Fetullah Gülen is an influential Islamic
cleric and a former close ally of Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Tanks were
still trawling the streets of Istanbul and the parliament in Ankara was
under bombardment when Turkish government officials pointed at self-exiled
Islamic cleric Fetullah Gülen as the man behind the attempted coup, carried out
by a faction of the military.
Gülen is one of Turkey’s most powerful figures and an
influential Islamic cleric because of schools his Hizmet movement runs in 150
countries. He has considerable wealth and international stature propelled by a
media group he backs.
Gülen is
also a former close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and has
been living in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 1999.
The cleric has denied any involvement
in the violence that ensued after a group from Turkey’s
army declared Friday night that it was taking
control of the country of 80 million people. The reclusive Gülen suggested
that the failed coup, which has left at least 265 dead, was staged by Erdoğan
and the government as a prelude to a massive crackdown on dissent and to claim
more powers for an already powerful presidency.
Erdoğan called on Washington to extradite the cleric
and accused the United States of harboring a terrorist behind a plot to
overthrow the government.
Here are five things you need to know about the man at the center of a
diplomatic spat between Ankara and Washington.
1) Powerful recluse in Pennsylvania
Gülen, 75, left Turkey in 1975 and eventually settled in a remote part of
Pennsylvania, in the town of Saylorsburg. He remains the leader of the
Hizmet movement that runs acclaimed schools and charities in Turkey and around
the world, including several in the U.S.
He has considerable influence in Turkey despite the closure of the
Zaman newspaper, with which he had been associated. The office
of the newspaper and its English-language edition was
stormed by government security forces in March. Analysts say Hizmet has
suffered following Erdoğan’s efforts to eliminate any opposition to his
government. The president was particularly adamant in his resolve to purge the
military, police and judiciary of Gülen’s supporters, weakening the movement
that has greatly infiltrated Turkey’s main institutions of power.
Despite the pressure, Gülen still enjoys the support of about 10
percent of Turkey’s population, according to opinion polls conducted
before the coup. Former U.S. ambassador to Turkey James Jefferey has
referred to Gülen as Turkey’s second-most powerful man.
2) One-time allies…
Back in the days before Erdoğan became president, the two were
friends. Erdoğan shared in Gülen’s efforts to make the staunchly secular
Turkey more Muslim.
Gülen has been working on that effort since the 1960s, bringing Islamic
values to the Turks under the radar of the authorities, through education and
charitable work, rather than politics, similar to Islamic movements
working under military-supported regimes in Arab countries that are republics
in name only.
Erdoğan was elected president in 2014 and has served as the country’s prime
minister since 2003. After taking office, he set off on a path of changing
the constitution to transform a largely ceremonial presidency into a
U.S.-style executive office. At the same time he remained committed to his
Islamic faith and Muslim values, opening his country’s borders to 2.7 million
Syrians fleeing war and funding charities through the government.
3) …turned enemies
With Gülen supporters and sympathizers in high places in law
enforcement and among prosecutors and judges, the judiciary has launched
several investigations into alleged corruption among senior members
of Erdoğan’s AK Party in the past year. The probes have resulted in the
sacking of several police commissioners and arrests of several of the
president’s top associates.
That provoked Erdoğan’s fury: He accused the cleric of meddling with the
judiciary and due process in Turkey, running a “state within a state” and a “parallel state.”
Gülen has
mostly been silent about the accusations directed at him from Ankara. Two
and a half years ago, he spoke to the BBC at his modest home in the U.S.,
telling the broadcaster that Erdoğan is overestimating his movement, with
foreign diplomats and other observers saying it is not capable
of conducting an elaborate plot against the president’s party and his
government.
“It’s not possible for these judges and
prosecutors to receive orders from me. I have no relation to them,” the cleric
said at the time. “People in the judiciary and the police
carried out investigations and launched this case, as their duties normally
require. Apparently they weren’t informed that corruption and bribery have
ceased to be criminal acts in Turkey.”
4) It’s war
Soon after the government said it had
regained control of the country from the “coup plotters” Saturday, Erdoğan
lashed out at Gülen and his alleged supporters, labeling them terrorists
who tried to topple Turkey’s elected leadership and a “virus” that must be
eradicated from society and “cleansed” from the army. He urged the U.S. to
capture the cleric and hand him over. He also called on the cleric to
return willingly and face trial in Turkey.
Across Turkey, at least 6,000 people have
been detained on suspicion of participating in the coup and being sympathizers
of Hizmet. Most of those detained are part of the military, but more than
2,700 judges and other judicial officials are also being held.
Speaking to the BBC in an interview that
was broadcast Sunday, the
cleric condemned the government crackdown.
“It appears they have no tolerance for any
movement, any group and any organization that is not under their total control”
suggesting that the government could have staged the coup in order to step up
the crackdown. “I simply leave the door of that possibility open.”
5) What the
U.S. says
Secretary of State John Kerry said the
U.S. is willing to consider extraditing Gülen, which Erdoğan has called
for since the coup attempt.
But Kerry told ABC’s “This
Week” on Sunday that Turkish officials are still
assembling evidence against the cleric and his alleged involvement in the coup.
“They have not yet made a formal request,” Kerry said. If and when they
do, “we will go through our legal process,” Kerry said.
The U.S. will “immediately” evaluate the
facts once they are submitted, Kerry said, and emphasized that “Turkey is a
friend” and an ally. “We’re not holding back from doing anything, nor have we
ever been,” Kerry said. “We’ve always said, look, if you have evidence of X, Y
or Z, please present it to us.”
But Kerry warned that the U.S. has “very
strict standards in order to protect people’s rights.”
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