{{Short description|International Islamist fraternal movement}} {{protection padlock|small=yes}} {{Lead too long|date=January 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox organization | name = Gülen movement | full_name = | native_name = Gülen hareketi | native_name_lang = TR | image = | image_alt = | caption = | map = | map_alt = | map_caption = | abbreviation = | nickname = * ''Gülenciler'' ("Gülenists") * ''Hizmet'' ("Ministry") * ''Cemaat'' ("Community") | named_after = | predecessor = | merged_into = | successor = | formation = | founder = Fethullah Gülen | founding_location = İzmir, Turkey | dissolved = | merger = | type = | tax_id = | registration_id = | status = | purpose = Education, interfaith dialogue, humanitarianism<ref name="Barton2013"> Barton, Greg (2013). ''The Muslim World and Politics in Transition: Creative Contributions of the Gülen Movement''. London: Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 15–35.</ref><ref name="Ergil2010"> Ergil, Doğu (2010). ''Fethullah Gülen and His Movement in 100 Questions''. New Jersey: Blue Dome Press. pp. 25–41, 63–78. </ref><ref name="Ebaugh2011"> Ebaugh, Helen Rose. "The Gülen Movement: A Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam." In: ''Religion, Mobilization, and Social Action''. New York: Springer. pp. 83–100. </ref><ref name="Fuller2008"> Fuller, Graham E. (2008). ''The New Turkish Republic: Turkey as a Pivotal State in the Muslim World''. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press. pp. 60–64, 68–73. </ref> | headquarters = 1969–1999 İzmir, Turkey<br>1999–present Saylorsburg, United States | coordinates = | origins = Turkey | region_served = Worldwide | products = | services = | methods = | fields = Education, banking, media, healthcare<ref>[https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/country-information/rir/Pages/index.aspx?doc=457985 Responses to Information Requests], Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (6 January 2020)</ref> | membership = Several hundred thousand to a couple of million | num_members_year = | language = Turkish | owner = | secretary_general = | leader_title = | leader_name = Fethullah Gülen (1969–2024) | leader_title2 = | leader_name2 = | remarks = | former_name = | footnotes = }}
The '''Gülen movement''' or '''Hizmet movement''' ({{langx|tr|Gülen hareketi}}) is an international social, educational and Islamic fraternal movement founded by Fethullah Gülen in Turkey in the late 1970s and based in the U.S. since 1999.<ref name=":7"/><ref name="Ebaugh 2010 29" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Barton |first=Greg |title=The Muslim world and politics in transition: creative contributions of the Gülen movement |date=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4411-5873-4 |editor-last=Barton |editor-first=Greg |location=London; New York |pages=3–20 |editor-last2=Weller |editor-first2=Paul |editor-last3=Yilmaz |editor-first3=Ihsan}}</ref> It is institutionalised in 180 countries through educational institutions, universities as well as media outlets, interfaith dialogue organisations, charities, finance companies, health clinics that have a combined net worth in the range of 20–50 billion dollars as of 2015.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/world/middleeast/turkey-feels-sway-of-fethullah-gulen-a-reclusive-cleric.html|title=Turkey Feels Sway of Fethullah Gulen, a Reclusive Cleric|last1=Bilefsky|first1=Dan|date=24 April 2012|last2=Arsu|first2=Sebnem|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Country Policy and Information Note Turkey:Gülenism|url=https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/58e798354.pdf |publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/09/world/europe/turkey-journalists-prison-terrorism.html|title=Turkey Sentences 24 Journalists to Prison, Claiming Terrorism Ties|work=The New York Times|date=2018-03-09|access-date=2018-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://ahvalnews.com/gulen-movement/over-half-million-suspected-gulenists-investigated-coup|title=Over half a million suspected Gülenists investigated since coup | Ahval |newspaper=Ahval |publisher=Ahvalnews.com |date=2018-03-16 |access-date=2018-03-26}}</ref><ref name="Rapoza">{{cite web|first=Kenneth|last=Rapoza |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2015/12/20/in-sunni-cult-fight-turkey-guns-for-americas-richest-and-most-politically-connected-cleric/#438192fb4f93 |title=In Sunni 'Cult' Fight, Turkey Guns For America's Richest And Most Politically Connected Cleric |work=Forbes|date=December 20, 2015|access-date=March 26, 2018}}</ref><ref name="ABC">{{cite web |url= http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/encounter/turkey-gallipoli-gulen-capitalism/4853162#transcript|title= The Turkish exception: Gallipoli, Gülen, and capitalism|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= 31 August 2013|website= Australia's ABC|publisher= Radio National|access-date=3 September 2013}}</ref><ref name="jbwhite">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wJ8S_wG06MEC|title=Islamist Mobilization in Turkey: A Study in Vernacular Politics|first=Jenny Barbara|last=White|date=1 January 2002|publisher=University of Washington Press|via=Google Books|isbn=9780295982236}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=October 2024}}
Its followers are mostly Sunni Muslims based on a Nursian theological perspective as reflected in Gülen's religious teachings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-07|title=The Death Of A Muslim Cleric Again Raises Questions About Erdogan's Rule|url=https://religionunplugged.com/news/2024/11/4/gulen-how-the-death-of-a-turkish-cleric-raises-questions-about-his-movement-and-erdogans-rule|access-date=2025-11-27|website=Religion Unplugged|language=en-US}}</ref> Its teachings are considered conservative in Turkey but some have praised the movement as a pacifist, modern-oriented version of Islam, and an alternative to more extreme schools of Islam such as Salafism.<ref>{{cite news |date=18 May 2013 |title=The Gulenists fight back |url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21578113-muslim-cleric-america-wields-surprising-political-power-turkey-gulenists-fight-back |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> On the other hand, it has also been reported to have a "cultish hierarchy" and as being a secretive Islamic sect.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 July 2016 |title=Most Turks believe a secretive Muslim sect was behind the failed coup |url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21703186-president-erdogan-blames-gulenists-putsch-and-has-launched-massive-purges-most-turks |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=8 August 2012 |title=Altruistic Society or Sect? The Shadowy World of the Islamic Gülen Movement |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/guelen-movement-accused-of-being-a-sect-a-848763.html |newspaper=Spiegel Online}}</ref><ref name="NYT-23-7-16">{{cite news |last1=Akyol |first1=Mustafa |date=July 22, 2016 |title=Who Was Behind the Coup Attempt in Turkey? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/opinion/who-was-behind-the-coup-attempt-in-turkey.html? |access-date=23 July 2016 |work=The New York Times |agency=The New York Times}}</ref>
The movement's legal and political status underwent significant transformation beginning in May 2016, when Turkish state authorities declared it as a terrorist organisation. This designation was adopted by select strategically aligned states, namely Pakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council.<ref name="auto1">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-gulen/turkey-officially-designates-gulen-religious-group-as-terrorists-idUSKCN0YM167 |title=Turkey officially designates Gulen religious group as terrorists |access-date=31 May 2016|newspaper=Reuters |date=31 May 2016 |via=www.reuters.com}}</ref><ref name="auto3" /><ref name="auto4" /> However, the Gülen movement is not recognised as a terrorist organisation by democratic supranational organisations like the European Union<ref name="webarchive">[https://web.archive.org/web/20171130065542/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-turkey-security/eu-says-needs-concrete-evidence-from-turkey-to-deem-gulen-network-as-terrorist-idUKKBN1DU0DV EU says needs concrete evidence from Turkey to deem Gulen network as terrorist], Tulay Karadeniz, Tuvan Gumrukcu, November 30th 2017, Reuters</ref> and countries like the United States,<ref>{{cite news |title=US: We See Neither Gülen Movement nor YPG as Terror Organization |url=http://bianet.org/english/world/175425-us-we-see-neither-gulen-movement-nor-ypg-as-terror-organization |access-date=14 December 2016 |work=Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi}}</ref> the United Kingdom,<ref name="UKparliament">[https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/foreign-affairs-committee/news-parliament-2015/uk-relations-with-turkey-report-published-16-17/ Repression or recovery? UK's relations with Turkey], Parliament.uk, 25 March 2017</ref> Canada, Australia and New Zealand due to lack of credible evidence. These countries continue to accept refugee claims from its followers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |first=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |date= |title=Responses to Information Requests |url=https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/country-information/rir/Pages/index.aspx?doc=457985 |website=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada}}</ref>
Following the 2016 coup attempt, President Erdoğan immediately blamed the Gülen movement,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Malsin/Istanbul|first=Jared|title=How Erdogan United Turkey Against Fethullah Gulen|url=https://time.com/4427190/turkey-coup-fethullah-gulen-purge/|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250918154553/https://time.com/4427190/turkey-coup-fethullah-gulen-purge/|archive-date=2025-09-18|access-date=2025-11-22|work=TIME|language=en}}</ref> labeling the event a "gift from God" to justify a state purge.<ref name="Turkey's Reichstag Fire">{{Cite news |title=Turkey's Reichstag Fire|url=https://www.aei.org/op-eds/turkeys-reichstag-fire/|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241204171430/https://www.aei.org/op-eds/turkeys-reichstag-fire/|archive-date=2024-12-04|access-date=2025-11-22|work=American Enterprise Institute - AEI|language=en-US}}</ref> This resulted in the immediate arrest of thousands of soldiers and judges, the dismissal of 150,000 government employees, and the suspension or license revocation of over 20,000 educators allegedly linked to the movement.<ref>{{cite news |date=16 July 2016|title=Turkey: Mass arrests after coup bid quashed, says PM – BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36813924|access-date=16 July 2016|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first1=Sheena|last1=McKenzie|first2=Ray|last2=Sanchez|title=Turkey coup attempt: Erdogan rounds up suspected plotters|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/17/asia/turkey-attempted-coup/index.html|work=CNN}}</ref>
Eight days after the coup attempt on July 23, 2016, the Turkish government had shut down 1,043 private schools, 1,229 charities, 19 trade unions, 15 universities, and 35 medical institutions allegedly linked to the Gülen movement, seizing properties valued at $12 billion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |title=Responses to Information Requests |url=https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/country-information/rir/Pages/index.aspx?doc=457985 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250320002819/https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/country-information/rir/Pages/index.aspx?doc=457985 |archive-date=2025-03-20 |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=www.irb-cisr.gc.ca |language=en}}</ref> Nearly 3,000,000 citizens of Turkey were investigated for terrorism between 2016 and 2024,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-11-21 |title=Her 6 kişiden sadece 1’i suçlu bulundu: 2016-2024 arasında 3 milyon kişiye 'terörist' suçlaması yapıldı |url=https://aktifhaber.com/genel/her-6-kisiden-sadece-1i-suclu-bulundu-2016-2024-arasinda-3-milyon-kisiye-terorist-suclamasi-yapildi.html |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=Aktifhaber |language=en-US}}</ref> and 511,000 were arrested for alleged links to the Gülen movement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=SCF |date=2022-12-13 |title=More than 2 million terrorism investigations launched in Turkey following failed coup: official data |url=https://stockholmcf.org/more-than-2-million-terrorism-investigations-launched-in-turkey-following-failed-coup-official-data/ |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Stockholm Center for Freedom |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Die Gülen-Bewegung im Exil: Wiederbelebung in der Diaspora |url=https://www.giga-hamburg.de/de/publikationen/giga-focus/die-guelen-bewegung-im-exil-wiederbelebung-in-der-diaspora |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=www.giga-hamburg.de |language=de-DE}}</ref> According to the historian Michael Rubin, the coup attempt was staged to serve Erdoğan's interests, "to allow a dictator to consolidate power".<ref name="Turkey's Reichstag Fire" />
Gülen condemned the coup, denied involvement, and called for an international commission to investigate the failed coup, saying he would accept its findings if found guilty.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-09-23 |title=Turkish cleric calls for international body to examine coup charges |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/turkish-cleric-calls-for-international-body-to-examine-coup-charges-idUSKCN11T2C4/ |access-date=2025-10-04 |work=Reuters |language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Membership == thumb|Enes Kanter Freedom openly expressed his support for the Gülen movement A true count of the membership is unknown since the movement is not a centralised or formal organisation with membership rosters, but rather a set of numerous, loosely organised networks of people inspired by Gülen.<ref name=":4">Helen Rose Ebaugh, ''The Gülen Movement: A Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam'' (Springer, 2009), p. 46.</ref> Estimates of the size of the movement vary, with one estimate by ''Tempo'' in 1997 stating that between 200,000 supporters and 4 million people are influenced by Gülen's ideas,<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Bulent|last1=Aras|first2=Omer|last2=Caha|url=http://www.rubincenter.org/2000/12/aras-and-caha-2000-12-04/|title=Fethullah Gulen and his Liberal "Turkish Islam" Movement|journal=Middle East Review of International Affairs|volume=4|issue=4|date=December 2000}}</ref> and another source stating that Gülen has "hundreds of thousands of supporters".<ref name="guardian">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,4057646,00.html | work=The Guardian| title=Turkey accuses popular Islamist of plot against state | date=1 September 2000 | access-date=4 May 2010 | first=Chris | last=Morris}}</ref> The membership of the movement consists primarily of students, teachers, businessmen, academics, journalists and other professionals.<ref name="jbwhite" /> Some well known people who are or were affiliated with the movement include former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom and soccer star Hakan Şükür.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-10-11 |title=Enes Kanter Contains Multitudes |url=https://www.theringer.com/2018/10/11/nba/enes-kanter-new-york-knicks-turkey |access-date=2025-09-07 |website=www.theringer.com |language=en}}</ref>
== Organisation == The movement states that it is based on moral values and advocacy of universal access to education, civil society, tolerance and peace. The emphasis among participants is to perform "ministry" (which is the meaning of the Turkish word "hizmet") as arising from individuals' personal commitments to righteous imperatives. Along with ''hizmet'', the movement, which has no official name, is termed the Gülen movement or ''cemaat'' (the latter also used to describe participants in Sufi orders, meaning "congregation," "community," or "assembly.")
The movement's structure has been described as a flexible organisational network.<ref>[http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-216/i.html Portrait of Fethullah Gülen, A Modern Turkish-Islamic Reformist]</ref>
=== Lay clergy (Imam-Mullah-Shaykh) === Akin to Turkey's Sufi tariqas are lay religious orders which have been banned in Turkey since 1925.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/faq/sufism-turkey |title=Sufism in Turkey | Religious Literacy Project |publisher=Rlp.hds.harvard.edu |access-date=2018-04-11}}</ref> Movement schools and businesses organize locally and link themselves into informal networks.<ref name="Islam in Kazakhstan">{{cite web|url=http://www.amerasianworld.com/islam_in_kazakhstan.php|title=Islam in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (The Nurcu Movement and the Hizb ut Tahrir)|first=Kevin Jr.|last=Miller|access-date=12 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213015820/http://www.amerasianworld.com/islam_in_kazakhstan.php|archive-date=13 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Each local Gülen movement school and community has a person designated its "informal" prayer leader (imam). In Turkey, an imam is state-sponsored. In the Gülen movement, this individual is a layman who serves for a stint within this volunteer position, lay clergy.{{citation needed|date=September 2025}} His identity is kept confidential, generally only purposely made known to those with close connections to those participating in decision-making and coordinating councils within the local group. Above a grouping of such "secret" (not-publicly acknowledged) imams is another such volunteer leader.{{citation needed|date=September 2025}} This relationship tree continues on up the ladder to the nation-level imam and to individuals who consult with Gülen himself.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://ahvalnews.com/gulenists/gulen-community-service-feto |title=The 'ally' to 'enemy # 1': Gülen Movement (1) | Ahval |newspaper=Ahval |date=11 April 2018 |publisher=Ahvalnews.com |access-date=2018-04-11|last1=Arakon |first1=Maya }}</ref> These individuals closest to Gülen, having degrees from theology schools, are offhandedly referred to within the movement as ''mullahs''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://ahvalnews.com/gulen-movement/intellectual-crisis-gulen-movement|title=The Intellectual Crisis of the Gülen Movement | Ahval|newspaper=Ahval|date=18 May 2018|last1=Bacık|first1=Gökhan}}</ref> Gülen's position, as described in the foregoing, is analogous to that of a shaykh (master) of a Sufi tariqa. Unlike with traditional tariqas, no-one makes pledges of any sort, upon joining the Gülen movement; one becomes a movement participant simply by working with others to promote and effect the movement's objectives of education and service.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fgulen.com/en/home/1310-fgulen-com-english/fethullah-gulen-life/about-fethullah-gulen-and-gulen-movement/31760-is-the-gulen-movement-a-sufi-tariqa|title=Is the Gülen Movement a Sufi tariqa? - Fethullah Gülen's Official Web Site|first=Fethullah|last=Gülen|website=fgulen.com}}</ref>
The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' quoted a German lawyer that called the organisation "more powerful than the Illuminati" and "not transparent as opposed to the claims", and reported that the organisation tried to reorganise in the Swabia region of Germany.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zeitung |first1=Süddeutsche |title=Augsburg: Das Gülen-Netzwerk weitet sich aus |trans-title=Augsburg: The Gülen network is expanding |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/guelen-netzwerk-augsburg-tuerkei-islamismus-1.5181444 |access-date=24 January 2021 |work=Süddeutsche.de |language=de}}</ref>
Gülen died in Pennsylvania in Ocotober 2024 after previously being treated in a hospital. The New York–based Alliance for Shared Values, a nonprofit linked to the Gülen movement, stated that Gülen had not been actively involved in the movement in recent years and that his work would be carried forward by a group of close associates who had advised him for decades.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rubinkam |first=-Michael |last2=Rubinkam |first2=Associated Press Michael |last3=Press |first3=Associated |date=2024-10-21 |title=Fethullah Gülen, Turkish spiritual leader who self-exiled in the U.S., has died |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/fethullah-gulen-turkish-spiritual-leader-who-self-exiled-in-the-u-s-has-died |access-date=2026-05-31 |website=PBS News |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name=":8" />
== Associated organisations == Gülen and the Gülen movement are technology-friendly, work within current market and commerce structures, and are savvy users of modern communications and public relations.<ref name="prospect">{{cite magazine|first=Ehsan|last=Masood|url=http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/features/amodernottoman|title=A modern Ottoman|magazine=Prospect|issue=148|date=July 2008|access-date=21 July 2016|archive-date=2 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802154107/http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/features/amodernottoman|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Its members have founded schools, universities, hospitals, an employers' association, charities, real estate trusts, student organisations, radio and television stations, and newspapers.<ref name="guardian" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ufheil-Somers |first=Amanda |date=2011-08-19 |title=Media Wars and the Gulen Factor in the New Turkey |url=https://merip.org/2011/08/media-wars-and-the-gulen-factor-in-the-new-turkey/ |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=MERIP |language=en-US}}</ref>
''Hizmet''-affiliated foundations and businesses were estimated to be worth 20-50 billion dollars in 2015.<ref name="Rapoza" />
===Schools=== {{Main|Gülen movement schools}} [[File:Gokhan-acikkollu-with-students-at-classroom.jpg|thumb|Gökhan Açıkkollu, a teacher from a Gülen-affiliated school died in police custody after being imprisoned and tortured for 13 days post 2016 coup attempt.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-08-04 |title=Gözaltında ölen FETÖ şüphelisi öğretmenin son anları nezarethane kamerasında |url=https://www.indyturk.com/node/58396/haber/g%C3%B6zalt%C4%B1nda-%C3%B6len-fet%C3%B6-%C5%9F%C3%BCphelisi-%C3%B6%C4%9Fretmenin-son-anlar%C4%B1-nezarethane-kameras%C4%B1nda |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=Independent Türkçe |language=tr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=SCF |date=2018-02-27 |title=Turkish teacher Gökhan Açıkkollu, tortured to death under police custody, reinstated to his job (!) |url=https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-teacher-gokhan-acikkollu-tortured-to-death-under-police-custody-reinstated-to-his-job/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=Stockholm Center for Freedom |language=en-US}}</ref>]] Schools associated with the Gülen movement can be found in countries with large populations of people of Turkish descent as well as in predominantly non-Turkish Muslim countries where they provide families with an alternative to madrasa education. The schools are open to both Turkish migrants and citizens of host countries, and they avoid pushing for a religious agenda. Many alumni of Gülen schools pursue elite careers in diplomacy and international institutions.<ref name="carnegieendowment.org">{{Cite web |title=The Gülen Movement and Turkish Soft Power |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2014/02/the-gulen-movement-and-turkish-soft-power?lang=en |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |language=en}}</ref> There were about 1000 Gülen schools in Turkey that an estimated 1.2 million Turks passed through (Including many of Erdoğan's relatives).<ref>{{cite news | last=Farooq | first=Umar | date=August 17, 2016 | title=Inside the secretive religious movement that is being blamed for Turkey's attempted coup | url=https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-turkey-coup-gulen-snap-story.html | access-date=September 21, 2017 | work=The Los Angeles Times | publisher=Tronc, Inc. | issn=2165-1736}}</ref> However, after the attempted coup in 2016, all of the schools were shut down and banned by law.
In 2009, it was estimated that Gülen linked schools around the world enrolled more than 2 million students.<ref name="newsweek2009">{{cite magazine | magazine=Newsweek | url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/197896 | title=Behind Turkey's witch hunt | first=Soner | last=Cagaptay | date=16 May 2009 | publication-place=New York City | publisher=The Washington Post Company | issn=0028-9604}}</ref> Estimates of the number of schools and educational institutions but it appears there were about 300 Gülen Movement schools in Turkey and over 1,000 schools worldwide at that time.<ref>{{cite news | last=Hudson | first=Alexandra | work=Reuters | publisher=Thomson Reuters | url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/featuresNews/idUKL0939033920080514?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919130442/https://uk.reuters.com/article/featuresNews/idUKL0939033920080514?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0 | url-status=dead | archive-date=19 September 2020 | title=Turkish Islamic preacher – threat or benefactor? | date=13 May 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | website=Turko kullari | url=http://www.turkokullari.net/index.php?option=com_weblinks&catid=14&Itemid=22 | title=Turkish Schools | access-date=15 June 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006163144/http://www.turkokullari.net/index.php?option=com_weblinks&catid=14&Itemid=22 | archive-date=6 October 2014 | url-status=dead}}</ref> Later reporting by the ''Wall Street Journal'' estimated around 150 schools just in the United States, "ranging from networks in Texas, Illinois and Florida to stand-alone academies in Maryland".<ref name="Strum">{{cite news | last=Strum | first=Beckie | date=July 19, 2016 | title=Gulen movement's charter schools may be caught up in Turkey-U.S. standoff | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/gulen-movements-charter-schools-may-be-caught-up-in-turkey-u-s-standoff-1468967536 | newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> Although there is no formal networking of all the schools, collectively they form one of the largest collections of charter schools in America."<ref name="Saul 2011" /> [[File:Filology.jpg|thumb|Ahmet Yassawi University, a private university affiliated with the Gülen movement located in Turkistan, Kazakhstan<ref>{{Cite news |last=Peuch |first=Jean-Christophe |date=2008-04-08 |title=Turkey: Fethullahci Schools -- A Greenhouse For Central Asian Elites? |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1053209.html |access-date=2025-11-24 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en}}</ref>]] Most Gülen movement associated schools are private schools or charter schools. The curricula of the schools vary from country to country but they generally follow a secular mixture of Turkish and local curricula with an emphasis on science and math. A 2008 article in the ''New York Times'' said that in Pakistan "they encourage Islam in their dormitories, where teachers set examples in lifestyle and prayer", and described the Turkish schools as offering a gentler approach to Islam that could help reduce the influence of extremism.<ref name="nyt080504">{{cite news |last=Tavernise |first=Sabrina |author-link=Sabrina Tavernise |date=4 May 2008 |title=Turkish Schools Offer Pakistan a Gentler Vision of Islam |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/world/asia/04islam.html?ex=1367640000&en=625b88103a702f94&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |work=The New York Times}}</ref> However, in America, "there is no indication the American charter network has a religious agenda in the classroom", according to ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''.<ref name="Inquirer_20_March_20112">{{cite news | last1=Woodall | first1=Martha | last2=Gatti | first2=Claudio | date=March 20, 2011 | title=U.S. charter-school network with Turkish link draws federal attention | url=http://articles.philly.com/2011-03-20/news/29148147_1_gulen-schools-gulen-followers-charter-schools | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701175324/http://articles.philly.com/2011-03-20/news/29148147_1_gulen-schools-gulen-followers-charter-schools | url-status=dead | archive-date=1 July 2012 | access-date=July 18, 2016 | work=The Philadelphia Inquirer | publisher=Philadelphia Media Network | issn=0885-6613}}</ref> Two American professors at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and Temple University wrote that "these schools have consistently promoted good learning and citizenship, and the Hizmet movement is to date an evidently admirable civil society organisation to build bridges between religious communities and to provide direct service on behalf of the common good".<ref>{{cite web | first1=Jon | last1=Pahl | first2=John | last2=Raines | title=Gulen-inspired schools promote learning and service | website=LeaveCharterSchoolsAlone.com | url=http://leavechartersalone.com/2011/gulen-inspired-schools-promote-learning-and-service/ | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120911015611/http://leavechartersalone.com/2011/gulen-inspired-schools-promote-learning-and-service/ | archive-date=September 11, 2012}}</ref> Professor Joshua Hendrick of Loyola University Maryland, who studies the movement, said that Gülen himself "does not have a direct hand in operating" the charter schools and it was reported that Gülen has never visited the schools.<ref name="Strum" /><ref name="60MinsEpisode">{{cite news | last=Stahl | first = Lesley | author-link=Lesley Stahl | date=May 13, 2012 | title=U.S. charter schools tied to powerful Turkish imam | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-charter-schools-tied-to-powerful-turkish-imam/ | access-date=January 17, 2018 | work=60 Minutes | publisher=CBS News}}</ref> Alp Aslandoğan, director of the Alliance for Shared Values said that the schools are independent yet indirectly tied to the Gülen movement on the "intellectual or inspirational level."<ref name="Jacobs Mohsin Wadhams 2019">{{cite news | last1=Jacobs | first1=Jennifer | last2=Mohsin | first2=Saleha | last3=Wadhams | first3=Nick | date=28 October 2019 | title=Trump explored cutting grants for schools tied to Erdogan foe | work=Bloomberg News | publisher=Bloomberg L.P. | id={{EBSCOhost | db=bth|139352102}} | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-28/trump-explored-cutting-grants-for-schools-tied-to-erdogan-foe | url-access=subscription}} Republished as {{free access}} {{cite news | title=Trump explored cutting grants for schools tied to Erdogan foe | work=The Eagle | url=https://www.theeagle.com/news/national/trump-explored-cutting-grants-for-schools-tied-to-erdogan-foe/article_f0b68570-dae2-5619-b09d-9f0ce0a32d4d.html | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029192310/https://www.theeagle.com/news/national/trump-explored-cutting-grants-for-schools-tied-to-erdogan-foe/article_f0b68570-dae2-5619-b09d-9f0ce0a32d4d.html | archive-date=2019-10-29}}</ref>
In Europe there has been some pushback to the establishment of schools associated with the movement. In Georgia, the Georgian Labour Party protested schools opening on the basis that they "aim to spread Turkish culture and fundamentalist religious ideas".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://en.trend.az/news/politics/foreign/1676685.html | last=Kirtzkhalia | first=N. | title=Georgian Labor Party protests opening of Turkish schools | location=Tbilisi, Georgia | publication-place=Baku, Azerbaijan | work=Trend News Agency | date=2010-04-27 | access-date=2014-08-24}}</ref> In the Netherlands, there were concerns that the schools would promote "anti-integrative behavior" however an investigation in 2010 by the AIVD intelligence organization found that the schools did not represent a threat.<ref>{{cite magazine | first=Claire | last=Berlinski | url=http://www.city-journal.org/2012/22_4_fethullah-gulen.html | title=Who is Fethullah Gulen? | date=Autumn 2012 | work=City Journal | volume=22 | number=4 | publisher=Manhattan Institute | issn=1060-8540 | access-date=2014-08-24 | archive-date=16 August 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816225631/http://www.city-journal.org/2012/22_4_fethullah-gulen.html | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2013/04/09/bfp-exclusive-fethullah-gulens-new-controversy-in-the-netherlands/ | last=Edel | first=Peter | title=Fethullah Gulen's new controversy in the Netherlands | work=Boiling Frogs Post | date=2013-04-09 | access-date=2014-08-24 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130415030205/http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2013/04/09/bfp-exclusive-fethullah-gulens-new-controversy-in-the-netherlands/ | archive-date=2013-04-15}}</ref> In America there have been allegations and investigations into money-laundering and kickbacks at charter schools connected to the Gülen movement which receive federal financial support.<ref name="Jacobs Mohsin Wadhams 2019" /><ref name="Inquirer_20_March_20112" /> Schools in Texas were accused of sending school funds to Gülen associated organizations by prioritizing construction contracts with Turkish expatriate-owned construction companies over more economical bids, according to reporting by ''The New York Times'' in 2011.<ref name="Saul 2011">{{Cite news | last=Saul | first=Stephanie | date=6 June 2011 | title=Charter schools tied to Turkey grow in Texas | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/education/07charter.html | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319042208/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/education/07charter.html | archive-date=March 19, 2024 | work=The New York Times}}</ref> Folwell Dunbar, an official at the Louisiana Department of Education, accused İnci Akpınar, vice president of one such construction company, of offering him a $25,000 bribe to keep quiet about troubling conditions at the Abramson Science and Technology School in New Orleans which was operated by the Pelican Foundation.<ref>{{Cite news | first=Andrew | last=Vanacore | date=16 July 2011 | title=Records show glaring faults at school with ties to Turkish charter network | url=https://www.nola.com/news/education/records-show-glaring-faults-at-school-with-ties-to-turkish-charter-network/article_764bd140-b4a2-500c-bd84-9128a4f9ea47.html | access-date=2024-09-06 | work=The Times-Picayune | language=en | publication-place=New Orleans | publisher=Advance Publications | issn=1055-3053}}</ref>
As of 2015 there were over 100 K-12 schools in Africa, including schools in Morocco, Mali, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Mauritania, Senegal, Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Congo, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Egypt, and Angola.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shinn |first=David Hamilton |title=Hizmet in Africa: the activities and significance of the Gülen Movement |date=2015 |publisher=Tsehai |isbn=978-1-59907-121-3 |location=Los Angeles/Cal}}</ref>
=== Media organisations === thumb|Zaman newspaper headquarters, one of the most widely circulated newspapers in Turkey before it was seized by the Turkish government. Movement members have set up a number of media organisations to promote its core values such as love, tolerance, hope, dialogue, activism, mutual acceptance and respect. These media organs include TV stations (Samanyolu TV, Samanyolu Haber TV, Mehtap TV), (Ebru TV) (English), the newspapers ''Zaman'', ''Today's Zaman'' (English), magazines and journals in Turkish like ''Aksiyon'', ''Sızıntı'', ''Yeni Ümit'', ''Çağlayan'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://caglayandergisi.com/|title=Çağlayan Dergisi|publisher=Çağlayan Dergisi|access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref> ''The Fountain Magazine'' (English),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fountainmagazine.com/|title=The Fountain Magazine|access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref> ''Hira'' (Arabic), ''The International Cihan News Agency'' and the radio station Burç FM.
=== Charitable foundations === The movement runs charity and humanitarian aid organisations internationally. Among them is the Istanbul-based Kimse Yok Mu Association (KYM). KYM organises charity campaigns to help those in need in different parts of the world. Like any other activities of the Gülen-movement, KYM runs local projects responding to specific needs. KYM holds UN Ecosoc Special status.
Another charity organisation Embrace Relief was established in New Jersey and is active in America, Asia and Africa.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.embracerelief.org/contact-us/ | title=Embrace Relief | publisher=Embrace Relief | access-date=22 September 2023}}</ref> Embrace Relief has provided over 40,500 cataract surgeries and more than 600,000 preventative health screenings in Uganda, Mali, Kenya and Burkina Faso. It has distributed over $540,000 of medical supplies to doctors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Embrace Relief {{!}} Explore Embrace Relief {{!}} PWI|url=https://projectworldimpact.com/organization/embrace-relief|access-date=2026-01-22|website=projectworldimpact.com|language=en}}</ref>
== Faith, practice, and experience == The movement has been characterised as a "moderate blend of Islam".<ref name="nyt080504" /><ref name="tavernise">{{Cite web |title=Interview with Sabrina Tavernise, World View Podcasts, New York Times, May 4, 2008 |url=http://graphics8.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/04/25/25worldview.mp3}}</ref> A 2008 article in The Economist stated that the Gülen movement is vying to be recognised as the world's leading Muslim network, one that is more reasonable than many of its rivals.<ref name="economist10808408">{{cite news |date=March 6, 2008 |title=How far they have travelled |url=http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10808408 |magazine=The Economist}}</ref> The movement has been claimed to be "world's most global movement".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Turkish schools World's most global movement, says sociologist |url=http://www.todayszaman.com/news-144416-turkish-schools-worlds-most-global-movement-says-sociologist.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219021813/http://www.todayszaman.com/news-144416-turkish-schools-worlds-most-global-movement-says-sociologist.html |archive-date=19 December 2013}}</ref> Fethullah Gülen's and the Gülen movement's views and practices have been discussed in several international conferences at academic level including California State University in US, University of Toronto in Canada, O. P. Jindal Global University in India.<ref>{{cite web |date=27 October 2007 |title=Fethullah Gülen's Official Web Site - Contributions of the Gülen Movement |url=http://en.fgulen.com/conference-papers/contributions-of-the-gulen-movement |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204120035/http://en.fgulen.com/conference-papers/contributions-of-the-gulen-movement |archive-date=4 December 2013 |access-date=18 December 2013 |publisher=En.fgulen.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The International Conference on The Gulen Movement, Chicago 2010 |url=http://www.niagarafoundation.org/the-international-gulen-conference-2010-in-chicago-2/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605085350/https://niagarafoundation.org/the-international-gulen-conference-2010-in-chicago-2/ |archive-date=5 June 2012 |access-date=21 June 2021 |publisher=Niagara Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Conference On Hizmet, CSULB, Hizmet Movement, Fethullah Gulen |url=https://www.conferenceonhizmet2023csulb.info/ |access-date=2025-10-25 |website=Conference on Hizmet |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-21 |title=Home - hizmetconference.com |url=https://hizmetconference.com/ |access-date=2025-10-25 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=International Hizmet Conference – February 5-6, 2026 {{!}} O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India |url=https://hizmetconference.in/ |access-date=2025-10-25 |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Interfaith dialogue === [[File:Fethullah Gülen visiting Ioannes Paulus II.jpg|thumb|Gülen and Pope John Paul II]]
The movement's avowal of interfaith dialogue grew out of Gülen's personal engagement in interfaith dialogue which was largely inspired by, Said Nursi. Gülen has met with leaders of other religions, including Pope John Paul II, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and Israeli Sephardic Head Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron.<ref>{{cite book |last=Unal |first=Ali |url=https://archive.org/details/advocateofdialog00aliu |title=Advocate of Dialogue: Fethullah Gulen |date=1 October 2000 |publisher=Fountain Pub |isbn=978-0970437013 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Gülen advocates for cooperation between followers of different religions as well as those practicing different forms of Islam (such as Sunnism or Alevism).
Gülen movement participants have founded a number of institutions across the World that promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue activities. Among these are the ''Journalists and Writers Foundation'' in Istanbul, the ''Rumi Forum'' in Washington and the ''Indialogue Foundation'' in New Delhi.
=== Devotional practices === David Tittensor wrote, "[Detractors] have labeled Gülen community members as secretive missionaries, while those in the Movement and sympathetic observers class it as a civil society organisation".<ref>David Tittensor, ''The House of Service: The Gulen Movement and Islam's Third Way'' (Oxford University Press, 2014) p. 172.</ref>
Critics have complained that members of the Gülen movement are overly compliant with the directions from its leaders,<ref name="Infra note, Berlinski 2012">Infra note, Berlinski 2012</ref> and Gülen's "movement is generally perceived by its critics as a religio-political cult".<ref>Bulent Temel, Candidacy versus Membership: Is Turkey the Greatest Beneficiary of the European Union" in ''The Great Catalyst: European Union Project and Lessons from Greece and Turkey'' (ed. Bülent Temel: Lexington, 2014), p. 375.</ref> The ''Guardian'' editorial board described the movement in 2013 as having "some of the characteristics of a cult or of an Islamic Opus Dei".<ref name="GuardianDec2013">{{cite news |date=27 December 2013 |title=Turkey: up from the depths |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/27/turkey-murky-depths |access-date=31 December 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>
Scholars such as Simon Robinson disagree with the characterisation, writing that although "[t]here is no doubt that Gülen remains a charismatic leader and that members of the movement hold him in the highest respect", the movement "differs markedly from a cult in several ways", with Gülen stressing "the primacy of the scriptures" and "the imperative of service" and consistently avoiding "attempts to institutionalise power, to perceive him as the source of all truth, or to view him as taking responsibility for the movement".<ref>Simon Robinson, "Building Bridges: Gulen Pontifex" in ''Hizmet Means Service: Perspectives on an Alternative Path within Islam'' (ed. Martin E. Marty: University of California Press, 2015), p. 78.</ref> Zeki Saritoprak says that the view of Gülen as "a cult leader or a man with ambitions" is mistaken, and contends that Gülen should be viewed in the context of a long line of Sufi masters who have long been a center of attention "for their admirers and followers, both historically and currently".<ref>Zeki Saritoprak, "Muslim Perception of Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet Movement: Accommodating or Hindering Modern Turkey?" in ''Alternative Islamic Discourses and Religious'' (eds. Carool Kersten & Susanne Olsson: Ashgate, 2013), p. 70.</ref>
=== Relations to the state === Gülen movement received support from some of the Turkish politicians like conservative Turgut Özal,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gülen, 12 Eylül darbesinde ne yaptı, Kenan Evren hakkında ne dedi, Özal'la ilişkisi nasıldı? |url=https://t24.com.tr/haber/gulen-12-eylul-darbesinde-ne-yapti-kenan-evren-hakkinda-ne-dedi-ozalla-iliskisi-nasildi,353850 |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=T24 |language=Turkish}}</ref> leftist Bülent Ecevit.<ref name=":4" /> Özal visited Gülen schools in Central Asian countries and endorsed them, 3 days later he was assassinated.<ref name="carnegieendowment.org"/><ref name=":6" />
The Gülen movement works within the given structures of modern secular states; it encourages affiliated members to maximise the opportunities those countries afford rather than engaging in subversive activities.<ref name="forbes0118">{{cite web |title=Gulen Inspires Muslims Worldwide |url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/01/18/turkey-islam-gulen-cx_0121oxford.html |access-date=18 December 2013 |work=Forbes}}</ref> Per the words of the leader himself and the title of a cornerstone of his philosophy, Gülen promotes "an Ottoman Empire of the Mind".<ref>{{cite web |last=fgulen.com |title=An Ottoman Empire of the Mind - Fethullah Gülen's Official Web Site |url=http://fgulen.com/en/home/1324-fgulen-com-english/press/columns/25006-an-ottoman-empire-of-the-mind }}</ref>
Beginning in 2008, the Dutch government investigated the movement's activities in the Netherlands in response to questions from Parliament. The first two investigations, performed by the AIVD, concluded that the movement did not form a breeding ground for radicalism and found no indications that the movement worked against integration or that it was involved in terrorism or religious radicalisation. A further academic study sketched a portrait of a socially conservative, inwardly directed movement with an opaque organisational structure, but said that its members tend to be highly successful in society and thus form no threat to integration.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bahara |first=Hassan |date=21 March 2014 |title=Vormt de Gülen-beweging een bedreiging voor de integratie? |url=https://www.groene.nl/artikel/vormt-de-gulen-beweging-een-bedreiging-voor-de-integratie |access-date=24 February 2016 |newspaper=De Groene Amsterdammer}}</ref>
=== Relations to politics === Neither Gülen nor his followers have formed a national political party, but they have had political involvement or parliamentary representation for a brief time. Two supporters of the movement Hakan Şükür, Muhammed Çetin served as AKP MP's between 2011 and 2013.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Hakan Şükür milletvekili seçilebildi mi? |url=https://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/hakan-sukur-milletvekili-secilebildi-mi,s1kaBvbybkm3xFo1qBHskw |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=www.ntv.com.tr |language=tr}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Muhammed Cetin Resume/CV {{!}} Sociology, Social Movements, and Social Networking |url=https://independent.academia.edu/MuhammedCetin/CurriculumVitae |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=independent.academia.edu}}</ref> In 2008, Gülen was described as "the modern face of the Sufi Ottoman tradition", reassuring his followers, including many members of "Turkey's aspirational middle class", that "they can combine the statist-nationalist beliefs of Atatürk's republic with a traditional but flexible Islamic faith" and "Ottoman traditions [have] been caricatured as theocratic by Atatürk and his 'Kemalist' heirs".<ref name="prospect" /> In the early 2000s, the Gülen movement was seen as keeping a distance from established Islamic political parties.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Henry |first1=Clement M. |url=https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-politics-of-islamic-finance.html |title=The politics of Islamic Finance |last2=Wilson |first2=Rodney |date=2004 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0748618378 |location=Edinburgh, Scotland |page=236}}</ref>
Gülen met with various politicians from both right-wing and left-wing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hakan|first=Yavuz, M.|date=2013-01-08|title=Toward an Islamic Enlightenment: The Gülen Movement|url=https://academic.oup.com/book/2943|journal=OUP Academic|language=en|doi=10.1093/acprof:o|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250824223826/https://academic.oup.com/book/2943|archive-date=2025-08-24}}</ref> When the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, the two groups formed a non-aggression pact against the military and the Turkish secular elite despite their differences.{{citation needed|date=September 2025}} According to some research, the cooperation between AKP and the Gülen movement was a shallow, tactical alliance that got stronger in 2007 due to perceived threats of a coup, which both groups believed would harm their interests.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Big Split: the Differences That Led Erdogan and the Gulen Movement to Part Ways|url=https://turkeyanalyst.org/publications/turkey-analyst-articles/item/296-the-big-split-the-differences-that-led-erdogan-and-the-gulen-movement-to-part-ways.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com|access-date=2025-12-28|website=turkeyanalyst.org|language=en}}</ref>{{AI-retrieved source|date=March 2026|checked=no}}
Once the old establishment had been defeated, disagreements began emerging between the AKP and the Gülen movement. The first breaking point was the so-called "MİT crisis" in February 2012 which has been interpreted as a power struggle between the AKP and the pro-Gülen police and judiciary.<ref>Halil M. Karaveli: [http://www.turkeyanalyst.org/publications/turkey-analyst-articles/item/395-the-coalition-crumbles-erdogan-the-g%C3%BClenists-and-turkish-democracy.html The Coalition Crumbles: Erdogan, the Gülenists, and Turkish Democracy], The Turkey Analyst, vol. 5, no. 4, Feb. 20, 2012</ref><ref>Sebnem Arsu: [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/world/europe/turkey-intelligence-chief-must-testify.html Intelligence Chief Must Testify], nytimes.com, Feb. 10, 2012</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/world/middleeast/turkey-feels-sway-of-fethullah-gulen-a-reclusive-cleric.html Turkey Feels Sway of Reclusive Cleric in the U.S.], nytimes.com, April 24, 2012</ref> The tensions increased after Gülen criticised Erdoğan's heavy handed response to Gezi Park protests.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-06-04|title=Gülen'den Gezi Parkı yorumu|url=https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/gulenden-gezi-parki-yorumu-425756|access-date=2025-10-04|website=www.cumhuriyet.com.tr|language=tr}}</ref> After corruption investigations in December 2013 into several politicians and family members of the ruling AKP of Turkey by the allegedly Gülen friendly judiciary, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed the movement had initiated the investigations as a result of a break in previously friendly relations.<ref name="Journal-28Dec2013">{{cite news |date=28 December 2013|title=Turkey: Erdogan faces new protests over corruption scandal|url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/erdogan-faces-new-protests-over-corruption-scandal/article/364759|access-date=31 December 2013|newspaper=Digital Journal}}</ref><ref name="Hurriyet2013">{{cite web |date=17 December 2013|title=İstanbul'da yolsuzluk ve rüşvet operasyonu|trans-title=Corruption and bribery operation in Istanbul|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/ekonomi/25378685.asp}}</ref><ref name="BBCprofile-Dec2013">{{cite news |date=18 December 2013|title=Profile: Fethullah Gulen's Hizmet movement|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13503361|access-date=31 December 2013|newspaper=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="csmonitor.com">{{cite news |title=The Gulen movement: a self-exiled imam challenges Turkey's Erdoğan|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/1229/The-Gulen-movement-a-self-exiled-imam-challenges-Turkey-s-Erdogan|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|date=29 December 2013|access-date=31 December 2013}}</ref> The leaked conversation between Erdoğan and his son, which triggered the corruption scandal was viewed by 3 million people in 24 hours on YouTube.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Solovieva|first=Daria|date=2014-02-25|title=Leaked Calls Land Turkish PM in Corruption Scandal|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/leaked-calls-land-turkish-pm-in-corruption-scandal/|access-date=2025-12-27|website=VICE|language=en-US}}</ref> President Erdoğan said Gülen had attempted to overthrow the Turkish government through a judicial coup using the investigations. In response to the investigations, the government seized the group-owned newspaper ''Zaman'', which was one of the most circulated newspapers in Turkey, as well as several companies that had ties to the group totaling billions of dollars.<ref name="bpa">{{cite web |date=10 Jul 2007|title=BPA Audit Figures Reveal Turkish Newspaper As Having One of the Largest Subscriber Bases in Europe|url=http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/39645005cp.shtml|access-date=1 August 2009|publisher=ClickPress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=SCF|date=2025-07-15|title=Turkey seizes billions in assets, shuts down hundreds of Gulen-linked institutions since 2016 coup attempt|url=https://stockholmcf.org/turkey-seizes-billions-in-assets-shuts-down-hundreds-of-gulen-linked-institutions-since-2016-coup-attempt/|access-date=2025-09-19|website=Stockholm Center for Freedom|language=en-US}}</ref>
According to academic researcher and foreign lobbyist Svante E. Cornell, director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, "With only slight exaggeration, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as well as the government it has led could be termed a coalition of religious orders."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Eşiyok |first1=Dicle |date=13 July 2019 |title=Secret Diyanet report gauges threat posed by Turkey's Islamists |url=https://ahvalnews.com/gulen-movement/secret-diyanet-report-gauges-threat-posed-turkeys-islamists |access-date=2019-08-27 |website=Ahval |language=en}}</ref>
"[...T]he Gülen movement stayed away from electoral politics, focusing instead on increasing its presence in the state bureaucracy. The Hizmet movement's stated success in this regard would initially make it Erdoğan's main partner, but also his eventual nemesis."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cornell |first=Svante E. |title=The Naqshbandi-Khalidi Order and Political Islam in Turkey - by Svante E. Cornell |url=http://www.hudson.org/research/11601-the-naqshbandi-khalidi-order-and-political-islam-in-turkey |access-date=2019-09-04 |website=hudson.org |language=en}}</ref>
==Scandals and incidents == === Bombing of Şemdinli Bookstore, 2005 === On 9 November 2005, a bookstore was bombed in Şemdinli. The prosecutor for the case, Ferhat Sarıkaya, prepared a criminal indictment in which Turkey's Commander of Land Forces, Yaşar Büyükanıt, was accused of forming a gang and plotting the bombing. In 2016 Sarıkaya confessed that he was ordered by Gülenists to include General Yaşar Büyükanıt in the criminal indictment to prevent his promotion in the army and to ease the pressure on Gülenist structures within the army.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gülenist prosecutor's confession a sigh of relief for former top Turkish soldier - Turkey News |url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/gulenist-prosecutors-confession-a-sigh-of-relief-for-former-top-turkish-soldier--102429 |access-date=8 July 2020 |work=Hürriyet Daily News |date=3 August 2016 |language=en}}</ref> The defendants, Ali Kaya, Özcan İldeniz, and Veysel Ateş, were acquitted of the bombing on 20 December 2021.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://artigercek.com/guncel/18-yil-gecti-iyi-cocuklara-beraat-bombalanan-kitabevi-sahibine-ceza-272249h|title=Semdinli Bombers are Acquitted|date=9 November 2023 |publisher=Artı Gerçek|access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref>
=== Assassination of Hrant Dink, 2007 === {{Main|Assassination of Hrant Dink}}
Allegations have been made about the role of the Gülen movement in the assassination of journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul. Hakan Bakırcıoğlu, one of Hrant Dink's lawyers, said in an interview with ''Deutsche Welle'' that the under-aged perpetrator, Ogün Samast, had help from third parties, including people connected to the Istanbul and Trabzon police forces.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Duran |first1=Aram Ekin |title=Clues pointing to the Gulen network in the Hrant Dink murder case? |url=https://www.dw.com/en/clues-pointing-to-the-gulen-network-in-the-hrant-dink-murder-case/a-37188971 |access-date=8 July 2020 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=19 January 2017}}</ref>
Four prosecutors in the trial were dismissed from their posts due to their ties with the movement and for failing to make progress with the case. Furthermore, police commissioners Ramazan Akyürek and Ali Fuat Yılmazer were accused of not sharing their foreknowledge of the attack with the prosecutors, the gendarmerie, or the intelligence services despite being briefed of a planned assassination several times.{{citation needed|date=September 2025}}
In 2023, the Dink family stated that the real perpetrator is the deep-state: "If this case is closed in its current state, and the deep-state mechanism of many years is simply labeled as 'FETÖ’ — the Turkish government's designation for the alleged terrorist Gülen movement — and passed over, without an effective investigation being conducted, who will be responsible for the other lives that may be lost in the coming years"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hrant Dink davası: 14 yıl süren yargılamada neler yaşandı? – DW – 19.01.2023 |url=https://www.dw.com/tr/hrant-dink-davas%C4%B1-14-y%C4%B1l-s%C3%BCren-yarg%C4%B1lamada-neler-ya%C5%9Fand%C4%B1/a-64445519 |access-date=2025-11-23 |website=dw.com |language=tr}}</ref>
=== Ergenekon trials, 2008-2016 === {{main|Ergenekon trials}}
Questions have arisen about the Gülen movement's possible involvement in the Ergenekon investigation,<ref name=Jenkins>{{cite web |url=http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/inside/turkey/2011/110404B.html |title=Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program |publisher=Silkroadstudies.org |access-date=18 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427163058/http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/inside/turkey/2011/110404B.html |archive-date=27 April 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> which critics characterised as "a pretext" by the government "to neutralize dissidents" in Turkey.<ref name="newsweek2009"/>
Journalist Nedim Şener was arrested for being a member of the Ergenekon organisation and was held in pre-trial detention in 2011.<ref>{{cite news |title=Turkey: ten writers and journalists arrested |url=https://humanrightshouse.org/articles/turkey-ten-writers-and-journalists-arrested/ |access-date=8 July 2020 |work=Human Rights House Foundation |date=13 March 2011}}</ref>
The Gülen movement has also been implicated in what the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has said were illegal court decisions against members of the Turkish military, including many during the Ergenekon investigation. These claims were also supported by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after 2013.<ref name="NYtimes2-27-2014">{{cite news | title = Turkish Leader Disowns Trials That Helped Him Tame Military | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/27/world/europe/turkish-leader-disowns-trials-that-helped-him-tame-military.html?hpw&rref=world | last = Arango | first = Tim | date = 26 February 2014 | access-date = 27 February 2014 | newspaper = The New York Times | quote = In 2005, years before the trials, a man affiliated with the Gulen movement approached Eric S. Edelman, then the American ambassador, at a party in Istanbul and handed him an envelope containing a handwritten document that supposedly laid out a plan for an imminent coup. But as Edelman recounted, he gave the documents to his colleagues and they were determined to be forgeries. }}</ref>
=== Sex and corruption tapes, 2010 === Members of the Gülen movement inside the intelligence agency have been accused of reshaping Turkish politics to a more "workable form" by leaking secretly filmed sex tapes and corruption tapes of members of the government, with the resignation of main opposition leader Deniz Baykal in 2010 as the most notable example.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/turkiye/son-dakika-deniz-baykala-kaset-kumpasi-duzenleyen-feto-suphelisi-2307784 | title=Son Dakika... Deniz Baykal'a kaset kumpası düzenleyen FETÖ şüphelisi yakalandı! }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.odatv.com/siyaset/deniz-baykala-seks-kaseti-kumpasi-nasil-kuruldu-236972 | title=Deniz Baykal'a kaset kumpası nasıl kuruldu | date=27 April 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sozcu.com.tr/feto-deniz-baykala-kaset-komplosunu-boyle-kurmus-wp1373055 | title=FETÖ Deniz Baykal'a kaset komplosunu böyle kurmuş | date=9 January 2016 }}</ref> Deniz Baykal stated that he did not share the view of pro-government media outlets that blamed the Gülen movement for the release of the video recording, arguing that such an operation could not have been carried out without the knowledge and approval of senior government figures. In two separate interviews given in 2010 and 2016, Baykal expressed his perspective by saying, “In this context, to assist those seeking to identify other responsible parties, I would like to note that I believe in the sincerity of the messages of sympathy and support I received from the United States and Pennsylvania (Gülen movement)."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://t24.com.tr/haber/baykal-kaset-komplosunda-6-yil-once-pensilvanya-hakkinda-ne-soylediysem-bugun-de-ayni-noktadayim,353318 |title=Baykal: Kaset komplosunda 6 yıl önce Pensilvanya hakkında ne söylediysem bugün de aynı noktadayım |trans-title=Baykal: I am in the same position today as I was 6 years ago about Pennsylvania in the tape conspiracy |language=tr |website=T24 |date=2016-08-03 |access-date=2025-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251107202715/https://t24.com.tr/haber/baykal-kaset-komplosunda-6-yil-once-pensilvanya-hakkinda-ne-soylediysem-bugun-de-ayni-noktadayim,353318 |archive-date=2025-11-07 |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== The Imam's Army, 2011 === In March 2011, seven Turkish journalists were arrested, including Ahmet Şık, who had been writing a book, "İmamın Ordusu" (''The Imam's Army''),<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/05/turkey-censorship-ahmet-sik-perrier Turkish authorities launch raids to censor book before publication] in the Guardian of 5 April 2011; accessed on 11 April 2011</ref> which states that the Gülen movement has infiltrated the country's security forces. As Şık was taken into police custody, he shouted, "Whoever touches it [the movement] gets burned!".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/world/europe/04turkey.htmll?_r=1%20 | work=The New York Times | first=Şebnem | last=Arsu | title=7 More Journalists Detained in Turkey | date=3 March 2011}}</ref> Upon his arrest, drafts of the book were confiscated and its possession was banned. Şık has also been charged with being part of the Ergenekon plot despite investigating the plot before his arrest.<ref>Details can be found in English on the site of [http://www.tuerkeiforum.net/enw/index.php/Ahmet_%C5%9E%C4%B1k:_The_Army_of_the_Imam the Democratic Turkey Forum]; accessed on 5 April 2001. In the footnotes to translated passages of the book you can find other works on the subject.</ref>
In a reply, Abdullah Bozkurt, from the Gülen aligned newspaper ''Today's Zaman'', said Ahmet Şık was not an investigative journalist conducting "independent research", but was hatching "a plot designed and put into action by the terrorist network itself".<ref>The alleged terrorist network is the Ergenekon organization; see [http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-239479-ergenekon-gulen-and-media-freedom.html Article of 29 March 2011] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201055315/http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-239479-ergenekon-gulen-and-media-freedom.html |date=1 February 2016 }}; accessed on 5 April 2011</ref>
=== Corruption scandal, 2013 === {{Main|2013 corruption scandal in Turkey}}
On 17 December 2013, an investigation into corrupt practices by several bureaucrats, ministers, mayors, and family members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey was uncovered, resulting in widespread protests and the resignation of four ministers of the government led by Prime Minister Erdoğan.<ref name="Journal-28Dec2013"/><ref name="Hurriyet2013"/> Due to the high level of political influence of the Gülen movement in Turkey, it was rumored that the investigation was facilitated by the movement's influence in the Turkish police force and the judiciary.<ref name="BBCprofile-Dec2013"/> The investigation was said to be a result of a break in the previously friendly relations between the Islamist-rooted government and the movement.<ref name="csmonitor.com"/>
President Erdoğan and the AKP (the ruling party of Turkey) have targeted the movement since December 2013. Immediately after the investigation became public, the government subjugated the judiciary, media and civil society which were critical of the government's authoritarian trend in recent years.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21689871-under-recep-tayip-erdogan-and-his-ak-party-turkey-has-become-richer-and-more-confident|title=Erdogan's new sultanate|newspaper=The Economist|issn=0013-0613|access-date=25 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/under-erdogan-turkey-is-moving-away-from-democracy/article29281164/|title=Under Erdogan, Turkey is moving away from democracy|website=The Globe and Mail|access-date=25 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/12195534/EU-Turkey-deal-Recep-Tayyip-Erdogan-Where-did-it-all-go-wrong-for-Turkey.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/12195534/EU-Turkey-deal-Recep-Tayyip-Erdogan-Where-did-it-all-go-wrong-for-Turkey.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Where did it all go wrong for Turkey?|website=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=25 April 2016|date=17 March 2016|last1=Akkoc|first1=Raziye}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Erdoğan labelled the investigations as a "civilian coup" against his government. Since then, Erdoğan has shuffled, dismissed or jailed hundreds of police officers, judges, prosecutors and journalists in the name of fighting against a "Parallel State" within the Turkish state.
=== Media arrests, 2014 === On 14 December 2014, Turkish police arrested more than two dozen senior journalists and media executives connected with the Gülen movement on various charges.
The US State Department cautioned Turkey to not violate its "own democratic foundations" while drawing attention to the raids against media outlets "openly critical of the current Turkish government".<ref>{{cite news|title=In Turkey, police arrest journalists and executives|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/14/world/europe/turkey-media-crackdown/|access-date=19 December 2014|newspaper=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Court rules for release of Zaman chief editor, Samanyolu manager arrested|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/national_court-rules-for-release-of-zaman-chief-editor-samanyolu-manager-arrested_367441.html|access-date=19 December 2014|newspaper=Today's Zaman|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219133859/http://www.todayszaman.com/national_court-rules-for-release-of-zaman-chief-editor-samanyolu-manager-arrested_367441.html|archive-date=19 December 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> EU Foreign Affairs chief Federica Mogherini and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that the arrests went "against European values" and "are incompatible with the freedom of media, which is a core principle of democracy".<ref>{{cite news|title=Turkey media arrests: Mogherini leads EU criticism|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30471996|access-date=19 December 2014|newspaper=BBC}}</ref>
The Turkish government seized the Gülen affiliated Zaman and Today's Zaman, on 4 March 2016. Turkish police entered the headquarters by force and fired tear gas at protesting journalists and civilians. Hundreds of protestors were injured.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/03/turkey-fears-of-zaman-newspaper-takeover/|title=Turkey: Zaman newspaper taken over as government steamrolls press freedom|website=amnesty.org|date=4 March 2016|access-date=25 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/05/world/middleeast/recep-tayyip-erdogan-government-seizes-zaman-newspaper.html|title=Turkey Seizes Newspaper, Zaman, as Press Crackdown Continues|last1=Timur|first1=Safak|date=4 March 2016|last2=Arango|first2=Tim|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=25 April 2016}}</ref> In their effort to eradicate the movement from within the country the Turkish National Security Council has identified the movement as the "Gülenist Terror Organisation" ("Fethullahçı Terör Örgütü", FETÖ).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trtworld.com/in-depth/turkey-challenged-by-terror-in-2015-17588|title=Turkey challenged by terror in 2015|website=TRT World|language=tr-TR|access-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203060054/http://www.trtworld.com/in-depth/turkey-challenged-by-terror-in-2015-17588|archive-date=3 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The government has also been targeting individuals and businessmen who have supported the movement's organizations and activities.
=== Eavesdropping on state offices, 2015 === On 20 January 2015, Turkish police arrested around twenty suspects over alleged illegal surveillance on President Erdoğan and other officials. The arrests were described in local media as targeting Gülen's supporters.<ref>{{cite news|title=Turkey arrests dozens suspected of eavesdropping on president|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/20/turkey-wiretappingarrests.html|access-date=20 January 2015| newspaper=Aljazeera}}</ref>
=== 15 July 2016 coup attempt === In reaction to the 15 July 2016 coup attempt which was led by a military faction operating outside the chain of command, the Turkish government quickly stated the coup's leader to be Gülen. In following days and weeks, a massive crackdown affected all entities affiliated with the Gülen movements, from individuals to businesses, newspapers and schools.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Öztürk|first=Ahmet Erdi|date=2019-02-26|title=An alternative reading of religion and authoritarianism: the new logic between religion and state in the AKP's New Turkey|journal=Southeast European and Black Sea Studies|volume=19|pages=79–98|doi=10.1080/14683857.2019.1576370|s2cid=159047564|issn=1468-3857|url=http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/5406/1/An-alternative-reading-of-religion-and-authoritarianism.pdf}}</ref>
Since the 2016 coup attempt, Turkey became more and more authoritarian under Erdoğan regime, according to Reporters Without Borders as of 2025 90% of the media is controlled by the government and Turkey ranks 159th out of 180 countries in terms freedom of press.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-22|title=Türkiye {{!}} RSF|url=https://rsf.org/en/country-t%C3%BCrkiye|access-date=2025-12-25|website=rsf.org|language=en}}</ref> Freedom House has been rating Turkey as "Not Free" since 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Turkey: Country Profile|url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/turkey|access-date=2025-10-12|website=Freedom House|language=en}}</ref> Turkey's ranking in the World Justice Project Rule of law index declined significantly between 2015 and 2025 (especially after the 2016 coup attemp), falling from 80th place to 118th out of 143 countries. As of 2025, Turkey ranks 14th out of 15 countries in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region.<ref>{{Cite web |last=NCCA |date=2025-10-28 |title=Türkiye Drops to 118th in 2025 WJP Rule of Law Index |url=https://www.nccadvocacy.org/post/world-justice-project-2025-rule-of-law-index-t%C3%BCrkiye |access-date=2026-05-31 |website=National Council on Civil Advocacy |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=WJP Rule of Law Index |url=https://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index |access-date=2026-05-31 |website=worldjusticeproject.org |language=en}}</ref>
==== Purges from state offices ==== Between the 2016 coup attempt and July 2024, Turkish authorities investigated more than 705,172 Turkish citizens related to alleged "FETÖ" terrorism according to the government's own official statement,<ref>{{Cite web |last=SCF |date=2025-01-13 |title=Turkey's Crackdown on the Gülen movement: 2024 in Review |url=https://stockholmcf.org/turkeys-crackdown-on-the-gulen-movement-2024-in-review/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=Stockholm Center for Freedom |language=en-US}}</ref> however non-governmental sources estimate this number much higher.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2021-11-27 |title=Bir milyon 576 bin kişi, "terör örgütü üyeliğinden" soruşturma geçirdi… Muhaliflere "terörist" damgası mı vuruluyor? |url=https://www.indyturk.com/node/440846/haber/bir-milyon-576-bin-ki%C5%9Fi-ter%C3%B6r-%C3%B6rg%C3%BCt%C3%BC-%C3%BCyeli%C4%9Finden-soru%C5%9Fturma-ge%C3%A7irdi%E2%80%A6-muhaliflere |access-date=2025-09-07 |website=Independent Türkçe |language=tr}}</ref> In November 2021 DEVA Party MP Yeneroğlu criticised that 1,576,000 people were investigated for alleged terrorism links between 2016 and 2020.<ref name=":0"/> Eren Keskin the president of Human Rights Association stated that, she never seen such restrictions on freedom of speech in the 30 years of her career.<ref name=":0" /> The government also detained over 390,000 citizens,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Initiative |first=The Arrested Lawyers |date=2025-07-17 |title=Turkey's Post-Coup Crackdown: Nine Years On - The Arrested Lawyers Initiative |url=https://arrestedlawyers.org/2025/07/17/turkeys-post-coup-crackdown-nine-years-on/,%20https://arrestedlawyers.org/2025/07/17/turkeys-post-coup-crackdown-nine-years-on/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> purged over 300,000 government officials<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fidan |first=Fatma Zehra |url=https://www.academia.edu/128318779/Condemnation_to_Stigma_and_Social_Death_The_Deprivation_of_Employment_Opportunities_for_Decree_Law_Victims |title=Condemnation to Stigma and Social Death: The Deprivation of Employment Opportunities for Decree-Law Victims |date=2025-03-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Buyuk |first=Hamdi Firat |date=2025-06-24 |title=Army and Police Targeted as Turkey Arrests Hundreds of Alleged Gulenists |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2025/06/24/army-and-police-targeted-as-turkey-arrests-hundreds-of-alleged-gulenists/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=Balkan Insight |language=en-US}}</ref> and closed more than 1,500 nongovernmental organizations, primarily for alleged ties to the Gülen movement.<ref name=":5">{{cite news |title=2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Turkey |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/turkey/ |work=United States Department of State}}</ref>
In 2018, approximately 25,000 Turkish asylum requests were filed by alleged Gülenists in the European Union (a rise of 50% from 2017), with Germany's share 10,000 and Greece's about 5,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/2019/11/22/turks-persecuted-over-alleged-links-to-the-gulen-movement-find-a-safe-haven-in-greece|title=Greece: A safe haven for Turks threatened over Gülen movement links|first=Katy|last=Dartford|date=22 November 2019|website=euronews}}</ref> In the U.S., according to news reports, a number of Gülenists who have successfully receiving political asylum status resettled in New Jersey.<ref>{{Cite news|date = October 17, 2019|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/17/turkish-gulen-supporters-fleeing-crackdown-seek-asylum-new-jersey/4006257002/|title=Labeled terrorists in their homeland, hundreds of Turks seek asylum in New Jersey|first=Hannan|last=Adely|work=USA Today}}</ref> [[File:Exodus 2025 Film Official Release Poster.jpg|thumb|''Exodus'', an award-winning movie focusing on the stories of a group of people forced to flee Turkey to seek asylum in Europe post 2016 coup attempt.<ref>{{Cite web |last=SCF |date=2025-07-09 |title=YouTube blocks trailers of film telling stories of asylum seekers fleeing Turkey after gov't complaint |url=https://stockholmcf.org/youtube-blocks-trailers-of-film-telling-stories-of-asylum-seekers-fleeing-turkey-after-govt-complaint/ |access-date=2025-11-16 |website=Stockholm Center for Freedom |language=en-US}}</ref>]]
In 2019, it was reported that Interpol had denied Turkey's appeals of the rejection of Turkey's red notice requests regarding 464 fugitives. The decision cited Interpol's definition of the 2016 coup d'état attempt as a failed military putsch rather than an act of terrorism.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Turkey poised to rescind Fethullah Gülen's citizenship|url=https://ahvalnews.com/gulen-movement/turkey-poised-rescind-fethullah-gulens-citizenship|access-date=2020-07-22|website=Ahval|date=22 November 2019|language=en}}</ref> Finland and Sweden, which applied for NATO membership in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in May 2022, rejected Turkey's applications for the extradition of many Gülen movement and PKK members.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Turkey says Sweden, Finland reject extradition requests for PKK, Gulen-linked suspects|url=https://english.news.cn/20220517/455b139e783d40d58b114e5bc1ab9eab/c.html|date=16 May 2022|website=Xinhua|language=en}}</ref>
==== Attempts to extradite Gülen ==== Despite Turkey's official request, the United States never extradited Gülen.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ingber |first=Sasha |date=November 17, 2018 |title=Trump Says Extraditing Turkish Cleric Fethullah Gulen Is 'Not Under Consideration' |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/11/17/668898939/trumps-says-extraditing-turkish-cleric-fethullah-gulen-is-not-under-consideratio |access-date=November 24, 2024 |work=NPR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=SCF |date=2022-11-14 |title=Turkey's request for Gülen extradition not sent to US court since it would be denied, minister claims |url=https://stockholmcf.org/turkeys-request-for-gulen-extradition-not-sent-to-us-court-since-it-would-be-denied-minister-claims/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=Stockholm Center for Freedom |language=en-US}}</ref>
==== Extradition of the leadership ==== {{as of|2020}}, Turkey had successfully pressured a number of countries, especially those in Africa and the former Soviet Union, to extradite over 80 alleged Gülenists to Turkey.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Strobel|first=Warren P.|date=2019-11-13|title=Turkey Gathered Information in the U.S. Against Its Critics|language=en-US|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/turkey-gathered-information-in-the-u-s-against-its-critics-11573654247|access-date=2020-07-22|issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Broken Gülen movement faces existential crisis|url=https://ahvalnews.com/gulen-movement/broken-gulen-movement-faces-existential-crisis|access-date=2020-07-22|website=Ahval|date=15 February 2020|language=en|last1=Lepeska|first1=David|archive-date=13 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213184541/https://ahvalnews.com/gulen-movement/broken-gulen-movement-faces-existential-crisis|url-status=dead}}</ref> On the contrary democratic countries like USA, UK, Germany, Sweden rejected Turkey's requests to extradite the movement members.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-12-19 |title=Swedish Supreme court stops extradition of Turkish man accused of coup attempt |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/swedish-supreme-court-stops-extradition-suspected-gulen-sympathiser-turkey-2022-12-19/ |access-date=2025-09-07 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Shaheen |first=Kareem |last2=Smith |first2=Helena |date=2017-01-26 |title=Greek court turns down extradition request for eight Turkish officers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/26/greek-court-turns-down-extradition-request-eight-turkish-officers-ankara-failed-coup |access-date=2025-09-07 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Amnesty International criticised extraditions from Moldova in 2018.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tanas |first=Alexander |date=2018-09-06 |title=Amnesty criticises expulsion of Turkish nationals from Moldova |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/amnesty-criticises-expulsion-of-turkish-nationals-from-moldova-idUSKCN1LM2PL/ |access-date=2025-09-07 |work=Reuters |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Some Gülenists abroad have been kidnapped, allegedly by the MİT (Turkish Intelligence Service), and brought to Turkey. Multiple Turkish officials have confirmed that Turkey has been involved in more than 100 international abductions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/turkey/|publisher=U.S. Department of State|title=2018 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Turkey|access-date=17 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/bakan-yardimcisi-100un-uzerinde-feto-teroristi-ulkemize-getirildi-41128404|title=Abductions of Gulenists by Turkish state|date=24 February 2019 |publisher=Hurriyet|access-date=17 December 2023}}</ref> 68 of these abductions are publicly known. The number of abductions and the countries are: Azerbaijan (8),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/turkiye/fetonun-azerbaycan-kasasi-tutuklandi/1209711|title=Turkish officials abducted a Gulenist from Azerbaijan|date=20 July 2018|publisher=AA|access-date=17 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://laweuro.com/?p=927|title=Ozdemir vs. Azerbaijan|date=24 April 2019|publisher=LawEuro|access-date=17 December 2023}}</ref> Bahrain (1), Bulgaria (1), Gabon (3),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://stockholmcf.org/3-detained-turkish-educators-and-their-families-handed-over-to-turkey-by-gabon/|title=Gabon handed over 3 detained educators to Turkey|date=8 April 2018|publisher=Stockholm Center for Freedom|access-date=17 December 2023}}</ref> Indonesia (1), Kazakhstan (2), Kenya (1),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57304094|title=Nephew of Gulen seized|date=31 May 2021|publisher=BBC|access-date=17 December 2023}}</ref> Kosovo (6),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-abducts-erdogan-opponents-in-kosovo/video-43780323|title=Turkey abducts Erdogan opponents in Kosovo|date=17 May 2018|publisher=Deutsche Welle|access-date=17 December 2023}}</ref> Kyrgyzstan (1),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-dunya-57404967|title=Orhan Inandi abducted from Kyrgistan|date=8 June 2021|publisher=BBC|access-date=17 December 2023}}</ref> Lebanon (1), Malaysia (11), Moldova (7),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2018/09/moldova-seven-people-deported-to-turkey-despite-major-human-rights-concerns/|title=Moldova deported 7 Gulenists|date=6 September 2018|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=17 December 2023}}</ref> Myanmar (1), Pakistan (4), Saudi Arabia (16), Sudan (1), Ukraine (3).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://turkeytribunal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/AbductionsinTurkey_Turkey-Tribunal-Report_FINAL.pdf|title=Abductions in Turkey Today|date=July 2021|publisher=Turkey Tribunal|access-date=17 December 2023}}</ref>
Among Turkish citizens within Turkey that have been convicted for membership in the Gülen movement are Turkey's honorary president of Amnesty International, Taner Kilic, and Amnesty's Turkish branch, Idil Eser, who were convicted in July 2020.<ref>{{Cite news|title=In Turkey, Twitter is the enemy of the people|url=https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/turkey/2020-08-02/ty-article/.premium/in-turkey-twitter-is-the-enemy-of-the-people/0000017f-dba5-d3ff-a7ff-fba555380000|access-date=2021-03-11|newspaper=Haaretz|language=en}}</ref> The editor of {{lang|tr|Cumhuriyet}} (a well known secularist newspaper<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cumhuriyet |url=https://www.eurotopics.net/en/149664/cumhuriyet |access-date=2026-05-31 |website=eurotopics.net |language=en}}</ref>), Can Dündar, was sentenced in absentia in December 2020 to 8 years and 9 months for aiding {{lang|tr|FETÖ}} (while not being a member) in the MİT trucks scandal.<ref name="Hürriyet">{{cite news |title=Can Dündar gets 27-year prison term in espionage trial - Türkiye News |url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/can-dundar-gets-27-years-of-sentence-in-espionage-trial-161089 |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=Hürriyet Daily News |date=23 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
In June 2021, the Turkish-Kyrgyz educator and head of the Sapat educational network in Kyrgyzstan, Orhan Inandi, went missing from Bishkek, leading to mass protests. Inandi, who holds dual Turkish-Kyrgyz citizenship, had been living in Kyrgyzstan since 1995.<ref name="rferl.org">{{Cite news|title=Kyrgyz Officials Deny Role In Kidnapping Of Educator By Turkish Intelligence|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/kyrgyzstan-turkey-inandi-disappearance/31347063.html|access-date=2021-07-09|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=8 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref> One month later, Turkish President Erdoğan said on July 5 that Turkish intelligence agents had abducted Inandi and accused him of being "a top Central Asian leader" of the Gülen movement.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-06|title=Erdogan boasts of abduction of Turkish-born Kyrgyz educator Orhon Inandi|url=https://www.intellinews.com/erdogan-boasts-of-abduction-of-turkish-born-kyrgyz-educator-orhon-inandi-214936/|access-date=2021-07-06|website=www.intellinews.com|language=en}}</ref> Kyrgyz officials have denied claims they colluded with Turkish intelligence in the abduction.<ref name="rferl.org"/>
==== Designation as a terrorist group ==== Gülen movement is a designated terrorist group according to the following countries and international organizations: * {{flag|Turkey}}, since May 2016<ref name="auto4">{{cite web|url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20161014-gcc-declare-feto-a-terrorist-organisation/|title=GCC declare Gulen group a 'terrorist organisation'|date=14 October 2016}}</ref> * {{flagicon image|Flag of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.svg}} Gulf Cooperation Council, since October 2016<ref name="auto3">{{cite web |url = https://www.dunya.com/gundem/039feto-kktc039de-de-teror-orgutleri-listesine-eklendi039-haberi-326237|title='FETÖ, KKTC'de de terör örgütleri listesine eklendi'|language=tr|date = August 17, 2016 |work =dunya.com }}</ref> * Organization of Islamic Cooperation, since October 2016<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20161019-oic-lists-gulen-network-as-terror-group/|title=OIC lists Gulen network as 'terror group'|date=19 October 2016}}</ref> * {{flag|Pakistan}}, since December 2018{{Primary source inline|date=December 2025}}
Northern Cyprus, a government recognised only by Turkey and considered by the international community to be part of the Republic of Cyprus, also designated the Gülen movement as a terrorist organisation in July 2016.
In 2017, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the British Parliament's Foreign Affairs Select Committee there was no "evidence to justify the designation of the Gülenists as a terrorist organisation by the UK".<ref name="UKparliament" /> The same year, Gilles de Kerchove, the EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator, said that the European Union didn't see the Gülen movement as a terrorist organisation and that the EU would need "substantive" evidence to change its stance.<ref name="webarchive" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-30 |title=EU anti-terror chief: Gülen network not terrorist organization |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/fethullah-gulen-gilles-de-kerchove-eu-anti-terror-chief-gulen-network-not-terrorist-organization/ |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2018, in a conference with Turkish President Erdoğan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany needed more evidence to classify the Gülen movement as a terrorist organisation.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-merkel-gulen-pkk/germany-needs-more-evidence-to-declare-gulen-movement-illegal-merkel-idUSKCN1M81HV Germany needs more evidence to declare Gulen movement illegal: Merkel], Reuters</ref> The Gülen movement was included in the declaration in the trilateral memorandum signed by Turkey, Finland and Sweden during the NATO summit in Madrid on 28 June 2022, but it was not defined as a terrorist organisation.<ref>{{cite news |date=29 June 2022|title=NATO deal with Sweden and Finland: Ankara celebrates 'national victory,' worries mount in Stockholm|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/06/29/nato-deal-with-sweden-and-finland-ankara-celebrates-national-victory-worries-mount-in-stockholm_5988325_4.html|work=Le Monde}}</ref>
In a 2015 interview with ''Zaman'' newspaper, Hikmet Çetinkaya, a long-time secularist journalist for Cumhuriyet newspaper and a critic of Gülen, said he had been investigating the movement since 40 years and faced 170 lawsuits by Gülen. Despite decades of scrutiny, he stated that he never described Gülen or the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization and cannot do so, as he is someone to defend human rights, justice and democracy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haber3 |date=2015-10-31 |title=Hayat nelere kadir! |url=https://www.haber3.com/medya/hayat-nelere-kadir-haberi-4824832 |access-date=2025-12-21 |website=Haber3 |language=tr}}</ref>
===Assassination of the Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov=== {{Main|Assassination of Andrei Karlov}}
Following the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Ankara, Andrey Karlov, the Turkish government was reportedly investigating the assassin's links to the "Gülenist Terrorist Organisation" (FETÖ). In a speech, Turkish President Erdoğan said that the perpetrator was a member of FETÖ.<ref name="ABCNews20Dec">{{cite news|title=Who was the Ankara assassin?|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-20/ankara-russian-ambassador-shooting-who-is-mevlut-mert-aydintas/8135510|work=ABC News|date=20 December 2016|language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/cumhurbaskani-erdogan-ankara-da-siyaset-2365707/|title=Erdoğan resmen açıkladı: Suikastçı FETÖ mensubu |trans-title=Erdoğan officially announces: Assassin is FETÖ member |work=Milliyet Haber |access-date=21 December 2016}}</ref>
In contrast, Russian officials have accused the shooter of aiming to damage Russia–Turkey relations<ref name="Vladimir Putin says">{{cite web |last1=Osborne |first1=Samuel |title=Vladimir Putin says killing of Russian ambassador designed to spoil Russian-Turkish ties Putin orders security at Russian embassies around the world to be stepped up |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-putin-russian-ambassador-dead-turkey-death-andrey-andrei-karlov-shot-ankara-syria-peace-process-a7485376.html |work=The Independent |access-date=May 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108125055/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-putin-russian-ambassador-dead-turkey-death-andrey-andrei-karlov-shot-ankara-syria-peace-process-a7485376.html |archive-date=8 November 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Putin says Turkey ambassador murder">{{cite news |last1=Osborn |first1=Andrew |title=Putin says Turkey ambassador murder is ploy to wreck Syrian peace process |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-russia-diplomat-putin/putin-says-turkey-ambassador-murder-is-ploy-to-wreck-syrian-peace-process-idUSKBN1482B3 |website=Reuters |date=19 December 2016 |agency=Reuters |access-date=May 26, 2022}}</ref> which had been normalising since the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt.<ref name="Five Sentenced to Life">{{cite web |title=Five sentenced to life in Turkey for Russian envoy's murder |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210309-five-sentenced-to-life-in-turkey-for-russian-envoy-s-murder-1 |website=France 24 |date=9 March 2021 |access-date=May 26, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Trial Begins Over Alleged Plot">{{cite news |title=Trial Begins Over Alleged Plot Behind Assassination Of Russian Envoy In Turkey |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-russia-diplomat-assassination-trial/29696718.html |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=8 January 2019 |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=May 26, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Prosecutors seek life sentence for defendants in Russian ambassador's killing |url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/prosecutors-seek-life-sentence-for-defendants-in-russian-ambassadors-killing-152732 |access-date=3 April 2020 |publisher=Hürriyet Daily News |date=5 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Borger |first1=Julian |title=Why killing of Russian diplomat may well bring Turkey and Russia closer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/19/why-killing-of-russian-diplomat-is-likely-to-bring-turkey-and-russia-closer |access-date=3 April 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=19 December 2016}}</ref> Gülen described the killing as a "heinous act of terror" that pointed to a deterioration of security in Turkey.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/cnews-us-turkey-russia-diplomacy-idCAKBN1481RE | title=Gulen condemns the killing | publisher=Reuters | access-date=22 September 2023}}</ref>
One of the suspects in the December 2016 murder of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov on Friday denied links to the faith-based Gülen movement and said he was affiliated with the Menzil Community sect in Turkey. One of 28 suspects in the case, police officer Hasan Tunç, who was friends with the assassin, said he is connected to the Menzil Community sect.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.turkishminute.com/2019/01/11/suspect-in-karlov-murder-denies-gulen-links-admits-connection-to-islamic-sect/|title=Suspect in Karlov murder denies Gülen links, admits connection to Islamic sect|publisher=Turkish Minute|access-date=13 December 2024}}</ref>
=== Professional associations === While being both praised and criticised for being market friendly, the Gülen movement has established various professional associations and business networks. Among them Istanbul based TUSKON is the major non-profit business confederation which aims to promote economic solutions as well as social and political ones. Another one called TUCSIAD is based in China, in addition to DTIK's Asia-Pacific Group which supports the Gülen movement outside of Turkey in China, hoping to influence Turkish politics from the outside.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}
== Popular culture ==
*A documentary movie "Love Is a Verb" was made in 2014 about the Gülen movement<ref>{{Citation |title=Love Is a Verb |date=2014-04-01 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3181886/ |access-date=2025-10-19 |publisher=Global Vision Productions}}</ref>
==Timeline== * 1941 - Gülen was born in the village of Korucuk in the Pasinler district of Erzurum, Turkey. * 1950s - Gülen's first meeting with people from the Nur movement.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Unal | editor2-last= Williams|editor1-first=Ali |editor2-first= Alphonse|title=Advocate of Dialogue: Fethullah Gulen| date=2000|publisher=The Fountain|location=Fairfax, VA|page=15}}</ref> * 1959 - Gülen becomes a licensed imam of the government.<ref name=":4" /> * 1960 - Death of Said Nursî.<ref>{{citation | first = Ian | last = Markham | title = Engaging with Bediuzzaman Said Nursi: A Model of Interfaith Dialogue | page = 4 | isbn = 0754669319}}</ref> * 1966 - Gülen is appointed as an imam to İzmir province, where he established a network of boarding houses known as ''ışık evleri'' (“lighthouses”) that assisted students with their education.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Fethullah Gülen {{!}} Movement, Schools, Beliefs, & Alleged Coup Involvement | work = Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fethullah-Gulen |access-date=2025-09-28 | language=en}}</ref> * 1972 - Gülen was posted in Manisa where he began the first university preparatory courses in an attempt to prepare ordinary Turkish children for higher education.<ref name="Ebaugh 2010 29">{{Cite book |last=Ebaugh |first=Helen Rose Fuchs |title=The Gülen movement: a sociological analysis of a civic movement rooted in moderate Islam |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-9893-2 |pages=3, 29}}</ref> * 1975 - The first student dormitory was established in İzmir with the donations of Gülen supporters, which was entirely free.<ref name="turkhaber16052010" /> * 1979 - Science journal ''Sızıntı'' begins publication.{{Citation needed|reason=No ciations|date=April 2025}} * 1982 - The first "Gülen school" opens in Turkey, it's a secular school.<ref name="turkhaber16052010">{{cite web|url=http://www.haberturk.com/polemik/haber/515415-100-soruda-fethullah-gulen-ve-hareketi |title= "100 soruda Fethullah Gülen ve Hareketi" |trans-title=Gulen and its movement in 100 questions |publisher= HaberTurk|date=16 May 2010|access-date=7 April 2025|language=TR}}</ref> * 1986 - ''Zaman'', a daily newspaper in Turkey,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.medyatava.com/tiraj/ |title=Tiraj |trans-title=circulation |publisher=Medyatava |access-date=18 December 2013 |archive-date=17 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217084446/http://www.medyatava.com/tiraj/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> begins publication, later becoming one of Turkey's top selling newspapers. * 1992 - Gülen-inspired businessmen and teachers opened the first international schools in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.<ref name=":4" /> * 1993 - The movement opens its first TV channel in Turkey, ''Samanyolu TV''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bruijn |first=Petra de |date=2018-07-03 |title=Deep State. Visual Socio-Political Communication in the Television Series and Serials of the Turkish Television Channel Samanyolu |url=https://journals.openedition.org/tvseries/2500?lang=en&utm_source=chatgpt.com |journal=TV/Series |language=en |issue=13 |doi=10.4000/tvseries.2500 |issn=2266-0909}}</ref>{{AI-retrieved source|date=March 2026|checked=no}} * 1993 - Salih Adem, a student from a Gülen-affiliated school, won the first-ever gold medal for Turkey in the International Physics Olympiad and appeared on the cover of the popular science magazine ''Bilim ve Teknik''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IPhO: Türkiye - Individual Results |url=https://ipho-unofficial.org/countries/TUR/individual |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=ipho-unofficial.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=A |first=C. |date=2020-03-06 |title=Were the Hizmet Movement schools successful? |url=https://boldmedya.com/2020/03/06/were-the-hizmet-movement-schools-successful/ |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=BoldMedya |language=en-US}}</ref> * 1993 - Turgut Özal, then President of Turkey, who had openly acknowledged his Kurdish roots and proposed potential resolutions to the PKK conflict, visited Hizmet schools during his official trips to Central Asian countries and expressed his support for them. He was assassinated just after the trip.<ref name="carnegieendowment.org"/><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2012-11-26 |title=Report: Body of former Turkish leader shows signs of poisoning |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/report-body-former-turkish-leader-shows-signs-poisoning-flna1C7245150 |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> * 1994 - Dozens of Gülen inspired schools opened in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ebaugh |first=Helen Rose Fuchs |title=The Gülen movement: a sociological analysis of a civic movement rooted in moderate Islam |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-9893-2 |pages=43}}</ref> * 1994 - The first university (Fatih University) is established in Istanbul.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ebaugh |first=Helen Rose Fuchs |title=The Gülen movement: a sociological analysis of a civic movement rooted in moderate Islam |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-9893-2 |pages=90}}</ref> * 1994 - The (Turkish) Journalists and Writers Foundation (''Gazeteciler ve Yazarlar Vakfı'') established, with Gülen as honorary president. Abant Platform Meetings starts which brings Turkish citizens of diverse intellectual and religious backgrounds, including Muslims, secularists, traditionalists, atheists, Christians, leftists, modernists and conservatives, to discuss and debate common positions on key contemporary issues.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fuchs Ebaugh|first1=Helen Rose|title=The Gulen Movement: A Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam|publisher=Springer|page=89|year=2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ebaugh |first=Helen Rose Fuchs |title=The Gülen movement: a sociological analysis of a civic movement rooted in moderate Islam |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-9893-2 |pages=89}}</ref> * 1996 - The movement opens "Asya Finans", an interest-free bank.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ebaugh |first=Helen Rose Fuchs |title=The Gülen movement: a sociological analysis of a civic movement rooted in moderate Islam |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-9893-2 |pages=84}}</ref> * 1998 - Gülen meets with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican to promote interfaith dialogue.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Salih|first1=Yucel|title=Muslim-Christian Dialogue: Nostra Aetated and Fethullah Gulen's Philosophy of Dialogue|journal=Australian eJournal of Theology|date=Dec 2013|page=200}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Michel S.J.|first1=Thomas|title="Fethullah Gulen and Pope John Paul II: "Two Frontrunners for Peace"|journal=Dialogue Asia-Pacific|date=Oct–Dec 2007|issue=14|pages=6–8}}</ref> * 1999 - Gülen went to the United States because of the accusations in Turkey and his health problems.<ref name="Journal-28Dec2013"/> * 2000 - At the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2000, Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit (a well known leftist) recognised in his speech the importance of Gülen-inspired schools all over the world, and how these schools contribute to the cultures and well-being of Turkey and other countries.<ref name="Ebaugh 2010 29"/> * 2001 - The next day of September 11, Gülen ran a full page statement on The New York Times condemning the terrorist attack and stating that the perpetrators are not the representatives of Islam. He stated: "A terrorist cannot be a Muslim, nor can a true Muslim be a terrorist."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ebaugh |first=Helen Rose Fuchs |title=The Gülen movement: a sociological analysis of a civic movement rooted in moderate Islam |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-9893-2}}</ref> * 2004 - The first Gülen inspired hospital is established in Istanbul.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-02 |title=Sema Hastanesi “Üniversite Hastanesi” oldu… |url=https://www.kadikoylife.com/sema-hastanesi-universite-hastanesi-oldu/ |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=www.kadikoylife.com |language=tr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ebaugh |first=Helen Rose Fuchs |title=The Gülen movement: a sociological analysis of a civic movement rooted in moderate Islam |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-9893-2 |pages=92}}</ref> * 2004 - Establishment of Niagara Foundation.<ref>{{cite web| title=History Niagara Foundation|url=http://www.niagarafoundation.org/niagara/history/|website=Niagara Foundation|quote=The Niagara Foundation was created in 2004 by a group of Turkish-American businessmen and educators in order to realize the vision of their spiritual leader, Fethullah Gulen, himself a Turkish Muslim scholar and poet, as well as an educational and humanitarian activist. Today the Niagara Foundation is active in nine Midwestern states with 22 branches.}}</ref> * 2004 - Establishment of ''Kimse Yok Mu'' (Is Anybody There?), a charitable organisation;<ref>{{cite web|last1=Michel, S.J.|first1=Thomas|title=Fighting Poverty with Kimse Yok Mu|url=http://fgulen.com/en/gulen-movement/conference-papers/gulen-conference-in-washington/26437-fighting-poverty-with-kimse-yok-mu?hitcount=0|website=Fethullah Gülen's Official Web Site.}}</ref> 2010, receives "special" NGO status with United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://esango.un.org/civilsociety/simpleSearch.do?method=search&searchTypeRedef=simpleSearch&sessionCheck=false&searchType=simpleSearch&organizationNamee=kimse+yok+mu&Submit=Go|title=United Nations Search results for CSos|website=esango.un.org}}</ref> * 2004 - A television channel opened in Turkey, ''Kanaltürk''. * 2005 - Establishment of TUSKON (Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tuskon.org/?p=content&cl=kurumsal&l=kurumsal |title=Hakkında |trans-title=About |publisher=TUSKON |access-date=18 December 2013}}</ref> * 2006 - A cultural television channel was opened in Turkey, ''Mehtap TV''.{{Citation needed|reason=No ciations|date=April 2025}} * 2007 - A news channel was opened in Turkey, ''Samanyolu Haber TV''.{{Citation needed|reason=No ciations|date=April 2025}} * 2008 - Followers of Gülen distributed meat to around 60,000 families during the Eid al-Fitr, and doctors who follow Gülen offered free check-ups and treatment in Kurdish regions, conveying the message that Kurds and Turks are brothers in Islam.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ebaugh |first=Helen Rose Fuchs |title=The Gülen movement: a sociological analysis of a civic movement rooted in moderate Islam |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-9893-2 |pages=3}}</ref> * 2008 - A study emphasized the effectiveness of the Gülen Movement's non-political approaches to ethnic conflict, suggesting that its educational and community building efforts have helped reduce terrorist recruitment by the PKK and Hizbullah among youth in Mardin, a Kurdish majority city in Turkey.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kalyoncu |first=Mehmet |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Civilian_Response_to_Ethno_religious_C/r04OPJArUPQC?hl=en |title=A Civilian Response to Ethno-religious Conflict: The Gülen Movement in Southeast Turkey |date=2008 |publisher=Tughra Books |isbn=978-1-59784-025-5 |language=en}}</ref> * 2009 - More than 50 Gülen inspired schools are active in Europe, primarily in Germany.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web | date=2010-09-15 |title=Gülen Movement |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2010/09/15/muslim-networks-and-movements-in-western-europe-gulen-movement/ |access-date=2025-10-02 |website=Pew Research Center | location = Washington, DC | language=en-US}}</ref> * 2010 - Gülen-inspired schools have expanded to over 1,000 in more than 100 countries across five continents.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ebaugh |first=Helen Rose Fuchs |title=The Gülen movement: a sociological analysis of a civic movement rooted in moderate Islam |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-9893-2 |pages=97}}</ref> * 2010 - The first private Kurdish language TV channel in Turkey, "Dünya TV", launched by the Gülen movement.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-07-23 |title=Kürtçe ilk özel TV yayında - MediaCat |url=https://mediacat.com/kurtce-ilk-ozel-tv-yayinda/ |access-date=2025-10-15 |language=tr}}</ref> * 2011 - Two supporters of the movement were elected as AKP MPs, which lasted until 2013, when Erdoğan began targeting the movement using the full power of the government.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> * 2012 - Erdoğan called on Gülen to return to Turkey, but Gülen did not take up the invitation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-06-16 |title=Gülen followers glad over PM's return call - Türkiye News |url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/gulen-followers-glad-over-pms-return-call-23317 |access-date=2025-12-06 |website=Hürriyet Daily News |language=en}}</ref> * 2012 - {{ill|Journalists and Writers Foundation|tr|Gazeteciler ve Yazarlar Vakfı}} receives "general consultative status" as a Non-Governmental Organization of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.<ref>{{cite web|title=List of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council as of 1 September 2013|url=http://esango.un.org/civilsociety/documents/E_2013_INF_6.pdf|website=United Nations Economic and Social Council|page=3|date=3 October 2013}}</ref> * 2013 - 2013 corruption scandal erupts, leading to the resignation of four ministers from Erdoğan's cabinet. Erdoğan blames allegedly Gülen affiliated cops and starts purging hundreds of Police officers linked to the movement. The relationship between the Gülen movement and the Turkish government deteriorates. * 2015 - Global Gülen movement members estimated to be 3-6 million. The global number of schools estimated to be 2000 including 1000 in Turkey and 1000 in other countries.<ref>{{Cite web |date = 2021 | work = American Foreign Policy Council |title=Fetullah Gülen Movement |url=https://almanac.afpc.org/uploads/documents/Gulen_2021_Website.pdf | page = 8 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-01-21 |title=Map of Gülen's 2,000 educational enterprises in 160 countries |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304757004579332870328602110 |access-date=2025-10-17 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> * 2016 - In May, Gülen movement was declared a terrorist organisation by the Turkish government. * 2016 - On July 15, a failed coup attempt takes place; the same night, Erdoğan blames the Gülen movement and by the following morning he purges 2,745 judges and thousands of government officials over alleged ties to the movement. Over 150,000 government officials were fired and over 50,000 arrested in the first months after the coup attempt. Over 12 billion $ worth property linked to Gülen movement were seized by the Turkish government. 1,043 private schools, 1,229 charities and foundations, 19 trade unions, 15 universities and 35 medical institutions affiliated with the movement shut down by the Erdoğan government on 23 July.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 July 2016 |title=Turkey's Erdogan signs first decree under state of emergency |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/turkey-s-erdogan-signs-first-decree-under-state-of-emergency-idUSKCN1030D1/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-26 |title=Creating an elite to lead the state | work = D+C - Development + Cooperation |url=https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/turkish-gulen-movement-expanding-worldwide-opinions-differ-reasons-why |access-date=2025-10-02 | language=en}}</ref> * 2016 - 15 universities were ordered to close because of alleged ties to Gülen movement. Erdoğan starts pressuring African countries to close Gülen schools. * 2018 - The number of closed nongovernmental organisations by Turkish government for alleged ties to the Gülen movement exceeds 1500. * 2019 - The number of citizens detained for alleged links to the Gülen movement exceeded 500,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Die Gülen-Bewegung im Exil: Wiederbelebung in der Diaspora |url=https://www.giga-hamburg.de/de/publikationen/giga-focus/die-guelen-bewegung-im-exil-wiederbelebung-in-der-diaspora |access-date=2025-10-02 |website=www.giga-hamburg.de |language=de-DE}}</ref> * 2024 - Gülen dies in Pennsylvania after previously being treated in a hospital.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Butler |first=Daren |date=2024-10-21 |title=Gulen, the powerful cleric accused of orchestrating a Turkish coup, dies |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/turkish-us-based-cleric-gulen-has-died-media-says-2024-10-21/ |access-date=2024-10-21 |website=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-21 |title=Fethullah Gülen'in öldüğü açıklandı |url=https://www.bbc.com/turkce/articles/c80r88pxyr0o |access-date=2024-10-21 |website=BBC News Türkçe |language=tr}}</ref> 20,000 attend his funeral in a stadium in NJ.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Adely |first=Hannan |title=Thousands attended this funeral at Skylands stadium. Why did the death resonate so deeply? |url=https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2024/10/29/gulen-funeral-at-skylands-baseball-stadium/75901581007/ |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=North Jersey Media Group |language=en-US}}</ref> A month later Alliance for Shared Values, a NY based Gülen movement non-profit stated its commitment to "consultative decision‑making, localisation, pluralism, and the continuation of its core values, including education, dialogue, and humanitarian aid".
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |url=https://uofupress.lib.utah.edu/turkeys-july-15th-coup/ |first1=M Hakan | last1 = Yavuz | first2 = Bayram | last2 = Balci |year=2018 |title=Turkey's July 15th Coup: What Happened and Why |series=Utah Series in Middle East Studies |publisher=University of Utah Press |isbn=9781607816065}} * {{cite book |url=https://fgulen.com/en/what-went-wrong-with-turkey |editor-last=Yesilova |editor-first=Hakan |date=2017 |title=What went wrong with Turkey? |series=The Fountain |type=Magazine special issue |publisher=Blue Dome Press |place=Clifton, New Jersey |language=en |issn=0967-9928 |isbn=978-1-68206-017-9}} Blue Dome Press is affiliated with the Hizmet movement. * {{cite book |first=Faruk | last = Mercan |publisher=Blue Dome Press |year=2017 |title=No Return from Democracy: A Survey of Interviews with Fethullah Gulen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5jAgMQAACAAJ |isbn=978-1682060179}} * {{cite book |title=Toward an Islamic Enlightenment: The Gülen Movement |first=M Hakan | last = Yavuz |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsTdpmviIQ4C |isbn=9780199927999}} * {{cite journal |url=http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/the_good_the_bad_and_the_gulenists7131 |title=The good, the bad and the Gülenists: The Role of the Gulen Movement in Turkey's Coup Attempt |publisher=ecfr.eu |journal=European Council on Foreign Relations |first=Asli | last =Aydıntaşbaş |date=September 2016 |isbn=978-1-910118-88-7}} * {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hc7QAgAAQBAJ |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |title=The House of Service: The Gülen Movement and Islam's Third Way |isbn=9780199336418 |first=David | last =Tittensor}} * {{cite web |title=Gülen movement: Creating an elite to lead the state |date=November 26, 2017 |first=Timur | last=Tinç |url=https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/turkish-guelen-movement-expanding-worldwide-opinions-differ-reasons-why |publisher=D+C Development and Cooperation}} * {{cite web |title=Creating an elite to lead the state: The Gulen movement in Turkey |url=http://en.qantara.de/node/29833 |publisher=Qantara.de |first=Timur | last=Tinç |date=December 27, 2017}} * {{cite journal |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/12/turkey-finally-some-gulenists-speak-out.html |title=Gulenists Speak Out at Last | first=Mustafa | last = Akyol |date=December 7, 2017 |journal=Al-Monitor}} - a review of former Hizmet participants' scholarly commentary about the movement * {{cite news |url=https://ahvalnews.com/turkey/loathed-hunted-down-gulen-movement-finished-turkey |publisher=Ahval |date=February 28, 2018 |title=Loathed, hunted down, Gülen Movement finished in Turkey | first=Nick | last = Ashdown}} * {{cite web |first=Ali | last = Moore |publisher=Jakarta Post |title=The rise, fall and future of Turkey's Gülen movement |date=October 31, 2019 |type=audio of roundtable discussion with academics David Tittensor & Tezcan Gümüş at University of Melbourne's Asia Institute |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/multimedia/2019/10/14/the-rise-fall-and-future-of-turkey-s-gulen-movement.html}} * {{cite news |title=Expulsions, pushbacks and extraditions: Turkey's war on dissent extends to Europe |publisher=Public Radio Exchange; WGBH Educational Foundation |work=The World |date=July 23, 2020 |type=Radio broadcast and written article |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2020/07/23/expulsions-pushbacks-and-extraditions-turkey-s-war-dissent-extends-europe}}<!-- I can't find a transcript. --> * {{cite book |first=Helen Rose Fuchs | last = Ebaugh |url=https://www.amazon.com/G%C3%BClen-Movement-Sociological-Analysis-Moderate/dp/1402098936 |date=2010 |title=The Gülen Movement A Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam}} {{refend}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulen Movement}} Category:Gülen movement Category:Islam and politics Category:Islamism in Turkey Category:Sunni Islamic branches Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by Pakistan Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Turkey Category:Political movements in Turkey Category:Sufi organizations Category:Interfaith dialogue Category:Christian–Islamic–Jewish interfaith dialogue Category:Human rights in Turkey Category:Islamic democracy Category:Human rights abuses in Turkey Category:Sunni Islam Category:Islamic modernism