7 hours agoWho is Fettullah Gulen, how had he turned from friend to Erdogan's greatest enemy?
Periskopi(8 years ago)
(8 years ago)Muhammad Fetullah Gulen Hocaefendi, also known “the respected teacher”, was born on April 27, 2941, a preacher, former imam, writer and political figure. He is the founder of the Gulenist movement, which extends its interests to economic banks, media, construction companies, schools and especially to primary and secondary school networks [...]
He is the founder of the Gulenist movement, which extends its interests to economic banks, media, construction companies, schools and especially to the primary and secondary school network in Turkey.
Gulen currently lives in the United States, with a residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. He has been charged by the Turkish government in including a coup attempt in 2016 in Turkey, writes Periscopi.
Gulen is actively involved in social debates about the future of Turkey's state, and Islam in the modern world.
Gulen's movement has been characterised as a civil society group promoting religious education, tolerance and social networking.
Gulen had had had a close co-operation with Turkey's current President, Reccep Tayip Erdogan.
Their alliance was destroyed in 2013, following a corruption probe in Turkey. Erdogan had accused Gulen of involvement in the corruption investigation.
Currently, the Turkish government has placed it on the blacklist of crimes and is the most wanted.
The Court of Criminal Affairs has issued an arrest warrant for him. Turkey has asked the US several times for its extradition, but general American figures do not believe it has exercised terrorist activity.
Gulen is described as a voracious preacher.
From 1988 to 1991, he trained the preacher in Turkish mosques. In 1994, he had been the founder of “Gasers and Writers' Foundation”, where he was honoured with the president's highest title.
In 1999 he had gone to the United States to receive medical treatment.
Following several statements on transforming the Turkish political system, he was arrested in 2000, where he was tried in absentia and released in 2008 under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's new Justice and Development Party government (AKP).
The 2013 corruption scandal in Turkey, which included a series of mainly close Erdogan associates, created suspicions that Gulen is behind these investigations.
From this moment on, Gulen and Erdogan fuelled hostility towards each other for years where their clashes still continue on various issues surrounding Turkey's domestic and foreign policy. /Periscopi/
