Turkish court clears religious leader

ANKARA, Turkey, March 7 (UPI) -- A Turkish appeals court Friday upheld the acquittal of Fettulah Gulen, a controversial religious leader who has been in the United States for a decade.

The court found, as a lower court did in 2006, that Gulen is not trying to take over the Turkish state, Hurriyet reported.

Gulen, who comes from a village near Erzurum in eastern Turkey, has a large network of followers in Turkey and overseas. The Economist, in a recent article, described him as having good relations with most Turkish political parties except the secularists, including the ruling AKP.

The legal case against him was based on a leaked videotape in which he apparently urged his followers to take over the Turkish government by stealth.

The appellate decision would allow Gulen to return to Turkey without fearing arrest.