CHP’s FETO report exposes continued AKP-FETO relationship after 15 July

The report in which the AKP’s fight against FETO comes in for harsh criticism starts with the comment, “The AKP government, which claims to have fought FETO following the 15 July Coup Attempt, nevertheless continues to keep many figures who have past FETO associations in their posts. This is not all, and appointments are made involving the filling of fairly critical posts with certain figures whose names were at one time connected with FETO. On the other hand, certain people whose lives have been devoted to the fight against FETO are branded with FETOism and arrested or even detained, due simply to their opposition credentials.”
 
FETOIST JOURNALISTS GIVE TESTIMONY WHILE THOSE WHO COMBATTED FETO ARE IN THE DOCK!
 
According to a report by Deniz Ayas of Sözcü, the conclusion reached in the report in which stress is placed on the accusation, “Mindboggling inconsistencies and injustices attributable to the AKP’s hesitant policies are taking place in the fight waged against FETO in the aftermath of the 15 July coup attempt,” is that former FETOist scribes are nowadays held in high regard while journalists who used to criticise FETO stand charged of FETOism.
 
STRESS ON OUTRAGEOUS DETAILS IN THE SÖZCÜ OPERATION
 
The report, recalling that Fethullah Gülen’s right-hand man Hüseyin Gülerce had been appointed as a columnist on the government-aligned Star newspaper, while Fehmi Koru had at one time been tasked with mediating between FETO and Ankara, reaches the following conclusion over the perception management operation targeting Sözcü: “Hüseyin Gülerce gave testimony in the trial filed against opposition Sözcü newspaper, which for years had pointed to the FETO danger, on the charge of having FETO connections. Inconsistency of this magnitude has not even been witnessed in coup periods. No action has been taken until now against Gülerce even though he was at one time part of FETO’s brain squad simply because he voiced his contrition. With journalists such as Murat Aksoy and Şahin Alpay detained simply for having written on newspapers with Gülenist connections, figures such as Erhan Afyoncu and Mazhar Bağlı, who also wrote articles for Gülenist newspapers, have been appointed as rectors at Erdoğan's behest.”
 
FETO’S GUEST OF HONOUR INFORMS ON BURAK AKBAY
 
“Even in the aftermath of 15 July, neither the ruling body nor the judiciary inquired into Fehmi Koru's FETO ties. On top of this, attaching credence to Fehmi Koru's accusation unsupported by any concrete evidence whatsoever against Sözcü newspaper’s proprietor Burak Akbay that, ‘He may be a FETOist,’ Koru’s statement was made the grounds for the investigation launched into Akbay. Guest of honour at Gülen's dinner table, Fehmi Koru continues quite happily with his articles, the said relations uninvestigated. The AKP then comes out and claims to be fighting FETO.”
 
EXCERPTS FROM THE REPORT
 
Many names, from journalists to mayors and civil servants to members of the senior judiciary feature in the report commissioned by CHP Deputy General Chair Yasemin Öner Cankurtaran. Here are some excerpts from the report whose style resembles that of a newspaper column with those names and the accusations against them, quoted verbatim:
 
NAGEHAN ALÇI, RASİM OZAN KÜTAHYALI, ERKAN TAN AND MAHMUT ÖVÜR
 
“Also, alongside the detaining of people who deposited money at Gülenist-owned banks, the Nagehan Alçı and Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı couple, who bought themselves a waterside residence along the Bosphorous having obtained a low-interest loan from FETO-owned Bank Asya, were still able to appear on screens following 15 July. Or, many pro-regime journalists, including A Haber presenter Erkan Tan, whose praise knew no bounds when he said, ‘Mr Fethullah Gülen, we cannot enjoy ourselves and rejoice here without you, and we are forlorn. Come back finally. We have missed you,’ and Sabah newspaper columnist Mahmut Övür, who visited Gülen in the USA, are today able with ease to accuse people on the opposition of FETOism. Without even applying for their statements, it was possible for the author of the book ‘The Imam’s Army’, Journalist Ahmet Şık, who pointed to the FETO danger at the time FETO was at its strongest, to be accused of FETOism by the AKP-controlled judiciary. We can come up with further such examples. The upshot of all this is that the AKP government is not really fighting FETO. The AKP government is acting with partiality under the guise of a fight, and is using the FETO accusation against its opponents. With the FETO label attached to those who give the AKP grief, certain figures who had no end of praise for FETO are ignored. In fact, some of them have also been appointed to important positions following 15 July.”
 
INTERIOR MINISTER SÜLEYMAN SOYLU
 
“Süleyman Soylu is one of the most curious politicians of our recent past. In the days when he was Democrat Party General chair, he had harsh criticism for Erdoğan and the AKP with comments such as, “Corruption is flowing out of their trouser bottoms,” “The Prime-Minister has introduced the mother of all corruption” and “He sees himself as sultan.” He then forgot these comments and passed to the AKP. However, there was one area in which he would brook no criticism. And that was FETO! Soylu, pretty sharp as his tongue may be, had no end of praise when it came to FETO. This was not all, and he hectored those who criticised FETO as if FETO’s lawyer and gave them a mauling! For example, he called up FETO’s outlet Samanyolu TV and criticised MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli and the CHP’s İsa Gök, who were calling for the Gülen Brotherhood’s activities to be suspended.”
(Soylu’s pro- Fethullah Gülen comments at the time are included.)
The following is also noted about the Interior Minister: “Despite his ample praise for FETO in the past, he was made Interior Minister in place of Efkan Ala following 15 July. However, nobody has been able to account for the thinking and logic behind bringing in Soylu, who had a past record of praising FETO far more than Ala, to head the fight against FETO.”
 
ENERGY MINISTER BERAT ALBAYRAK
 
“Berat Albayrak was modest-living journalist Sadık Albayrak’s son. His father was on old acquaintance of Erdoğan. After marrying Erdoğan's daughter Esra Erdoğan, thanks in part to this acquaintanceship, both he and his brother Serhat Albayrak embarked on a rocket-like ascent. This ascent took Berat Albayrak as far as being Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. Some allegations have it that Erdoğan sees Berat Albayrak as heir to the throne or even envisages him taking Binali Yıldırım's place. Time will show if this is indeed so. Son-in-law Albayrak is a former pupil of one of FETO’s schools. He does not deny this, either. He replied from the parliamentary rostrum on being questioned about this, ‘Yes, at a school of the Gülenists. But I did not attend on a grant. I am one of hundreds of thousands or millions of young people who attended the Gülenists’ hundreds of schools over 35 years. But such were the mother and father who brought me up that I have never ever rented my mind to another mortal. Thank God, I have never done so, so that mob you speak of knows well whose son I am and the kind of life I live. We have hundreds of thousands of young people who attended those schools in this country and are not FETOists, people who did not rent their minds.’ Berat Albayrak is right! There is no rule that everyone who attended FETO schools is going to be a FETOist. However, with his father-in-law Erdoğan not having a word to say about former-FETO school pupil Berat Albayrak and with Albayrak retaining his ministerial post, Sözcü newspaper proprietor Burak Akbay stands charged of FETOism on the allegation, supported by no concrete evidence whatsoever, of Fehmi Koru, who was in FETO for many years, that he stayed in the Houses of Light, even though the former staunchly denies this. This unfounded accusation was cited as grounds for the investigation launched against him. Which person of conscience can accept injustice on this scale?”
 
THE AKP’S ŞABAN DİŞLİ
 
“One of the most important figures in the 15 July coup attempt was Major General Mehmet Dişli. Şaban Dişli, brother of Mehmet Dişli, who was alleged to have been a member of the ‘Peace at Home Council’ and is still in detention pending trial, has been made senior advisor with responsibility for the economy by Erdoğan. Even if Dişli subsequently resigned from this post, this appointment made following 15 July caused public uproar, because Şaban Dişli, who is alleged to have spoken on the phone to his big brother four times on the evening of the coup, has crossed paths with FETO in the past. Former Bolu Governor İbrahim Özçimen, brother-in-law of FETO’s police ‘prayer leader’ Kozanlı Ömer, made the claim under interrogation by the public prosecution that, ‘I intimated to Sakarya MP Şaban Dişli that I wanted to be a provincial governor. And he later told me that my name had been put forward.’ Criminal responsibility is personal in the eyes of the law. So, of course, Şaban Dişli cannot be held accountable for the crime committed by his brother. However, with this rule finding application by Erdoğan to Dişli, it is not applied to the relatives of thousands of detainees. The victims are unable to find jobs when knocking at the state’s door or are dismissed from the jobs they have for a crime they did not themselves commit.”
 
HEAD OF DIRECTORATE OF RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS ALİ ERBAŞ
 
“Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, who has recently been appointed to head the Directorate of Religious Affairs, at the fore among public bodies that take the biggest share of the budget, has courted controversy ever since taking up the post. It has emerged that Erbaş has crossed paths with FETO many times in the past, or has even been a member of the executive board of the Intercultural Dialogue Platform, one of FETO’s most important platforms. Erbaş, who also numbered among the regulars at FETO’s Abant Meetings, was also seen on events of the Kimse Yok Mu Association, a FETO aid entity. However, this is not the full run down on Erbaş. Erbaş’s signature has also been ascertained to have appeared on the doctoral thesis of fugitive Adil Öksüz, the key name in 15 July. Along with Erbaş, one of the individuals included on Öksüz's panel was Prof. Dr. Suat Yıldırım, at the time Dean of Sakarya University Faculty of Divinity. Suat Yıldırım, whose name had been touted as a potential future leader of the brotherhood after Fethullah Gülen, is today on the run. Another person on the jury, however, Prof. Dr. Davut Aydüz, was detained following the coup. The question whose answer is now awaited with curiosity is how and by what criteria was Erbaş, who was included on such a panel and had participated in many FETO events, selected to head the Directorate of Religious Affairs.”
 
ERDOĞAN’S CHIEF ADVISOR YAVUZ ATAR
 
“The allegation has been raised that Prof. Yavuz Atar, who is still a member of the Council of Higher Education and is President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's chief advisor, is a FETOist and this has been aired in the media. Moreover, this allegation was raised on pro-regime TGRT by Nurettin Veren, who had once been in Gülen's inner circle but left the organisation years ago and made important confessions. Nurettin Veren, who accused Atar of FETOism, asserted that after 15 July Atar went to Manas University in Kirghizstan alleged to be under FETO’s control. Atar, who responded through his lawyer to the allegations by Veren, claimed that he had no ties with FETO and had gone to Manas University under bilateral relations between Turkey and Kirghizstan and not through FETO’s intermediation. Atar may be right! But, with people undergoing prosecution in the absence of the slightest evidence of them being FETOists, when a person close to Erdoğan was involved, it was not even considered worth looking into the accusations.”
 
FORMER TRT GENERAL DIRECTOR İBRAHİM ŞAHİN
 
“In the period in which İbrahim Şahin, whose current post is as a non-serving provincial governor, acted as General Director of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), he is accused of filling the body with FETOists. He transferred a whole host of people from Samanyolu TV, FETO’s media outlet at the time, and placed them in important posts and he made figures who names were synonymous with FETO such as Ekrem Dumanlı and Hakan Şükür into commentators at the TRT on high salaries. Although Ahmet Koyuncu, who was made Deputy General Director with wide powers by Şahin, has been sentenced to eight years and one month’s imprisonment for FETO membership, and even though former TRT News Department Head Ahmet Çavuşoğlu has pointed to Şahin, saying, ‘At the TRT, everything is at the general director’s orders. He orders and we do. There is no independent initiative,’ the failure for a fresh investigation to be launched into Şahin has raised question marks.”
 
RECTOR MAZHAR BAĞLI
 
“One of the six rectors appointed by Erdoğan last March was Prof. Dr. Mazhar Bağlı, made rector of Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş University. Bağlı, who was AKP Şanlıurfa MP in the 25^th parliamentary period and was an AKP Central Decision and Executive Committee member between the years of 2009 and 2015, was on pretty good terms with FETO at one time. Bağlı, who wrote articles for FETO’s publishing outlet Zaman, came out in support of the Ergenekon investigations organised by FETO in these articles. He expressed the satisfaction he felt at his daughter attending the FETO schools in a tweet he posted in 2013. Bağlı, too, numbers among those to have been rewarded by Erdoğan despite his past ties.”
 
RECTOR ERHAN AFYONCU
 
“Erhan Afyoncu came to public attention through his TV programmes. Despite having no military past, he was brought in to head the National Defence University established to replace the War Colleges that had been closed following the 15 July coup attempt. Erhan Afyoncu wrote articles for Bugün newspaper, known for its proximity to the Gülenists, for a full six years between the years of 2008 and 2014. Afyoncu also penned articles for Zaman newspaper for a period in the past. However, this did not prevent him from being rewarded by Erdoğan with an appointment as rector.”
 
SEC CHAIR SADİ GÜVEN
 
“The Supreme Election Council (SEC) gave rise to a massive disgrace following the 16 April referendum by not declaring unstamped votes to be invalid contrary to express statutory stipulation. SEC Chair Sadi Güven had great difficulty in announcing this disgraceful decision at that time. Sadi Güven’s name was mentioned in the testimony given in court on 16.11.2016 by former Adıyaman Republic Chief Prosecutor Faruk Büyükkaramuklu, who had been detained charged with FETO membership, as follows: ‘I was appointed Adıyaman Republic Chief Prosecutor under the 2011 summer decree. Sadi Güven, who is currently SEC Chair, is somebody I know from work placement in Fethiye. I told him that I wanted to be a chief prosecutor. And he was somebody who liked me and I was appointed Adıyaman Republic Chief Prosecutor in this way.’ This testimony on its own does not lead to the conclusion that Güven has FETO ties. However, is the judiciary, which inquires of Cumhuriyet trial defendant Güray Öz why he phoned a pitta vendor who is under investigation for FETO ties, not obligated to ask somebody in such a critical position why he gave a reference for a person who is being prosecuted on FETO charges? When calling a FETOist pitta vendor is a matter for investigation, why was appointing a person with FETO ties as chief prosecutor not? Considering the claims that were aired in certain media outlets following the referendum that Güven and certain SEC members did not cancel the unstamped votes for fear of being accused of FETOism by those in power, this question is forever going to weigh on people’s minds.”
 
AKP PARLIAMENTARIANS’ VISIT TO PENNSYLVANIA
 
“AK Party Adana MP in the 23^rd and 24^th parliamentary period, Fatoş Gürkan, Attorney-at-Law, one of twelve members of parliament on the AKP delegation that visited Fethullah Gülen's farm in the US state of Pennsylvania in 2012, was appointed as curator of 54 companies that were seized as part of the fight waged against FETO by Adana Chief Republic Prosecution. On this visit, the AKP MPs conveyed their respects to Gülen, perhaps kissed his hand and then took commemorative photographs. The appointing of Gürkan, who was on the delegation that went out to visit Gülen, as curator of the seized FETO companies is just one example of the insincerity that marks the AKP’s fight against FETO.”
 
 ENGİN NOYAN
 
“With appearing on stations with FETO ties being imputed as a crime element against defendants in many trials, this rule has not worked in the same way for everyone. Engin Noyan made programmes for years on FETO’s closed Samanyolu TV station and rose to fame on this station. In those days, on being asked, ‘Do you have a bond of affection with the scholar Fethullah?’ he used to say, ‘I greatly love and attach importance to the scholarly gentleman.’ Despite these relations, Noyan began to make the programme ‘Avaz’ on the state TRT station months after 15 July.”
 
THE MARBLE FOR THE MEMORIAL TO THE 15 JULY FALLEN PROCURED FROM A FETOIST COMPANY!
 
“It has emerged that the marble for the Memorial to the 15 July Fallen whose construction has begun at Erdoğan's behest was procured from the company of Sami Çoban, who was detained as part of the FETO investigation and turned informant. The state also apparently gave Sami Çoban's companies 33.5 million lira in incentives prior to the coup attempt. Çoban also numbered among the businesspeople who gave a standing ovation to the speech in which Erdoğan ‘was threatened’ at the general assembly meeting of the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists held on 1 March 2014.”
 
PENETRATING QUESTIONS FROM THE REPORT’S CONCLUDING SECTION
 
The 44-page report ends in the following question-filled section headed, “Is AKP-FETO cooperation continuing in changed form?”:
 
“We are not saying that the figures we have named and whose past FETO ties and praise we have recalled are without doubt guilty. That is the judiciary’s business. What sets us apart from the AKP is our belief in the supremacy of the law and a person being innocent until proven guilty. However, the public’s conscience has been pricked and is seeking answers to the following questions.
 
-With people like Ahmet Şık, Kadri Gürsel and other Cumhuriyet columnists along with Celal Çelik, who in 2011 resigned from his post on the Court of Cassation in reaction to the FETOist formation in the judiciary, accused of FETOism, why are certain people who had blatant FETO ties in the past being protected and looked after and, furthermore, rewarded?
 
-Or, is AKP-FETO cooperation continuing in changed form?
 
-Even if the AKP today appears institutionally to be against FETO, is it leaving the door open to renewed co-operation with FETO if circumstances change in the future by continuing to make use of figures whose names are still associated with FETO?
 
-Considering the U-turns that the AKP and Erdoğan made over relations with Israel and Russia, going forward can Erdoğan make a U-turn over FETO?
 
-What are the criteria for the fight against FETO? Is it enough to say, “I was deceived. I didn’t know?”
 
-With depositing money at Bank Asya or subscribing to Zaman newspaper sufficing for certain people to be dismissed under a decree with the force of law or even detained, why are these criteria not applied to certain people who had relations with FETO for years?
 
-What distinguishes these people who are protected and looked after from the others?
 
-Are FETOists who have in some way managed to access Erdoğan and persuade him or who are considered to have a potential use being given immunity from the judiciary and prosecution?
 
Many more questions like these await answer. There are murky points awaiting clarification both up until the 15 July coup attempt and after 15 July. The CHP is seeking clarification of these murky points in the interests of justice being meted out equally to all.