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Cause or cult? What it means to be a Gulenist

What really motivates Fethullah Gulen's movement — tolerance and peace or blind ambition?

U.S. based cleric Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 29, 2016.  REUTERS/Charles Mostoller - RTSKALB
US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, July 29, 2016. — REUTERS/Charles Mostoller

The attempted coup in Turkey mobilized the nation against not just the plotting officers, but also the religious group that at least some of those plotters seem to belong: The Islamic community led by Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Turkish cleric.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his supporters and almost all people across the political spectrum in Turkey now see Gulenists as the main culprit of the coup, as well as many other shadowy crimes of the past decade.

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