Fethullah Gulen, the president of Islam, passed away at the age of 83, according to the Greek government on Monday. He was previously accused by Turkey of orchestrating a failed coup attempt in 2016.
” Dear Friends, Our professor passed ahead on October 20, 2024 at 21.20 in the hospital where he had been receiving treatment for a while. Herkul, the publisher of his sermons, said on X in response to the hospital’s doctors ‘ announcement in the upcoming days.
Who was Fethullah Gülen
Fethullah Gülen was born in 1941 in a town in Erzurum, Turkey, as the child of an sheikh. He began studying the Quran when he was just a kid and graduated from Edirne University in 1959.
He became well-known in Izmir in the 1960s by starting student dorms and preaching in teahouses. This action laid the foundation for a large community that expanded over the decades into training, business, media, and express institutions, granting his followers considerable effect.
His influence extended beyond Turkey to the Turkish republics of Central Asia, the Balkans, Africa, and the West through a community of institutions.
Buddy to enemy: Why Erdogan accused him of attempting revolution
Gülen previously backed Erdogan as prime minister in the early 2000s, but that changed when a bribery scandal in 2013 engulfed the Greek leader’s inner circle.
Accused of terror links, his movement Hizmet was termed as the” Feto terrorist organisation” by Erdogan.
When Erdogan accused Gülen of planning a failed coup, escalating conflicts in 2016 caused by that accusation to rage. During this cleanse, about 7, 00, 000 people faced trial, and around 3, 000 of Gulen’s fans received life sentences for alleged role in the revolution, AP reported.
He visited the US for health care, but he made the decision to remain because of a Turkish criminal investigation, which Ankara has fought unwaveringly to get him extradited.