Background on Gülen’s Influence and Fallout with Erdoğan:-
The Turkish cleric fatullah gulen has died aged 83 Anora accused him of orchestrating an aoup attempt in 2016 in which around 250 people were killed Glen always denied any involvement he was a former close Ally president RAB T erogan before a major falling out and had lived in the United States until 1999 the Turkish government has confirmed his death well .
Correspondent Julia Han in Istanbul Julia can you tell us more about the controversy surrounding feta gulen well Fula gulan was a Muslim cleric who first gained popularity here in turkey as a preacher in the 1960s and in the following decades he managed to set up an informal network of supporters that eventually gained extensive influence in many areas from education to business and media to the state institutions and his influence even extended Beyond turkey’s borders but what is very important and you already mentioned that gulan once used to be a very close Ally of Reb TB arogan and his Islamic conservative AK party when they Rose to power in the early 20s and during the first decade of adan’s rule but then later came the big Fallout and gulan turned into adan’s biggest foe particularly after the 2016 failed coup attempt here in Turkey.
Official Reactions to Gülen’s Death:-
When a group of Rogue soldiers tried to seize power and Ed Adan Adan blamed that c attempt on gulan who had already been living in the US for many years since 1999 and who always denied any involvement in that core attempt but for arogan for the Turkish government and for many people here in the country gulan ever since uh became an arch Arch Enemy a traitor um the organization the movement was systematically dismantled here in Turkey in the years following that coup attempt uh it was declared a terrorist organization turkey has always brought up that threat to National Security.
His Western allies in nato in particular so the news of Mr gulen’s death is of course causing quite some reactions here it’s big news in Turkey today well tell us more about those reactions what are people in Turkey saying about Glen’s death well on an official level we had the Turkish foreign minister hakan fidan confirming officially Mr gulen’s death let me quote him here he said the leader of this dark organization is dead him and also the Justice Minister here they wrote to continue fighting against this terrorist group uh as they call the gulan movement but then again it’s also making the headlines on Turkish media a state broadcaster tier .
Public Sentiment on Gülen’s Legacy:-
A traitor a terrorist who spend his entire life plotting against the Turkish Republic it’s not much different I should add on uh more critical media critical of the government more Independent Media but what they are doing is they are highlighting the closed ties president Edan once had with fatula gulan to show that Aran kind of helped him to get that powerful but overall.
I think many people here in the country see fatula gulan as a man who has done great harm to Turkish Dem ocracy so you would hardly see any kinds of public expressions of condolences or grief now president Edan blamed Gan as you mentioned for organizing.
Lasting Impact of the 2016 Coup Attempt:-
The 2016 coup attempt against his government now that coup and above all eran’s reaction to it have had far-reaching effects can you tell us briefly Julia what those effects have been well yeah you can still um uh see that Fallout impacting politics and Society here in the Crackdown after that failed Co attempt hundreds of schools companies media Outlets linked to gulan were ceased by the state or shut down tens of thousands of people were arrested some 150,000 state workers including teachers judges soldiers suspended from their jobs the government said they’re only going they were only going after gulan supporters and was a necessary move to protect National Security but critics human rights organizations for example say the government used those purges to go after after any kind of critics and opponents to silence descent and to cement a more authoritarian form of government for president Edan Julia thank you very much our correspondent Julia Han there in Istanbul.