Gülen Movement officially a national threat

The process to include the Gülen Movement in the Red Book, a list of organizations that are enemies of the state, has been officially finalized. After the advisory decision made at the latest National Security Council (MGK) was approved by the Cabinet, the Gülen Movement was officially included in the Red Book by MGK Secretary-General Seyfullah Hacımüftüoğlu. With this decision, the Gülen Movement, which has been accused of trying to topple the democratically elected government through its operatives in the judiciary and the police, is now classified as an official threat to the security of the Turkish state.

The Gülen Movement is a transnational movement accused of wiretapping thousands of people, including Turkish government officials and encrypted phones and infiltrating state institutions with the aim of overthrowing the government. It has over 140 private schools throughout the world including the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Africa and has faced scrutiny in countries including Russia, Azerbaijan, Germany and the U.S. Turkish government officials have continuously expressed their determination to continue to lawfully fight against the Gülen Movement, whose followers are accused of infiltrating state institutions to gain control of state mechanisms and illegal wiretapping, forgery of official documents and spying. According to sources in Ankara, the Gülen Movement is defined along the lines of "civilian elements attempting to take over the state by unlawfully organizing within state institutions" in the Red Book, a legal document that contains the country's security threats. The movement is led by retired imam Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. The movement's inclusion in the Red Book was uttered for the first time in October 2014 when the longest MGK meeting in Turkish history was held over 10 hours.

Known also as the National Security Policy Document, the Red Book is able to be updated at MGK summits. The document is a 10-page list of domestic and foreign threats and any prescribed law or regulation must be compatible with the text and points indicated within. The document is also updated on a five-yearly basis in line with new developments.