Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü, popularly known as “Cübbeli Ahmet Hoca” (Robed Ahmet Hoca), a staunch supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), on Saturday launched prayer sessions among his group in order to curse and demand the death of US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who is accused by Erdoğan and the AKP of masterminding a failed coup last year.
According to a video on the Internet, Ünlü, an important figure within the İsmailağa community, said in a speech to his followers on Thursday that Gülen has to die as he still poses a threat to Turkey despite the fact that thousands of his followers within the state were purged by the government following the coup.
“This man has influence over millions of people. You can see the number of purged civil servants and add three or four family members to each. That means millions of people.
So we don’t have any other solution but God,” he said.
Underlining that the US and the Jews support Gülen’s network, Ünlü urged his followers to attend prayer sessions to curse him, saying: “Let’s carry out an operation against this man. It seems others are not able to do it. We have to appeal to God for him to be gone.”
Ünlü was jailed in October 2011 and released on judicial probation in December 2012 as part of an investigation into the infamous Karagümrük gang in Turkey.
Ünlü later blamed police and prosecutors who were sympathizers of Gülen for his imprisonment.
![[VIDEO] Pro-Erdoğan cleric launches prayer sessions for Gülen’s death](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ii1KAW8aLuM/hqdefault.jpg)
