In Poconos, Turkish cleric faces terror allegations at home

The influential Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen lives quietly in the Pocono Mountains.

From the 26-acre gated compound, he prays, works, meets with admirers and contends with terrorism accusations that have landed him on Turkey’s most-wanted list.

Rarely seen in public, Gulen has long been one of Turkey’s most important scholars, with multitudes of followers in his native country and around the world. More recently, he has become the chief antagonist of Turkey’s increasingly autocratic president, Recip Erdogan, who accuses Gulen of plotting to overthrow the government from his Pennsylvania idyll some 5,000 miles away.

In early January, Gulen went on trial in absentia in Turkey.

His supporters call the charges baseless. And so far, the U.S. has shown little interest in extraditing him.