Gülen

Abdullah Bozkurt, the former editor of the Gülen-linked Today’s Zaman newspaper, who is now in exile in Sweden, said Monday that he spoke to Gülen’s nephew, Kemal Gülen, who confirmed the death.

But Turkey is still holding back, demanding the extradition of people in Sweden it claims to have links to the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) – designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the EU and the US – or to banned cleric Fethullah Gülen.

Gülen, who inspired a global social movement while facing unproven allegations that he orchestrated a failed 2016 military coup against Turkey's president, died Sunday at a hospital.

The asylum provided by the U.S. to the preacher Fethullah Gülen, the mastermind behind the coup according to Ankara, reinforced this view.

The concept was used also by former members of the naval forces and, now, the Doğu Perinçek team, who are defined as and who attained their freedom by exploiting the conflict between the Gülen Movement and the AKP especially after mid-2015.

Aydın Sefa Akay was removed following his arrest and subsequent release over alleged links to Fethullah Gülen, blamed by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for a failed coup attempt.

Gülen has denied involvement.

In their most suspicious moods, they wonder out loud whether the United States government might actually be using Gülen to topple Erdoğan and destabilize Turkey.

The trial comes at a time when the NATO allies are increasingly at odds over the Syrian conflict, Turkey’s decision to buy a Russian missile defense system, and the U.S. refusal to extradite ’s leader Fethullah Gülen.

Both evidences reveal, according to Turkish officials, how Gülen personally instructed the members of his organization before and during the coup attempt.

The 50-year-old has been dubbed as “the air force imam” of the Fethullah Gülen network, widely believed to have orchestrated the failed coup.

Turkey claims Gülen ordered the coup but he denies the accusations.