Fethullah Gulen, the US-based Muslim cleric accused of masterminding the July 15, 2016, coup attempt in Turkey, could soon be stripped of his Turkish citizenship while he remains on trial in absentia on myriad charges carrying gigantic sentences. The government has already laid the legal ground for the move, but why it plans to revoke Gulen’s citizenship remains a controversial question.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had signaled the start of the process in October 2016 when he made a remarkable comment on fugitive coup suspects. “We’ve said they’ll be running and we’ll go after them. They can run wherever they want,” Erdogan said. “Let them now become citizens of the countries where they fled. They will no longer be remembered as citizens of this nation.”

A few months after Erdogan’s remarks, the government used a legislative decree — a powerful instrument it wields under the state of emergency — to enact an amendment that paved the way for the denaturalization of those who face investigations for “crimes against the security of the state” and “crimes against the constitutional order” but who remain overseas and cannot be reached.

Following a June 4 meeting, the Council of Ministers issued a call in the Official Gazette for 130 individuals to return home, with Gulen on top of the list. The call included a warning that those who fail to return within three months would lose their citizenship. The three-month period ended Sept. 5, and the Council of Ministers is expected to revoke the citizenships of the fugitives, including Gulen, in the coming days.