FETÖ ordered coup officers to die for the cause

The Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) ordered military officers loyal to the group to prepare to sacrifice their lives for the coup attempt on July 15, prosecutors have revealed. "Imams" (the group's followers in charge of overseeing their infiltrators in the army) convened with officers two days before the coup attempt and instructed those in the lower ranks to obey the orders of their superiors without question. Due to its strict rules of secrecy, most FETÖ members in the army and other institutions do not know each other, and their relations are coordinated by so-called imams.

An investigation by prosecutors in the capital Ankara, where the presidential complex, Parliament and headquarters of the army were attacked by pro-coup troops, shows imams convened military followers below the rank of general, the first such comprehensive meeting between the cult's members, and told them to follow the orders of their "commanders" during the coup and "die for your cause." The order, which calls for total obedience, reflects the warped mindset of FETÖ, wherein the leader Fetullah Gülen is seen as the messiah and a holy figure whose orders cannot be questioned.

Prosecutors found that these imams met officers in some 50 houses across the capital two days before the coup attempt. Although it tries to portray itself as a charitable organization of "volunteers", FETÖ is more a well-organized group exploiting religion to achieve its own agenda, namely, taking power in Turkey. Its leader Gülen, who devised this personality cult, is highly revered by followers who do not question his motives for broad infiltration into the state. Experts say most devout Gülenists are those "brainwashed" at an early age, a common practice for the cult, which often picks bright but poor children to recruit, offering them easier access to education in return for their loyalty.