Thousands mourn Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish spiritual leader who died in US скачать в хорошем качестве

Thousands mourn Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish spiritual leader who died in US

(24 Oct 2024) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Augusta, New Jersey - 24 October 2024 1. Various of casket holding Turkish spiritual leader and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen 2. Various of followers 3. Various of funeral prayer service for Gülen 4. Various of people carrying casket to hearse STORYLINE: Family, friends and followers of Fethullah Gülen are gathering Thursday to pay respects to the influential Turkish spiritual leader and Islamic scholar who died this week in self-exile in the United States. 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 Pennsylvania hospital. He was in his 80s. Under a heavy police presence, thousands of people filled a small stadium in North New Jersey for a prayer service. Followers who served as pallbearers either studied under Gülen directly or attended a school inspired by his movement. They carried his casket into the stadium. The casket was draped in a green covering inscribed in yellow with verses from the Quran. Organizers said a brother and a sister were in attendance. Another brother is imprisoned in Turkey. After the service, Gülen is to be buried in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, on the grounds of the Chestnut Retreat Center, a sprawling, gated compound in the Pocono Mountains where he lived and worked for a quarter-century. A much smaller circle of family and close friends was expected at the burial. Gülen had long been one of Turkey’s most important scholars, with millions of followers in his native country and around the world. He had lived in the United States since 1999, when he came to seek medical treatment. The religious leader began as an ally of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan but became a foe. He called Erdogan an authoritarian bent on accumulating power and crushing dissent. Erdogan cast Gülen as a terrorist, accusing him of masterminding the attempted coup on July 15, 2016, when factions within the military used tanks, warplanes and helicopters to try to overthrow the government. In Turkey, Gülen’s movement — sometimes known as Hizmet, Turkish for “service” — has been subjected to a broad crackdown. The government arrested tens of thousands of people for their alleged link to the coup plot, sacked more than 130,000 suspected supporters from civil service jobs and more than 23,000 from the military, and closed hundreds of businesses, schools and media organizations tied to Gülen. The Turkish government reacted to his death this week by vowing to keep up the pressure on the Gülenist movement. Erdogan said Gülen had suffered a “dishonorable death” and likened him to a “demon in human form.” He pledged the movement would be “completely eliminated.” Gulen was never charged with a crime in the U.S., and the U.S. government had rejected Turkey’s demands to extradite him. The cleric consistently denounced terrorism as well as the coup plotters. AP video by Tassanee Vejpongsa =========================================================== Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel +44(0)2074827482 Email: [email protected]. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...