Fethullah Gulen, exiled Turkish cleric, dies at 83

President Erdogan's long-time foe was accused of orchestrating a deadly coup in 2016

US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, US, on July 29, 2016. Reuters

The Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center in rural Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. The private compound is where Mr Gulen, an influential Islamist cleric, lived for more than a decade. Reuters

Supporters of the Gulen movement participate in a protest outside the Kanalturk and Bugun TV building in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 28, 2015. Reuters

Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hold an effigy of Mr Gulen during a pro-government demonstration on Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 18, 2016. Reuters

Supporters of the Gulen movement protest outside Zaman newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey, on 4 March 2016. EPA

A police vehicle in front of Istanbul court, Turkey, on 20 July 2016. Mr Gulen was accused by Mr Erdogan of allegedly orchestrating the 15 July failed coup attempt. EPA

People hold a plane model with attached toy, depicting Mr Gulen, during the Democracy and Martyrs Rally, in Istanbul, Turkey, on August 7, 2016. Reuters

Then US Vice President Joe Biden, centre, visits a destroyed part of the Turkish Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, on 24 August 2016. EPA

Turkish police escort suspects of the Gulen movement during nationwide operations, in Kayseri city, Turkey, on 26 April 2017. EPA

Mr Gulen at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania on December 28, 2004. Reuters

Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish cleric accused of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016, has died aged 83.

Mr Gulen died in hospital on Sunday and had been receiving medical treatment for some time, the Gulen movement said on social media on Monday.

The cleric was accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of organising a failed coup that led to the deaths of at least 265 people, with about 2,200 injured. Mr Gulen, who had lived in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999, denied any involvement.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan later confirmed the death of Mr Gulen, describing him as the leader of a "dark organisation".

"Our nation's determination in the fight against terrorism will continue, and this news of his death will never lead us to complacency," Mr Fidan told reporters in Ankara.

Mr Erdogan has for years accused Mr Gulen's supporters of establishing a "parallel state" by infiltrating state institutions including the police and judiciary. Turkey has since 2016 arrested more than 80,000 people suspected of having links to the Gulen movement, proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, and has dismissed about 150,000 military personnel and public servants over alleged ties to the cleric.

Justice Minister Yimaz Tunc said Mr Gulen's death would not affect Turkey's fight against the movement, which the government calls the "Fethullah Terrorist Organisation", or FETO.

"The legal procedures carried out against the members of FETO will not be affected by the death in question, and the trials carried out against the leaders and members of the organisation and international judicial mechanisms will be followed with the same determination," he wrote on X.

Turkey had long sought Mr Gulen's extradition from the US. In 2021, his nephew, Selahaddin, was kidnapped from Kenya and brought back to Turkey by intelligence agents, his family said.

Turkish state news agency Anadolu, quoting security sources, said he was brought back to Turkey by agents from the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT).