Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Fethullah Gülen" in English language version.
Still, Gulen repeatedly states that he propagates neither tajdīd, nor ijtihād, nor reform and that he is just a follower of Islam, simply a Muslim. He is very careful about divorcing himself from any reformist, political, or Islamist discourse. Gulen's conscious dislike of using Islam as a discursive political instrument, which was a distinct trait in Nursi as well, indicates an ethicalized approach to Islam from a spiritual perspective.
In 2005, years before the trials, a man affiliated with the Gulen movement approached Eric S. Edelman, then the American ambassador, at a party in Istanbul and handed him an envelope containing a handwritten document that supposedly laid out a plan for an imminent coup. But as Mr. Edelman recounted, he gave the documents to his colleagues and they were determined to be forgeries.
Whether the corruption charges are justified or not – there has been plenty of leaked evidence, especially wiretapped conversations, that appears incriminating – the corruption probe has laid bare the influence of the Gulen movement within the Turkish state, which had largely been suspected but hard to prove.
