ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned late preacher Fethullah Gulen and his followers as traitors on Tuesday, pledging to pursue them globally following Gulen’s death in exile.
“These traitors managed to escape Turkish justice with the help of those who protected them. They left without facing accountability for the blood of the martyrs they shed. But they will not evade divine justice,” Erdogan stated in a televised address.
Once a close ally of Erdogan, Gulen became a bitter adversary after being accused of orchestrating the failed coup attempt against him in 2016.
Gulen relocated to Pennsylvania in 1999, ostensibly for health reasons, and led his Hizmet movement from there, which at its peak operated 4,000 schools in Turkey and 500 worldwide.
