Very few people could repel coup soldiers who attacked them with tanks, helicopters and machine guns without shedding blood. This is exactly what Turks did on the night of July 15, preventing the pro-junta military coup conducted by soldiers loyal to former imam Fethullah Gülen, who fled Turkey and took shelter in the U.S. in 1999.
Currently, the death toll is nearly 300, most of them civilians. It is worrying that the death toll might further increase as the number of injured exceeds 1,500.
We are still experiencing horror as a nation. I saw with my own eyes people who were crushed by tanks on the streets. The whole country watched on television as Parliament was bombed by aircraft and even the disabled were raked by coup soldiers and crushed by tanks.
At last, the coup makers are being arrested. The military has returned to its headquarters and the police dominate the streets. Millions of anti-coup people from all walks of life keep vigil to guard democracy every night. The judiciary has also started to investigate the Gülenist attempted coup in every aspect.
But how was this structure organized and how did it grow to such an extent? A group of Gülen Movement members, who were indoctrinated by Gülen especially in the 1970s, did not enter from politics and started infiltrating state institutions. When this group's presence in the military came to light in the mid-1980s, liquidations started. A great number of military officers and military school students were expelled. However, their presence in the military could not be completely rooted out. Most of those who were dismissed from the military infiltrated the police and judiciary.
Following the "postmodern coup" of Feb. 28, 1997, which highlighted laicism, Gülen acknowledged that he would not be able to live in Turkey and fled to the U.S., settling in Pennsylvania, where he still lives. Since then, Gülenists have striven to come to the fore through their nongovernmental organizations, schools and lobbying activities, and all went well. During this period, they established good relations with democrat circles and governments in the country, especially through their media power, until they attempted to launch comprehensive cases against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in cooperation with the judiciary and security bureaucracy.
Then, even liberals who sympathized with Gülen started criticizing the movement. This was because the higher judiciary dismissed cases that had led to the jailing of hundreds of soldiers. Gülen liquidated military officers who had clean criminal records and who hated Gülenists. As such, militants who were loyal to Gülen were promoted to officers in the military, taking the places of the officers who were dismissed. This time, after the military, they started conspiring against the government.
However, none of these conspiracies worked. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has been a target for Gülenists both while he was prime minister and president, managed to evade Gülen's coups through the ballot box. When Erdoğan boosted his political power, he embarked on work that previous government leaders could not dare, initiating a legal war against Gülen's autonomous structure within state institutions. When Gülen understood that all Gülenist military officers would be liquidated during the meeting at which military staff would be promoted or retired on Aug. 30, 2016, he launched the coup a little early, which brought him to an end.
This is the story, and it has plenty of strong evidence. The ties of all arrested coup makers to Gülen are clear, and most of them have confessed this. There is not the slightest doubt for the public. Since the coup was repelled, millions have been continuously flocking to the streets and squares every night, demanding that Gülen be called to account. The government and command echelon, which headed the military before the failed coup attempt, and all opposition parties consider Gülen responsible, so much so that the political parties in Parliament joined hands for the first time and issued a joint notice.
However, the attitude of the U.S., which says it is Turkey's ally, regarding the attempted coup hurts all of us. Indeed, our "old friend" leaves Turkeys alone against terrorists even though it has been struck in the heart just as the U.S. was hit by the 9/11 attack. Although this former imam commanded the death of hundreds of people through a reactionary coup, it remains unclear for what qualities and titles he lives in the U.S. The U.S. does not return him to its ally. This situation has already greatly harmed relations between the two countries, which have profound military and political cooperation, and most importantly, it harms the warm relations between the Turkish and American people.
