U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, a former ally of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, eluded the clutches of the Turkish president for years, who accused him of masterminding a failed coup attempt in 2016.

After nearly 25 years outside Turkey, Gülen died in hospital overnight, Turkish public television reported, citing groups close to the 83-year-old preacher.

The head of the influential Hizmet group became the president’s archenemy.

Erdogan’s government accused him of heading a “terrorist” organization and of organizing the attempted overthrow of the president in 2016.

However, Gulen insisted that Hizmet – Turkish for “service” – was merely a network of nonprofit organizations and companies.

The pair were once allies.

Erdogan benefited from Gülen’s network to consolidate his power after becoming prime minister in 2003 in the face of an entrenched secular establishment.

– From ally to arch enemy –

But tensions erupted in 2010, leading to all-out hostility three years later when a corruption scandal rocked Erdogan’s inner circle.

Erdogan accused Gülen of orchestrating the corruption investigation through his network of supporters in the judiciary and police, making him “public enemy number one.”

Since then, Erdogan has accused the influential cleric – whose movement, with its extensive network of public schools, has a presence on every continent – of running a parallel state aimed at toppling him.

The president’s hatred intensified after the botched July 2016 coup, which he said was orchestrated by his former ally.

Immediately afterwards, the authorities began a crackdown on the preacher’s followers, the so-called “Gülenists”.

Authorities said nearly 700,000 people were prosecuted and about 3,000 were sentenced to life in prison for their role in the coup.

During the unprecedented purge, more than 125,000 public workers were fired or suspended, including about 24,000 military personnel and thousands of judges.

Authorities have closed private schools, media companies and publishing houses.

Turkish intelligence services also conducted several foreign raids in countries in Central Asia, Africa and the Balkans to catch Gülen’s suspected supporters.

– From Anonymity to Spiritual Guide –

Gülen was born in the eastern Turkish province of Erzurum. Public records say it was 1941, but Gülen said he was born in 1938.

Although Gülen was “just another imam in the 1970s,” he quickly became “the spiritual leader of a vast community with millions of supporters,” wrote researcher Bayram Balci.

Supporters are “present in all sectors of the economy, in education, in the media and also in administration,” said Balci, a researcher at the Paris Institute for Political Studies (Sciences-Po), in a 2021 study.

“With a penchant for secrecy and influence and even manipulation and intimidation… Gülen’s movement is very similar to various Catholic movements such as the Jesuits, Opus Dei and others, from which it was clearly inspired,” he said.

Turkish officials refer to Gülen’s movement as the “terrorist organization FETO.”

It has sometimes been described as a “cult” whose members are known to help each other in business and are expected to contribute their time or money, whether they are students, housewives or wealthy businessmen.

Gülen moved to the US state of Pennsylvania in 1999 for alleged health reasons.

Despite repeated attempts by Türkiye to extradite him, Gülen led a reclusive life in exile on the edge of the Poconos, a picturesque mountain and forest region in Pennsylvania.

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