U.S.-based Turkish political dissident Fethullah Gülen has died
The U.S.-based Turkish political dissident Fethullah Gülen has died. He built a religious movement in his home country and later lived in self-imposed exile in the United States.
Crowds at a funeral service for Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish-born Muslim scholar and spiritual leader, grew so large last week that they spilled outside the venue of Skylands baseball stadium in northern New Jersey and gridlocked traffic.
Adam Ozdemir, executive director of Peace Islands Institute, a nonprofit headquartered in Hasbrouck Heights, where Gulen served as honorary president, was among the mourners who extolled the influential cleric.
“He touched my life as well as millions of lives in Turkey and around the world,” Ozdemir said. “He taught me understanding of my values as a human being, as the most important creature in the word. He was a great role model. He encouraged people to live a life not only for yourself but for others.”
Gulen, 83, who died Oct. 20, preached about faith, interfaith dialogue and civic engagement through his worldwide movement called Hizmet, meaning service. Started in Turkey in the late 1960s, the movement thrives among followers in New Jersey, not far from where the preacher himself lived in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania in self-exile since 1999. They have built businesses, nonprofits and schools inspired by his teachings.
The Muslim scholar was also a divisive figure. A onetime ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he was accused by Turkey of organizing a failed coup on July 15, 2016. Gulen denied involvement, and supporters dismissed the allegations as politically motivated. Hizmet leaders also came under scrutiny for financial practices tied to public charter schools that they ran in the United States.
Gulen’s network is known for its outreach among groups of different faiths and backgrounds. The Peace Islands Institute holds dialogue events, Thanksgiving meals and iftars, the fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, focused on tolerance and understanding. The values that were key aspects of Gulen’s teaching, said Ozdemir.
Ozdemir was drawn to the movement at his school in Turkey. There, he learned from teachers and counselors who were followers of Gulen and embraced a focus on education, science, faith and morality.
“Gulen encouraged the establishment of schools, teaching centers and scholarships to reach underserved communities,” he said, adding that he had a “message to transform the world through education.”
Hakan Yesilova of Clifton also became a devotee while in school in Turkey. Today, he publishes The Fountain, a magazine that features articles by Gulen and is circulated around the globe. His office is upstairs from the Gulen-inspired ANT Bookstore & Café in Clifton. In recent days, Yesilova has seen crowds gravitate to the bookstore to browse or buy one of Gulen’s many written works.
“He was a deeply inspirational person,” Yesilova said. “I believe thousands of thousands of people like me become part of [the movement] through their schools, their successful academic works and thousands of publications, including newspapers, periodicals and many books by Mr. Gulen.”
More than 250,000 people of Turkish ancestry live in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Turkish American organizations say the true number is at least 350,000, with the largest concentrations being in the New York/New Jersey area and California.
They include asylum seekers who fled a crackdown on Hizmet in Turkey over the past decade. Turkey designated Gulen’s movement as a terrorist organization months before the coup, with Erdogan accusing Gulen of conspiring to overthrow him by building a network of supporters in the media, judiciary and education.
Thousands of people were imprisoned and fired from civil service jobs, while businesses, schools and media organizations linked to Gulen were shuttered or taken over by government appointees. Human rights groups decried the government’s actions, which also targeted academics, lawyers and journalists critical of the government.
Gulen died of natural causes at St. Luke’s Hospital, Monroe campus, in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, according to news reports. He was buried on the grounds of the Chestnut Retreat Center, the gated compound in the Pocono Mountains where Gulen lived and worked.
Mourners gathered at his grave and will gather again to remember him at a private vigil at the Hilton Hasbrouck Heights/Meadowlands on Wednesday, organized by the Peace Islands Institute.
At the Turkish Cultural Center New Jersey in Wayne, guests from around the world stopped in to offer condolences in a prayer space before heading to the funeral. The center coordinated hundreds of volunteers for the funeral, said outreach director Veysel Ucan.
Ozdemir estimated that between 12,000 and 15,000 people attended the event, which was in Augusta, Sussex County. Gulen’s official X account said that an estimated 20,000 were inside and outside the stadium.
Ucan hoped Gulen’s message of tolerance would continue to resonate after his death, especially amid what he saw as growing political polarization and hate.
“It’s our duty to continue his legacy and always remember why he was here in this world – what he tried to do and how he tried to inspire people,” he said. “Now, it’s a responsibility on our shoulders.”
