US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen died, Turkish media says

Istanbul: Turkish public television reported Monday that US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says masterminded a failed 2016 coup, has died.  He was 83.

Citing posts on X and social media by groups close to Gulen, they said he died in hospital overnight.

Gulen, who led a movement called Hizmet, was accused by Turkey of leading a "terrorist" group and being the brains behind an abortive coup to topple strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan's governmnt in 2016 - accusations he had consistently denied.

Gulen had lived in Pennsylvania since 1999. He was stripped of his Turkish nationality in 2017.