Fethullah Gulen, the self-exiled cleric widely considered in Turkey to be the mastermind of the July 15 coup attempt, gave an interview to CNN International on Sunday. Speaking to CNN’s FareedZakaria, Gulen accepted that his followers may have been involved in the coup attempt but denied any involvement on his part.
Commenting on the coup itself, Gulensaid that”It looks more like a Hollywood movie than a military coup. It seems something like a staged scenario. It is understood from what is seen that they prepared the ground to realize what they have already planned.”
Asked about a Reuters/ANDY-AR public opinion poll showing 64% percent of Turks believe that he is behind the coup attempt and that 81% believe he must return to Turkey, Gulen argued the results of the poll reflect total government control and manipulation of the media in Turkey.
The preacher, who lives in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, published an op-ed in the New York Times last week titled “I Condemn All Threats to Turkey’s Democracy”. In the piece, he argued that suggestions of his involvement “not only…run afoul of everything I believe in (but are) also irresponsible and wrong,” calling upon the U.S. government to resist the Turkish government’s calls for his extradition.
Numerous confessions and statements by jailed soldiers published by Turkish media outlets, however, indicate the predominance of a wide Gulenist network with its own chain of command amongst many of the putschists.