Ankara through the failed coup of 2016. Pic: Reuters
Turkey included Mr Gulen on its most-wanted checklist and demanded his extradition, however the US confirmed little want to ship him again, saying it wanted extra proof.
Mr Gulen lived in Pennsylvania from the place he continued to wield affect amongst his tens of millions of followers in Turkey and all through the world.
However his motion – generally referred to as Hizmet, which is Turkish for “service” – was subjected to a broad crackdown in Turkey.
The federal government arrested tens of hundreds of individuals for his or her alleged hyperlink to the coup plot, sacked greater than 130,000 suspected supporters from civil service jobs and at the least one other 23,000 from the navy.
It even closed a whole bunch of companies, colleges and media organisations which it stated had ties to Mr Gulen.
Mr Gulen referred to as the crackdown a witch hunt and denounced Turkey’s leaders as “tyrants”.
