The coup attempt came at a time of transition in Turkey and was used by the government as an excuse to purge hundreds of thousands of political opponents from all parts of society.It also led the Turkish state to use all means abroad to crack down on institutions and people linked to Gulen.

Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish cleric accused of masterminding a bloody attempted coup in 2016, has died aged 83, the Turkish foreign minister has confirmed. The cleric, who had been living in self-imposed exile in the US,