ISTANBUL - Fethullah Gülen, the US-based cleric who allegedly masterminded the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, has died, said a foundation in Germany linked to his movement. He was 83, reported German news agency (dpa).
Gülen died on Sunday evening at a hospital in the US state of Pennsylvania, said the chairman of the Dialogue and Education Foundation, Ercan Karakoyun, on Monday.
The foundation is the German branch of the transnational Gülen movement, also known as Hizmet, which runs schools, tutoring centres and kindergartens in Germany.
Turkey blamed Gülen and his movement for a bloody coup attempt on July 15, 2016, by a faction of the military.
The government considers the movement a terrorist organisation and has arrested thousands of people with alleged connections to both it and Gülen.
Years after the failed coup, the authorities continue to regularly target those with suspected links to Gülen, a former ally-turned-rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. - BERNAMA