A Turkish journalist for a pro-government channel says a supporter of Fethullah Gülen, the US-based Muslim cleric accused by Turkey of instigating a failed 2016 coup, attacked him near the self-exiled figure’s home in Pennsylvania in an encounter that apparently unfolded live on air.
In a video posted on Saturday, Yunus Paksoy appeared to be filming a live broadcast outside Gülen’s home, reportedly near the area of Saylorsburg, when a man driving a dark SUV approached him.
Paksoy in the video can be heard saying to the driver in English: “Pull away! Just pull away! What the hell do you think you’re doing here? Are you mad?”
The driver, who appears to be a middle-aged man wearing a plaid shirt, then gets out of the car and appears to swing at Paksoy. The live broadcast ends abruptly and Paksoy appears to yell out: “Fuck!”
Paksoy works for CNN Turk, a Turkish pay TV channel that was launched in 1999 as the local affiliate of the US channel CNN.
In a statement on X, Paksoy said the head of communications for the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had been notified, as had Turkey’s ministry of foreign affairs and the Turkish consulate in New York.
“I gave a statement to the Pennsylvania state police regarding the matter and provided the necessary evidence,” he added. “Both our state and our channel stated that they will follow the issue until the end.”
Erdoğan and the Turkish government accuse Gülen of orchestrating an attempted coup in July 2016, in which rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighter jets, bombing parliament. More than 240 people were killed in the violence.
Gülen, who has lived in the US in self-exile since 1999, denies the accusations. His compound is patrolled by a team of uniformed private security guards, some of them armed with handguns.
Erdoğan has repeatedly demanded that the US extradite Gülen to Turkey, straining relations between the two Nato allies. Washington has asked for more compelling evidence of Gülen’s involvement in the attempted coup. In the aftermath of the failed coup Turkish authorities rounded up his alleged supporters. Ten of thousands of suspected Gülen supporters have been dismissed from jobs in the judiciary, armed services or media, and many have been imprisoned.
Erdoğan’s head of communications, Fahrettin Altun, released a statement on X condemning the incident.
“I extend my sincerest wishes to get well soon to … Yunus Paksoy, who was attacked by a Feto [Fethullah Terrorist Organisation] member while practicing his journalism profession,” Altun said.
“As I stated to Mr Paksoy in my meeting after the vile attack he was subjected to, no one should have any doubt that our relevant authorities will follow up on this issue and that we will take every step before the US authorities to ensure that those involved in this vile attack receive the punishment they deserve.
“We will continue to fight against terrorists who are enemies of Türkiye wherever they are in the world. We owe our gratitude to truth-loving journalists for shouldering this struggle.”
The Guardian has reached out to Pennsylvania state police for comment.
From the US, Gülen has run an extensive social network in Turkey, promoting interfaith dialogue and providing social services. It operated in partnership with Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party (AKP) until the relationship between the two men soured in 2012 and then turned to enmity the following year, when a corruption scandal erupted implicating the president’s closest associates and family. Erdoğan blamed Gülen for planting the allegations. The Turkish government has since described the Gülen movement as a terrorist organisation.
