Hakan Yavuz, a Turkish professor at the University of Utah, who has co-edited a book on the Gulen phenomenon, describes the movement as the most powerful force in Turkey and says its main goal has been the 'Islamisation' of Turkish society." ..... “'When the schools became successful, they decided to expand them and use them to generate international legitimacy [by stressing] that they are not Islamic but rather humanitarian with the purpose of building bridges across different cultures.' ..... Yavuz argues that there is a wider agenda as manifested by its increasingly global reach. ..... 'The movement, which is rooted in selective vision of the glorious Ottoman past, has its own imperial vision of turning Turkey into a global power,' he says."
Gulen and Erdogan were close allies when Erdogan was first elected