FETÖ's HR firm in charge of recruitment


A new indictment prepared by the Ankara Prosecutor's Office against a senior Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) member unveils the workings of the cult's human resources (HR) firm. Fugitive Ahmet Çağlayan, who founded and ran the firm for years before leaving, was in charge of all personnel issues within the cult.

The HR firm worked under the name Turkish Technical Personnel Foundation (TÜTEV) Employment HR Consulting Company, later changing it to the Referans Employment HR Consulting Company in early 2014.

The indictment charges Çağlayan of being the HR imam for the cult. The firm collected CVs from every FETÖ member and, when necessary, directed members to specific jobs within the group.

FETÖ, led by Fetullah Gülen from his home in Pennsylvania, U.S., had tentacles in many state agencies, including the judiciary, police, military, media, educational institutions and businesses.

Çağlayan's telephone traffic shows repeated conversations with many senior FETÖ members over the years. One former member, who turned state's evidence, İsmail Serçe, told authorities how cult members dropped off their CVs at the firm to be appointed to various posts considered important to Gülen. He also said members who wanted to marry also left their CVs, the firm virtually acting as a matchmaking agency for the cult.

It is known that FETÖ members could only marry partners approved by Gülen, and some were even pressured to divorce before marrying a favored spouse.

Serçe also told the prosecutor that he witnessed visits of the cult's "hadim," cult members in charge of collecting donations, which were more like forced appropriations.

Many of the partners and employees of the HR firm are known to have used the communication encryption program almost exclusively used by cult members and have also engaged in share transfers among shared owners before last year's deadly coup attempt on July 15.