

However, after the failed rebellion in Turkey, the most active Gülenists fled to different countries. Gülen’s compass has shifted direction: from Ankara to the heart of Central Asia

Washington couldn’t find a more attractive candidate than Gülen, who had been preparing the intellectual, economic and political elite for his country for decades. When Erdogan became unacceptable to the US administration, they tried to get rid of him the quickest way possible. In particular, US agencies helped him to organized the failed coup d’etat of 2016. To achieve his goals, Gülen began to use the help of external forces, especially US intelligence agencies. In addition, the aspirations of the preacher went far and beyond Turkey. Gülen did not want to share the fame with his political colleagues.

At that time, Gülen was among the confidants of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the incumbent head of government of the Republic of Turkey, but personal ambition seized him. These decisions were aimed at strengthening the country’s position in the region. The Gülenists (Gülen’s followers) began to justify individual decisions of the national government which had been unpopular among ordinary citizens of Turkey before. The young are the part society most prone to be attracted to something new and “revolutionary”, and these educational centers were equipped to take advantage of them with well-built systems of ideological and religious conditioning.Įverything seemed fine, but, after a while, the texts of Gülen’s sermons began to morph into the ideas of restoring the great Turkish empire. In the early 90s, Fethullah Gülen moved beyond popular Turkish mosques when he actively joined the process of creating a network of educational institutions for young people all over the world. Presenting his beliefs and utilizing propaganda methods became the key to Gülen’s success in attracting followers in more than 140 countries across the world. Ideas about freedom, justice, solidarity and the protection of human dignity were at the heart of the Gülen’s sermons Christians, Protestants, Buddhists and representatives of other religions can easily find something close to their beliefs in Gülen’s ideas. Some public figures in Western countries go so far as to call Gulen “one of the most important Muslim leaders in the world.” Over the past few decades, the ideas of Turkish preacher, writer and political figure Muhammed Fethullah Gülen have grown in popularity in Turkey, its neighboring countries, in the EU, the United States, and even the former USSR.įethullah Gülen, for a long time, was an independent preacher, but later he began to attract many like-minded people.
