Some circles of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) have filed an annulment action for the will of the group’s late leader, Fethullah Gülen, in a sign that rivalry for the leadership is continuing.
After a new will surfaced that said Gülen left $200,000 to Cevdet Türkyolu, a fugitive member, Ahmet Dönmez, who opposes the current leadership, shared a nine-page will claiming it is the original one, leading to conflict within the terrorist group.
According to the new document, the will was prepared on July 24, 2024, in the new house where Gülen spent the last period of his life. In the document prepared in the presence of a notary, it was recorded that Cevdet Türkyolu was appointed as the executor of the will. The signatures of Adem Kalaç, Muhammet Çetin and Hakan Serbest were also included as witnesses. However, some members of the group claimed that the will might have been faked by Türkyolu.
The previous will had been opened in Pennsylvania by Gülen’s family members and so-called high-level leaders of the group and had only referred to assets of $20,000.
Gülen died in October and was buried on the grounds of his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania.
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 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 had not approved it.