Everything you've ever wanted to know about Fethullah Gulen, Turkey's most controversial cleric
Questions remain concerning the future of Fethullah Gulen, a minor preacher who quickly rose to become one of Erdogan's closest allies, only to fall out of favor and remain in self-imposed exile in the US.
As 2015 came to a close, the Grand Ballroom of the Conrad Hotel in Manhattan presented a diverse tableau: Around the meticulously set tables sat Muslim women wearing colorful headscarves with oriental motifs, African-American clergymen from Queens, Jewish students from a Turkish charter school and veteran New York state politicians.
The lights dimmed. Murat Omur, president of a New York-based nonprofit called Peace Islands Institute, used two giant screens to present an overview of the past year’s highlights, which included setting up hospitals and orphanages in Haiti.
