Fethullah Gulen, a United States (US)-based Turkish cleric accused of orchestrating the 2016 coup against President Erdogan, passed away on Sunday evening, October 20, in Pennsylvania, due to cardiovascular issues. He was 83.
His death was announced by Herkul, a website that publishes Gulen’s sermons, on its X account.
“Dear Friends, Our teacher passed away on October 20, 2024, at 21:20 [US time] in the hospital where he had been receiving treatment for a while,” read a post on X from Herkul.
“His doctors will make a statement about the hospital process in the coming hours,” it added.
Minister of foreign affairs Hakan Fidan also confirmed the death of Gulen at a joint press conference with Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha in Ankara. “The leader of the dark organization is dead. Our state will continue to fight this organization, this death will not make us complacent,” he wrote on X.
Erdogan and the Turkish government accuse Gulen and his Hizmet movement of orchestrating the 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey, which resulted in over 240 deaths and 2,700 injuries.
Meanwhile, Gulen denied all the allegations and condemned the attempt “in the strongest terms.”
Ankara has deemed his movement a terrorist group, naming it the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETO).
Gulen had lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999. He was stripped of his Turkish nationality in 2017.
