In emailed comments to the '' Wall Street Journal '' in January 2014 , Gülen said that " Turkish people ... are upset that in the last two years democratic progress is now being reversed " , but he denied being part of a plot to unseat the government . Later , in January 2014 in an interview with BBC World , Gülen said " If I were to say anything to people I may say people should vote for those who are respectful to democracy , rule of law , who get on well with people . Telling or encouraging people to vote for a party would be an insult to peoples ' intellect . Everybody very clearly sees what is going on . " According to some commentators , Gülen is to Erdoğan what Trotsky was to Stalin . Ben Cohen wrote : " Rather like Leon Trotsky , the founder of the Soviet Red Army who was hounded and chased out of the USSR by Joseph Stalin , Gülen has become an all-encompassing explanation for the existential threats , as Erdogan perceives them , that are currently plaguing Turkey . Stalin saw the influence of " Trotskyite counter-revolutionaries " everywhere , and brutally purged every element of the Soviet apparatus . Erdogan is now doing much the same with the " Gülenist terrorists . " Shortly after the botched coup attempt of 15 July 2016 , the Turkish government stated that the coup attempt had been organized by Gülen and/or his movement . Turkish prime minister Binali Yıldırım in late July 2016 told '' The Guardian '' : " Of course , since the leader of this terrorist organisation is residing in the United States , there are question marks in the minds of the people whether there is any U.S. involvement or backing . So America from this point on should really think how they will continue to cooperate with Turkey , which is a strategic ally for them in the region and world . " Gülen , who denied any involvement in the coup attempt and denounced it , has in turn accused Erdoğan of " turning a failed putsch into a slow-motion coup of his own against constitutional government . " On 19 July , an official request had been sent to the U.S. for the extradition of Fethullah Gülen . On 23 July 2016 , Turkey formally submitted a formal extradition request accompanied by certain documents as supporting evidence . Senior U.S. officials said this evidence pertained to certain pre-coup alleged subversive activities
purged
Great Purge
Fethullah Gülen