Gulen blasts 'despicable' 2016 Turkey coup bid and calls for an end to 'witch hunt'

He referred to the attempt to overthrow Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a "despicable putsch," and called on Ankara to end its "witch hunt" of his followers.

"Accusations against me related to the coup attempt are baseless, politically motivated slanders," Gulen, who lives in exile in a compound in rural Pennsylvania, said in a statement.

"I reiterate my condemnation of the despicable putsch and its perpetrators," he said while decrying a government "witch hunt to weed out anyone it deems disloyal to Erdogan and his regime."

Gulen's statement came a day before Turkey marks the first anniversary of a military-led bid to seize power from Erdogan.

Around 400 people died in the violence leading to swift and severe reprisals by the government.

Approximately 50,000 people were arrested and some 100,000 people lost their jobs for their alleged involvement in an clandestine group Ankara calls the "Fethullah [Gulen] Terrorist Organisation".

Human rights groups have criticised the arrests saying thousands of journalists, opposition politicians and members of Kurdish organisations are being held without evidence.