Fetullah Gülen, the ringleader of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), was buried on the grounds of his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania on Thursday as thousands turned up for a so-called prayer service in New Jersey.
Before the burial took place in the presence of a limited number of senior members and family members, over 10,000 FETÖ members and sympathizers attended a "prayer service" for the terrorist ringleader miles away at a sports stadium in New Jersey.
The body of Gülen, whose death was announced on Oct. 20, had been in the morgue of the Monroe campus of St. Luke's Hospital for four days.
Dozens of FETÖ high-ranking members who have no trouble with international travel headed to the U.S. for the funeral, including several wanted by Türkiye who donned masks and sunglasses to avoid recognition.
Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in Türkiye in which 252 people were killed and 2,734 wounded. Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
The FETÖ ringleader had been living in a vast compound in Pennsylvania since 1999 and from there he ran the terrorist organization, which had a sprawling network of schools, charities and business institutions on every continent. FETÖ’s influence has been much reduced since 2016 and its schools now only mainly operate in Germany, Nigeria, South Africa and the United States.
Turkish leaders had long sought his extradition after the coup attempt, but U.S. judicial officials did not approve it.
Washington has so far declined to comment on Gülen’s death.
Türkiye has sent the U.S. hundreds of folders full of evidence implicating Gülen and FETÖ in the coup attempt since 2016, which Washington says it is reviewing but a detailed comment on the extradition process is yet to be made. Turkish officials believe they have been “stalled.”
Ankara says evidence shows that Gülen's group formed a quasi-state within the Turkish government and attempted to topple it with the ultimate intent of taking over the state through a coup.
The issue was raised numerous times in bilateral meetings between Turkish and American officials, in phone calls, letters and other exchanges, and remains a thorn in the side of Türkiye-U.S. relations.
Türkiye is looking to extradite hundreds of other so-called senior members of FETÖ from the U.S., and 257 from European Union countries, including 77 from Germany.
