US-Based Turkish Cleric Accused of Coup Attempt Dies, TRT Says

US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, an ally-turned-adversary of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has died, state broadcaster TRT Haber reported on Monday. He was 83 years old.

(Bloomberg) — US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, an ally-turned-adversary of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has died, state broadcaster TRT Haber reported on Monday. He was 83 years old.

Gulen was accused of masterminding a failed coup attempt against Erdogan in July 2016. He denied any involvement, but thousands of his Islamist movement’s members were purged in the aftermath. The government said the group had infiltrated the state and army, and declared it a terrorist organization.

Turkey failed to convince the US to extradite Gulen, who lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. The cleric’s death could, therefore, help ease strains between the NATO allies as they look to strengthen cooperation from defense to energy. Turkey still has extradition requests in place for other alleged members of the group and remains concerned about the group’s lingering presence within the Turkish state.

While Gulen’s movement was weakened following the government crackdown, the cleric remained a cult figure among his followers.

Erdogan and Gulen were political allies for years, and Gulen’s network was an indispensable part of Erdogan and his ruling AK Party’s rise to power in 2002. They collaborated to erode the influence of a staunchly secular establishment and the army.

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After their falling out, Gulenists turned their backs on Erdogan, leaking evidence of alleged corruption among the Turkish leader’s inner circle. That prompted the government to label Gulen’s movement a so-called parallel state and shutter media outlets and schools associated with the cleric.