FALCON POWERS – Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, who was accused by Turkish authorities of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016, has died in exile in the United States at the age of 83, according to his personal website.
The Gülen website, Herkul, which is banned in Turkey and publishes Gülen’s sermons, announced on its X platform account that “the Imam passed away on October 20.”
Turkish state television reported that the preacher, who had lived in Pennsylvania since 1999 and was stripped of his Turkish citizenship in 2017, died in a hospital in the United States.
Gülen was a former ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but they had a significant falling out in recent years. Erdoğan has blamed Gülen for the failed coup in 2016, during which “rogue” soldiers seized military aircraft, tanks, and helicopters, resulting in approximately 250 deaths in the attempt to seize power.
