In 1999, members of a violent extremist group called Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front (İBDA-C) confessed that they had planned an assassination attempt that never took place.

[6] He was born in Bayburt on February 5, 1951,[7] but grew up in the village of Fındıcak of Sürmene, Trabzon in Turkey's Black Sea Region.

[8][9] On June 24, he was interred at Kanlıca Cemetery following the religious funeral service held at Şakirin Mosque in Istanbul.

However, he resigned from active politics in October 2009, and turned his efforts to writing and propagation of roots of Islam through understanding of Qur'an.

Öztürk's role and contributions to this movement, along with the world of his thought, have been the subject of a large number of theses in Turkish, German, English and French at various international universities.

The articles, poetry and interviews that have been published on Öztürk in the Turkish and international press now make up a rich archive, and an independent effort is in progress to assemble it all into book form.