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Second year commemoration : Failed coup attempt in the Turkish Republic

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19 July 2018 12:00 am - 0     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Article written by Tunca Özçuhadar, Ambassador to Republic of Turkey on the occasion of the second year commemoration of the thwarted coup attempt on July 15, 2016


 


A commemoration event was held on July 13 to mark the second year of the thwarted coup attempt of July 15 2016. The event was held at the Residence of Turkish  Ambassador in Colombo with the participation of government Ministers, Ambassadors and High Commissioners, and distinguished personalities.

Fetullah Gülen, the leader of FETO, was the mastermind behind what happened in Turkey on 15th July, 2016. Fetullah Gülen and his disciples planned and tried to capture the Turkish Republic. They did not hesitate to use lethal military force against innocent civilians, killing 251 and wounding thousands.  

The two-year long investigations and judicial process on the events of 16th July have produced countless crucial evidences. Most recent findings illustrate that even on the night of 15th July, the plotters were in direct communication with the FETO leadership. However, to judge the deeds of this man and his organisation only with what transpired on 15th July would be a mistake. The crimes committed on the night of July 15th can be considered as only the tip of the iceberg.  

To understand why Fetullah Gülen and FETO have become the number one enemy in Turkey, we will need to look at their actions and the resulting trauma that the Turkish nation experienced. It all started under the guise of a charitable education effort. I would like to emphasize this aspect because that is exactly what this organisation is up to in many countries. Unfortunately, we could not decipher their darker underbelly earlier. They disguised themselves as a benign education movement and started the campaign of establishing schools in Turkey and later, around the world.   

But, we now understand that this was the first step of an infiltration campaign where kids and their parents were recruited with the seemingly innocent promise of a better education and a good job. These kids were put through schools with academic and financial help and were subjected to a heavy hand of indoctrination. They turned into unquestioning foot soldiers of Fetullah Gülen. They were provided with the answers to entrance exams for prominent schools and later, for prestigious government jobs. They were ordered to stay hidden and to infiltrate State institutions. They were told, to achieve their main goal of capturing the State, they could eschew all ethical, religious or personal beliefs. Their handlers kept their indoctrination up-to-date and passed on the instructions of their leader. As civil servants or military personnel, their loyalty was not to the nation, or to the State they served. They did not care about upholding the Constitution or the legal system of the country.  

 

July 15th was a desperate move to keep their control in place and to capture the state which they were aiming to do through infiltration

 

The crime syndicate behind all this devised and ran an integrated system that took care of recruitment through schools and private tuition classes; financing was taken care of by holding companies and donations from business people. The organisation established media houses to shape the public opinion for and against many persons, groups or ideas. Many persons in Turkey who saw the organisation for what it really was were lynched by these media houses. These media houses became the focal point for actions taken against journalists, academics, bureaucrats and military officers who opposed them, or tried to expose them. They were lynched and purged.  

 

 

As the organisation grew stronger and became more affluent, it started meddling in business transactions and government tender processes. Money laundering, illegal cash transfers and other financial crimes became their usual business.  

When the Turkish government finally understood what was actually taking place, FETO started to take drastic and extreme actions. The first wave of these actions came in December 2013, where the organisation released a number of so-called recordings and fabricated material. That attack proved inconclusive and provided the wake-up call both to the government and to the public.  

Upon discovering their secret communication systems and intercepting the instructions, we started to counter their moves and discover the extent of the infiltration and the infection it had caused. July 15th happened at a time when the Turkish armed forces had discovered and was getting ready to expel most of the so-called military personnel who were actually recruits of the organisation.  

July 15th was a desperate move to keep their control in place and to capture the state which they were aiming to do through infiltration. Despite the fact that we define it as a coup attempt, this was no ordinary coup. In none of the coup or coup attempts in the past did we have the putschists opening fire on civilians, let alone bombing the parliament, the presidential complex or the Police Headquarters.  

FETO established itself in around 160 countries including Sri Lanka, with thousands of schools and businesses. Their actions in Turkey should be considered as a wake-up-call for other countries. We are pleased to note ever increasing awareness on part of our partners regarding the security threat posed by FETO. In many regions, FETO schools and other entities have been closely inspected and put under State control. Investigations into FETO structures and FETO operatives are under way in many countries. Global crime apparatus of this organisation is shrinking.  


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