Fethullah Gülen: Difference between revisions

'''Muhammed Fethullah Gülen''' (born 27 April 1941) is a Turkish [[Ulama|Muslim scholar]], preacher, and a one-time opinion leader, as ''de facto'' leader of the [[Gülen movement]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/turkeys-recep-tayyip-erdogan-turns-on-former-brother-in-arms-fethullah-gulen-1469058504|title=Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turns on Former Brother-in-Arms Fethullah Gulen|first=Emre|last=Peker|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=21 July 2016}}</ref><ref name="nytimes.com">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/05/world/europe/turkey-erdogan-fethullah-gulen.html|title=Turkey Issues a Warrant for Fethullah Gulen, Cleric Accused in Coup |first=Ceylan|last=Yeginsu|date=4 August 2016|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> who as of 2016 had millions of followers.<ref name="NYT-15-7-2016">{{cite news |title=More Coverage: Coup Attempt in Turkey |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/live/turkey-coup-erdogan/who-is/ |access-date=16 May 2024 |work=New York Times |date=15 July 2016}}</ref> Gülen is designated an influential [[Neo-Ottomanism|neo-Ottomanist]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/faq/fethullah-g%C3%BClen|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090655/https://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/faq/fethullah-g%C3%BClen|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 March 2019|title=Fethullah Gülen|website=rlp.hds.harvard.edu}}</ref> [[Anatolia]]n [[Panethnicity|panethnic]]ist,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yılmaz |first=İhsan |title=Beyond Post-Islamism: Transformation of Turkish Islamism Toward 'Civil Islam' and Its Potential Influence in the Muslim World |pages=260–261}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/01/18/turkey-islam-gulen-cx_0121oxford|title=Gulen Inspires Muslims Worldwide|first=Oxford|last=Analytica|website=Forbes}}{{dead link|date=January 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Islamic poet, [[writer]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.fgulen.com/gulens-works |title=Fethullah Gülen's Official Web Site – Gülen's Works |publisher=En.fgulen.com |access-date=24 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911020221/http://en.fgulen.com/gulens-works |archive-date=11 September 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[social critic]], and [[activist]]–[[dissident]] developing a [[Said Nursî|Nursian]] [[Islamic theology|theological perspective]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/world/middleeast/turkey-feels-sway-of-fethullah-gulen-a-reclusive-cleric.html|title=Turkey Feels Sway of Fethullah Gulen, a Reclusive Cleric|last1=Bilefsky|first1=Dan|date=24 April 2012|last2=Arsu|first2=Sebnem|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> that embraces democratic [[modernity]],<ref name="auto1" /> Gülen was a local state [[imam]] from 1959 to 1981,<ref>{{cite web |title=Progressive Islamic Thought, Civil Society and the Gülen Movement in the National Context: Parallels with Indonesia – Fethullah Gülen's Official Web Site |url=https://fgulen.com/en/gulen-movement/conference-papers/the-fethullah-gulen-movement-i/25569-progressive-islamic-thought-civil-society-and-the-gulen-movement-in-the-national-context-parallels-with-indonesia |website=fgulen.com}}</ref><ref name="Helen Rose Fuchs Ebaugh p 26">Helen Rose Fuchs Ebaugh, ''The Gülen Movement: A Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam'', p 26. {{ISBN|1402098944}}</ref> and he was a citizen of Turkey until his [[denaturalization]] by the Turkish government in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.turkishminute.com/2017/06/05/turkey-to-revoke-citizenship-of-130-abroad-including-gulen-hdp-deputies/|title=Turkey to revoke citizenship of 130 abroad including Gülen, HDP deputies – Turkish Minute|last=TM|date=5 June 2017 }}</ref> Over the years, Gülen became a [[Centrism|centrist political figure]] in Turkey prior to his being there as a [[fugitive]]. Since 1999, Gülen has lived in self-exile in the United States near [[Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poconorecord.com/photogallery/PR/20100416/PHOTOS1013/416009999/PH/1|title=Photos: Muslim retreat center in Saylorsburg|website=[[Pocono Record]]|access-date=17 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-turkey-gulen-20140120-story.html|title=From his Pa. compound, Fethullah Gulen shakes up Turkey|date=20 January 2014|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/fethullah-gulens-pennsylvania-home-2013-12|title=Fethullah Gulen's Pennsylvania Home |author=Adam Taylor|date=18 December 2013|work=[[Business Insider]]}}</ref>

In 2003, a number of Gülen movement participants allied with [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]]'s right wing [[Justice and Development Party (Turkey)|Justice and Development Party]] (AKP), providing the AKP political and sorely-needed administrative support.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://carnegieendowment.org/2013/10/24/turkey-s-g-len-movement-between-social-activism-and-politics-pub-53397|title=Turkey's Gülen Movement: Between Social Activism and Politics|first1=Bayram|last1=Balci|website=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace}}</ref><ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11397876/A-parallel-state-within-Turkey-How-the-countrys-democracy-came-under-attack-from-two-mens-rivalry.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11397876/A-parallel-state-within-Turkey-How-the-countrys-democracy-came-under-attack-from-two-mens-rivalry.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=A parallel state within Turkey? How the country's democracy came under attack from two men's rivalry|first=Raziye|last=Akkoc|date=24 February 2015|via=telegraph.co.uk}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite news|last=Birnbaum |first=Michael |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/erdogan-offers-concessions-to-turkeys-protesters/2013/06/14/9a87fff6-d4bf-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html |title=In Turkey protests, splits in Erdogan's base |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=14 June 2013 |access-date=21 September 2017}}</ref> This political alliance worked together to weaken left-of-center [[Kemalism|Kemalist factions]], but fractured in 2011. Turkish prosecutors accuse Gülen of attempts to overthrow the government by allegedly directing politically motivated corruption investigations by Gülen-linked investigators then in the judiciary,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fpri.org/article/2016/09/damaging-democracy-u-s-fethullah-gulen-turkeys-upheaval/|title=Damaging Democracy: The U.S., Fethullah Gülen, and Turkey's Upheaval – Foreign Policy Research Institute|website=fpri.org/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = The Gulen movement: a self-exiled imam challenges Turkey's Erdoğan | url = http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/1229/The-Gulen-movement-a-self-exiled-imam-challenges-Turkey-s-Erdogan | newspaper = [[The Christian Science Monitor]] | date = 29 December 2013 | access-date = 31 December 2013}}</ref> who illegally wiretapped the executive office of the [[Turkish president]],<ref name="nytimes.com"/> and Gülen's alleged instigations of the [[2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt|2016 coup attempt]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://ahvalnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/ahvalnews.com/fetullah-gulen/cia-collaborated-gulen-lobbyist?amp|title=CIA collaborated with Gülen – Lobbyist|website=Ahval|date=16 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="alarabiya.net">{{cite web|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2019/02/28/Fethullah-Gulen-Erdogan-has-destroyed-the-Turkish-democracy.html|title=Fethullah Gulen: Erdogan has destroyed Turkish democracy|website=english.alarabiya.net|date=28 February 2019}}</ref> Gülen has denied the accusations.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-25885817|title=Fethullah Gulen: Powerful but reclusive Turkish cleric|first=Tim|last=Franks|date=27 January 2014|publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/07/11/536011222/cleric-accused-of-plotting-turkish-coup-attempt-i-have-stood-against-all-coups|title=Cleric Accused of Plotting Turkish Coup Attempt: 'I Have Stood Against All Coups'|website=NPR.org}}</ref>

A Turkish criminal court has issued an arrest warrant for Gülen in 2016,<ref>{{cite web|title = Istanbul court issues new arrest warrant for Gulen|url = http://aa.com.tr/en/turkey/istanbul-court-issues-new-arrest-warrant-for-gulen/407559|website = Anadolu Agency|access-date = 29 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = Turkish Court accepts prosecutors request of arrest warrant for Fethullah Gülen|url = http://www.dailysabah.com/investigations/2014/12/19/the-court-issues-an-arrest-warrant-for-fethullah-gulen|work=DailySabah|date = 19 December 2014|access-date=29 January 2016}}</ref> and Turkey is demanding his extradition from the United States.<ref name="trtworld.com">{{cite web |title=Gulen faces life in prison on coup attempt charges |url=http://www.trtworld.com/turkey/gulen-faces-life-in-prison-on-coup-attempt-charges-8742 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203235245/http://www.trtworld.com/turkey/gulen-faces-life-in-prison-on-coup-attempt-charges-8742 |archive-date=3 February 2016 |access-date=29 January 2016 |website=TRT World |language=tr-TR}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = Turkey to demand extradition of Fethullah Gulen from US|url = http://www.trtworld.com/turkey/turkey-to-demand-extradition-of-fethullah-gulen-from-us-27389|work = TRT World|access-date = 29 January 2016|language = tr-TR|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160203232053/http://www.trtworld.com/turkey/turkey-to-demand-extradition-of-fethullah-gulen-from-us-27389|archive-date = 3 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Turkish prosecutors seek life sentence for Fetullah Gulen|url = http://aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkish-prosecutors-seek-life-sentence-for-fetullah-gulen/396307|work=Anadolu Agency|access-date=29 January 2016}}</ref> U.S. government officials do not believe he is associated with any [[Terrorism|terrorist activity]], and have requested evidence to be provided by the Turkish government to substantiate the allegations in the warrant requesting extradition, frequently rejecting Turkish calls for his extradition.<ref name="aktif">{{cite web|url=http://www.aktifhaber.com/prof-dr-henri-barkeyden-gulen-hareketi-ile-ilgili-carpici-aciklama-1316990h.htm|title=Prof. Dr. Henri Barkey: Nobody in Wash, DC believes that Gulen is terrorist|work=aktif haber|date=9 March 2016|access-date=10 March 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310102045/http://www.aktifhaber.com/prof-dr-henri-barkeyden-gulen-hareketi-ile-ilgili-carpici-aciklama-1316990h.htm|archive-date=10 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://medyascope.tv/2016/03/09/henri-barkey-ile-soylesi-washington-gulen-cemaatine-nasil-bakiyor/|title=How does Washington view Gulen group|work=medyascope.tv|date=9 March 2016|access-date=10 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trtworld.com/in-depth/turkey-challenged-by-terror-in-2015-17588|title=Turkey challenged by terror in 2015|work=TRT World|language=tr-TR|access-date=7 April 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310112222/http://www.trtworld.com/in-depth/turkey-challenged-by-terror-in-2015-17588|archive-date=10 March 2016}}</ref>