For more than two years, Turkey has been living in a state of "panic" over everything related to cleric Fathullah Gulen, but hysteria about the US preacher has reached unprecedented levels.
Gulen, accused by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of masterminding the failed coup attempt in the summer of 2016, has been behind the arrest and trial of tens of thousands of Turks with whom he has ties or suspicions, but has also become a reason to change street names in Istanbul, Turkey's largest and most important city.
According to the report of the local newspaper "Hurriyet", the Istanbul city council decided to change the names of 90 streets, which he said "may be linked to the Gulen group."
The changes include major street names in the city, including Samaniolo to Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who was killed in 2007, and Acek to Ughur Momchu, who was killed in a bombing in Ankara 25 years ago.
The word "Samaniulu" in Turkish means "Milky Way", but it was connected to Gulen in relation to a television channel of the same name funded by the exiled cleric.
"Esik" means "light" in Turkish, a publishing house that publishes books issued by Gulen.
Istanbul Municipality changed the names of 90 streets
The two streets were in the Sisli district, according to the pro-government newspaper, but the changes included other streets in different parts of Istanbul, with the names "rejected" for their association with Erdogan's arch-enemy.
Members of Istanbul's municipal council said the decision to change names "will contribute to the establishment of community security," Hurriyet said.
Erdogan accuses Gulen of harnessing a wide network of schools, charitable organizations and companies established and operated by his movement in Turkey and abroad for decades, to create a "parallel state" aimed at controlling the country.
Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in the military, judiciary, civil service, education, suspended or under investigation since the attempted coup, revealing a random campaign by Erdogan against all forms of opposition, using the current situation to tighten his grip on power.
Gulen and his movement have long been associated with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), but the situation has changed after Erdogan began to express his anger over Gulen's growing influence at home and abroad.
