Gulen ‘certain’ Erdogan behind Turkey coup

BERLIN: US based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkish authorities of orchestrating a failed coup in July, told a German newspaper he was sure President Tayyip Erdogan was behind the putsch.

Gulen said in an interview with Die Zeit the coup attempt betrayed the principles of the Turkish government and his global movement called “Hizmet”.

He pointed to Erdogan’s comments the July 15 putsch was a “gift from God” because it allowed the army to be cleansed.

Asked if he thought Erdogan was behind the coup, Gulen said: “Until now I only thought that was a possibility. Now I think it’s certain.”

Gulen said a Turkish officer had recently said the chief of general staff and the intelligence chief met in the army headquarters during the night of the coup, adding: “They already knew everything that would happen later.”

Exactly how events unfolded on the night has yet to be fully uncovered, but Erdogan has complained of an intelligence failure, saying he found out about the putsch only from his brother-in-law.

Turkish officials have said an informant who came to Turkey’s national intelligence agency provided the tip-off on the coup.

The head of the armed forces, along with several other senior commanders, were abducted by the putschists.

Gulen said the coup gave Erdogan the opportunity to dismiss thousands of perceived opponents in ministries, the military, police and judiciary authorities as well as to arrest lawyers, business people, journalists and wives of Gulen supporters, and added that this must have been planned in advance.

In the post-coup crackdown, some 100 000 people in the police, civil service, military and judiciary have been sacked or suspended. Another 40000 people have been detained.

Turkish officials have said Ankara’s intelligence agency had been tracking Gulen followers well before the coup attempt and had already identified many figures.

Gulen said he had only met Erdogan a few times before he became prime minister in 2003. “Neither my friends nor I were close to Erdogan ourselves, even if that is being claimed,” he said.

The Hizmet movement once backed Erdogan because when he founded the AK Party he promised democracy and stronger human rights as well as to limit the military’s political power.

But, Gulen said, Erdogan broke his promises after the 2011 election.

Turkey wants the US to extradite Gulen and prosecute him on charges he masterminded the attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen denies any involvement.

Washington has said it is co-operating on the matter and asked for patience. Gulen said if the US decided to extradite him to Turkey he would buy himself a ticket and fly there.