In a sermon he gave in 1995, Fethullah Gülen said: "The existence of our comrades is the guarantee of the future of Islam. From this aspect, their presence in the law courts cannot be evaluated as being out of individual obligation. Rather, in these units, they are the guarantee for our future (...) Until you have reached the correct saturation, until you have the strength to carry the world on your back, until you have laid claim to those things that represent power, until you have formed a powerful front in all of the constitutional institutions that are equivalent to the formation of the state in Turkey, every step you take will be a step too early."When this sermon hit the headlines in the Turkish media, it was 1999. The next day, Public Prosecutor Nuh Mete Yüksel opened an investigation against Gülen, charging him with "Setting up an illegal organization to establish a theocratic state." But Gülen had already moved to the U.S. citing health reasons. Interestingly enough, soon after he filed a lawsuit against Gülen, a videotape showing Yüksel with an unidentified woman was exposed to the public. With his reputation tarnished, Yüksel was sacked from his office.Police Chief Hanefi Avcı revealed in a book step by step how Gülenists infiltrated the police. In less than a month after his book was published, Avcı was arrested by Gülenist police chiefs and prosecutors, who had consolidated their power within the state following the 2010 referendum. Journalist Nedim Şener wrote a book examining the role of the Gülenist organization within the police force in the assassination of Hrant Dink, exposing the neglect and even malice of some police chiefs. Ahmet Şık was writing a book about the Gülenist organization within the police force and its actual characteristics. He was arrested even before completing the book. His publishing house was raided by the police and draft copies of the book were confiscated and destroyed. These three figures have served around two years in jail but after Gülen movement's judicial influence has realized in this case, they were released last year.And finally, the grave suffering of a religious group, which has been openly and harshly criticizing the Gülen movement, has been revealed by an operation launched a few days ago. In one of his sermons, Gülen mentions the name of a publishing house belonging to that group, "Tahşiyeciler," and says an imaginary terrorist group with that name might be invented. Following the sermon, a Gülenist TV station referred to the issue using the same name. Gülenist newspapers like Zaman and Bugün published pieces and columns covering the matter. Meanwhile, an anonymous, undated informant letter was sent to the Istanbul police regarding the allegedly criminal activities of the "Tahşiyeciler" group. A Gülenist police chief applied to the prosecutor's office for a wiretapping warrant, and the prosecutor applied to the court. The warrant was granted in a flash. After monitoring the group for six months, the police took action. A total of 122 people, including journalists, were detained for allegedly being members of a terrorist organization. Thus Gülen's imaginary terrorist group has turned into a "real" one through joint efforts. Munitions were found at a prep school belonging to the group. However, these munitions did not carry the fingerprints of any of the 122 suspects but those of two policemen involved in the search of the premise. These policemen defended themselves in court, saying their gloves were worn-out. Again, the serial numbers of some of the hand grenades found at the houses of the group were the same as the ones on bombs previously seized during a search conducted as part of the Ergenekon investigation. By the way, during the police search at the prep school of the group, there was neither a lawyer present nor a police videotape recording.In this case, which clearly shows that the police forged evidence, eight people have served 17 months in jail and were released at their first hearing. However, another group that was critical of Gülen has thus been defamed in the media and intimidated through judicial processes. As you can see, the Dec. 14 operation may inflict a blow, not on media freedom, but on the freedom of Gülenists to plot against their opponents.