Thriving for decades thanks to its massive infiltration in the state and its secrecy, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which is largely believed to be behind the recent coup bid, has been compared to "Society of Jesus" for its efforts to broaden its clout across the globe, a report by the Turkish National Police Academy says. The report also says Gülenists resorted to every option they had in order to infiltrate the state, such as using orphans, or rather those posing as orphans, to receive priority in public sector employment.

The report, penned by two scholars from the academy, also says the cult was like Jesuits, the name given to members of a powerful Roman Catholic order called the Society of Jesus which sought to spread Christianity to the far corners of the world often accused of secretly being involved in the politics of the countries where they were stationed.

FETÖ, a cult-like group led by former preacher Fetullah Gülen who is based in the U.S., has been implicated in a series of trials, ranging from the July 15 coup attempt that killed 248 people to sham trials used to imprison the terrorist group's critics.

For decades, it managed to hide its purpose of seizing power and posed as a religious, charity movement before it openly started threatening the government shortly before and after two coup attempts in 2013. Turkey designated it a "national threat" in 2014 as it suspected that FETÖ had tens of thousands of followers in law enforcement, the judiciary, the military and the bureaucracy.

The Police Academy, one of the places where FETÖ once had significant influence and used as a launch-pad for its infiltration into law enforcement, explained in the report that the terrorist group benefited from loopholes in the system and used them to install its members in state jobs, from police and military officers to judges and prosecutors.

The report says FETÖ always sought promotions for people, companies and foundations close to the group and, thanks to its influence, often helped FETÖ-linked people win public tenders, while defaming or "eliminating" the non-cult competition. It says FETÖ used the "Society of Jesus" or Jesuit model for its infiltration. Established in 16th century, the Catholic order is often accused of having a political agenda and involvement, or rather secret involvement, in politics in the countries where they were active. Jesuits, like FETÖ, employed education, running several prestigious schools across the world, to reach out to people.

The authors of the report also say FETÖ stood out among other terrorist groups because of its utmost secrecy and efforts to infiltrate critical agencies of the state, especially the judiciary. Gülen was quoted in the report telling his followers in a 1999 sermon to "have both lawyers and judges at their disposal."

Hundreds of judges and prosecutors were dismissed from their jobs after the coup attempt and many others remain at large after being charged with having membership to a terrorist group. Some 300 judges and prosecutors confessed to their links to the terror-cult and told investigators that Gülen had access to the Supreme Court of Appeals. The court judges loyal to FETÖ were then instructed on how to rule on certain cases by Gülen, the report says.

According to the report, FETÖ instructed parents loyal to the cult to enroll their children in an orphanage just before the legal age when orphans are forced to leave orphanage so that they would benefit from job opportunities in the public sector, hence, facilitating terrorist group's infiltration into bureaucracy. Orphans are eligible to work in the public sector without having to pass an exam to be a civil servant. In some cases, the youth loyal to the cult were employed in state agencies by posing as orphans with the aid of forged documents.

"Terrorist or criminal organizations usually employ bribery, blackmail and threats to enlist the judges and prosecutors' help, but FETÖ stands apart with its use of direct infiltration to advance its own agenda. FETÖ raised recruits for years and helped them become employed as judiciary members," the report says.

Eventually, FETÖ had managed to sneak its own members into the public sector and helped them excel faster than their colleagues over the past four decades.