When Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, traveled to Washington for crucial talks with US President Barack Obama on May 16, many wondered whether he would succeed in persuading the US leader to take a tougher line on Syria. Yet, there was another big question hanging in the air. Would Erdogan make time to meet with Fethullah Gulen, Turkey’s most influential Sunni cleric, who lives in self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania?
Tensions between Erdogan (a fellow imam) and Gulen have been simmering for some time. Yet, as the rift deepens so, too, has speculation about a protracted power struggle in the run-up to nationwide municipal elections that are meant to be held in March 2014. The elections are viewed as a litmus test of Erdogan’s unassailable popularity and their outcome will shine a light on his chances of becoming Turkey’s first popularly elected president when Abdullah Gul steps down in August 2014. Gulen, who commands a global empire of media outlets, charities, businesses and schools, can sway his followers either way.
In the event Erdogan did not meet with Gulen, he sent his Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc as an emissary instead. Speaking to reporters in Washington on May 18, Erdogan said, “We have an old relationship based on friendship and brotherhood. The aim of Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc’s visit [to Gulen] was to dispel negative rumors and gossip.”
The meeting came just days after Gulen rebutted accusations that he had targeted Erdogan in a recent sermon in which he railed against the evils of arrogance.
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