US: July 15 coup not possible without Gulen's knowledge

By Safvan Allahverdi

WASHINGTON (AA) - The July 15 coup attempt could not be orchestrated without the knowledge of Fetullah Gulen -- the leader of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) -- when the hierarchical structure is taken into account, Prof. Hakan Yavuz from University of Utah said Thursday.

"Knowing the hierarchical structure of the movement – secretive, not transparent – I think this kind of activity could not be carried out without Gulen himself," Yavuz told the audience at a panel organized by the Turkish Heritage Organization (THO), Washington-based think tank.

The panel, which focused on the "Impacts on TR-US relationship" was also to introduce Prof. Yavuz's book -- "Turkey's July 15th Coup, What Happened and Why?

Recalling the activities of the prominent FETO members outside of Turkey, Yavuz noted that there are material evidences showing the FETO's involvement in the defeated coup attempt. However those evidences do not link to Gulen directly.

He said that the movement which was established in the 70s, aimed to control the governmental center of powers and to shift from the individual level to institutional goals under the brand of a "global education movement".

The purpose was to "become colonization of modern spaces and state institutions," Yavuz noted, adding that FETO moved from the post-modern coup to the U.S., where it took a different form.

Another speaker at the panel, Mujeeb Khan, a Fulbright researcher in the Gulf, affiliated with the Department of Political Science at UC Berkeley also said what FETO did in Turkey was to fight behind the scenes within the military, police, and bureaucracy.

Khan stated that many people actually found such an attempt as farfetched however, it is also interesting that some American figures such as John Hannah and Michael Rubin gave clues about the coup at some point.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.