A Saudi journalist has praised Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) leader Fetullah Gülen, who was the mastermind of the failed July 15 coup attempt, after reportedly spending four hours in his home in Pennsylvania, U.S.

The journalist, Othman al-Omeir, who is the publisher of the London-based Elaph online newspaper, shared a video of himself with Gülen and a photo of the two on his Instagram account on July 26.

In the video, Omeir says that he spent four hours in Gülen's home in Pennsylvania, and had a "good conversation" and an interview. "This is a very simple room, there are books everywhere and the Quran," the journalist said.

"I wanted to take a photo in front of a Turkish flag because he is not just a religious leader, but also a light of national hope in Turkey," Omeir captioned the photo of himself with Gülen shared on Instagram.

FETÖ and Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 249 people dead and some 2,200 injured.

Ankara accuses FETÖ of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through infiltration of state institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Gülen has been living in a compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, about 10 miles from the New Jersey border, in self-imposed exile since 1999.

For the past two decades he managed to establish a huge network of charter schools, civil society organizations, charity foundations and other institutions around the world, including over 100 in the U.S.