Family, friends and followers of Fethullah G眉len are gathering Thursday to pay respects to the influential Turkish spiritual leader and Islamic scholar who in self-exile in the United States.
G眉len, who inspired a global social movement while facing unproven allegations that he orchestrated a against Turkey's president, died Sunday at a Pennsylvania hospital. He was in his 80s.
A funeral prayer service was scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Sussex County, New Jersey. The Alliance for Shared Values, a New York-based group that promotes G眉len鈥檚 work in the U.S., said thousands of mourners were expected to attend.
After the service, G眉len is to be buried in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, on the grounds of the Chestnut Retreat Center, a sprawling, gated compound in the Pocono Mountains where he lived and worked for a quarter-century. A much smaller circle of family and close friends was expected at the burial.
鈥淭his is a solemn time of mourning, reflection, and prayer,鈥� the group said in a statement. 鈥淢r. G眉len鈥檚 legacy transcends the circumstances of his life. He stands as a remarkable religious and intellectual thinker whose impact will be felt for generations.鈥�
G眉len had long been one of Turkey鈥檚 most important scholars, with millions of followers in his native country and around the world. He had lived in the United States since 1999, when he came to seek medical treatment.
His philosophy blended Sufism 鈥� a mystical form of Islam 鈥� with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. His acolytes built a loosely affiliated global network of charitable foundations, professional associations, businesses and schools in more than 100 countries, including 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the United States.
The religious leader began as an ally of but became a foe. He called Erdogan an authoritarian bent on accumulating power and crushing dissent. Erdogan cast G眉len as a terrorist, accusing him of masterminding the attempted coup on July 15, 2016, when factions within the military used tanks, warplanes and helicopters to try to overthrow the government.
A total of 251 people were killed and around 2,200 others were wounded. Around 35 alleged coup plotters were killed.
Shortly after the coup attempt, the normally reclusive cleric summoned reporters to his living quarters at the Pennsylvania compound to in its planning. He said he wouldn鈥檛 have returned to Turkey even if the coup had succeeded, fearing he would be 鈥減ersecuted and harassed.鈥�
鈥淭his is a tranquil and clean place and I enjoy and I live my freedom here,鈥� G眉len said of the secluded Islamic retreat, founded by Turkish Americans, that he adopted as his home and where he would be buried eight years later. 鈥淟onging for my homeland burns in my heart, but freedom is also equally important.鈥�
In Turkey, G眉len鈥檚 movement 鈥� sometimes known as Hizmet, Turkish for 鈥渟ervice鈥� 鈥� has been . The government arrested tens of thousands of people for their alleged link to the coup plot, sacked more than 130,000 suspected supporters from civil service jobs and more than 23,000 from the military, and closed hundreds of businesses, schools and media organizations tied to G眉len.
The Turkish government reacted to his death this week by on the G眉lenist movement. Erdogan said G眉len had suffered a 鈥渄ishonorable death鈥� and likened him to a 鈥渄emon in human form.鈥� He pledged the movement would be 鈥渃ompletely eliminated.鈥�
Gulen was never charged with a crime in the U.S., and the U.S. government had rejected Turkey鈥檚 demands to extradite him. The cleric consistently denounced terrorism as well as the coup plotters.
Michael Rubinkam, The Associated Press
