Turkish cleric Gülen (83), arch-enemy of Erdogan, has died

Fethullah Gülen, the leader of Turkey‘s Gülen movement, has died at the age of 83. Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed this after Turkish media reported the news earlier.

An obituary from the X account linked to Gülen says he died after a short illness in a hospital in the United States, where he was living in exile. The Islamic cleric is said to have had problems with his health recently.

Gülen was seen as the arch-enemy of Turkish President Erdogan. He was one of the main opponents of the regime and had been in exile in America since 1999. He was accused of being the mastermind behind the coup attempt in Turkey. in 2016, which he has always denied.

More than 250 people were killed in the campaign. In the period that followed, more than 80,000 Turks were arrested on suspicion of having links with the clergy. 150,000 people – including judges, civil servants and soldiers – were dismissed or suspended.

After the failed coup, it was never possible to really investigate the role of Gülen. Erdogan’s government saw any question of this as a betrayal. As a result, Gülen’s role in the power struggle with Erdogan has never been clarified.

Gülen and Erdogan continued to work closely together in the 1990s. Erdogan came to power in 2002, partly thanks to the support of Gülen supporters. But in the following years there was a conflict between the two. Erdogan wanted more power, and Gülen wanted a more powerful parliament.

Gülen created a huge empire with his own schools, universities and media in Turkey. He also tried to gain influence in state institutions with his group. Erdogan saw this as a threat and tried to find out Gülen’s followers. That led to purges.

The bomb came after members of Erdogan’s government were accused of corruption in 2013. According to Erdogan, Gülen was behind the accusations and therefore tried to organize a coup. Since then, the Gülen movement has been labeled as terrorism.

Human rights groups and Western allies of Turkey regularly criticize the approach to Gülen’s (alleged) supporters. President Erdogan would abuse the suspicion of eliminating political opponents. The Turkish government maintains that it is necessary to find the followers of the clergy for the security of the country.

It is difficult to estimate the number of Gülen followers because it is not possible to become a member. The Gülen movement is believed to have millions of followers worldwide. His movement still has great influence in Turkey.

Critics argue that Gülen’s movement wants to get rid of theology. The movement would also like to turn Turkey into an Islamic state.

Turkey had been demanding Gülen’s extradition for years, but the US government refused to extradite him. Erdogan previously compared the Gülen movement to a malignant type of cancer that returns if not eradicated.

The Hizmet movement in the Netherlands, which adheres to the views of Gülen, has reacted emotionally to the death. “It’s a sad day for us,” says Saniye Calkin, who supports the group.

“It was really inspiring and especially in 2024, in these crazy times, you see again what we need. It’s not about him, it’s about his ideas.”

Calkin explains how Gülen wanted to deal with three main problems with his ideas to improve the world: division, poverty and ignorance. “And of course you see that nothing has changed in the last thirty years. It is a great loss, but everyone will take responsibility and ask themselves what can be done so that to help society.”