The most senior officials of the judiciary met last week on the continuing trials involving the suspected members of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), resolving to conclude all such trials by the end of this year.
At the meeting attended by Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül, Justice Ministry Undersecretary Selahattin Menteş and Judges and Prosecutors Board (HSK) Acting Chairman Mehmet Yılmaz, together with Ankara counterterrorism prosecutors and senior judges, it was decided to mobilize all the necessary resources for the speedy conclusion of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt trials, including the establishment of additional courts.
FETÖ, a criminal enterprise founded by fugitive Fetullah Gülen, has been directly implicated in the December 2013 judicial coup attempt and the July 15, 2016 military coup attempt against the democratically elected government of Turkey. With its media and business arms, the terrorist group created significant public clout, which was augmented by infiltration into state institutions, principally the judiciary, police and military. Many of its most senior members fled abroad on the eve or soon after the coup attempt in 2016.
Dating back to the 1960s, FETÖ was the brainchild of Gülen who served as a primary school educated imam before founding the group, which has always acted as a secretive cult.
The 1970s and 1980s were spent consolidating the group, creating the necessary education and financial structure, while slowly infiltrating state institutions. Its schools and prep schools served as the main recruiting ground for the group, which assigned particular degrees and vocations to its members.
Its leadership hierarchy was hidden from the public, apart from Gülen himself. FETÖ, like many terrorist groups, created a structure based on individual cells within various state organizations, like the judiciary, police and military.
Cells of various sizes were each organized around an imam, often an academic or police officer. It was normal practice for FETÖ member generals, prosecutors and judges to receive orders from an academic or teacher. Group hierarchy always trumped civilian hierarchy.
Over the years, FETÖ transformed into a behemoth, with finance, business, education and media arms spread across the globe. It has charter schools in the U.S., mainly used to collect and siphon federal funds into various FETÖ projects, while its schools in the rest of the world are usually used for recruiting.
Gülen is viewed as a sort of messiah by his followers, according to former members.
The attendees also discussed the long incarceration periods for the suspects. Prosecutors and judges were told to be mindful of right violations and the legal process that includes applications to the European Court of Human Rights. It was decided that prosecutors will be provided with all the necessary resources for the quick wrap-up of investigations.
BYLOCKAt the meeting, officials also discussed the criminality of downloading the encrypted communication application Bylock.
ByLock was discovered during criminal inquiries into the terrorist group whose activities have been under the spotlight since two judicial coup attempts in 2013. The National Intelligence Organization (MİT) uncovered the messaging app apparently programmed - or modified for exclusive use of the group's members - by someone linked to FETÖ.
The FETÖ-linked staff working in the intelligence department of the police department were the architects of the app, or rather its modification to serve the purposes of the group. A group of intelligence officers are accused of controlling the private app used to deliver Gülen's messages to his followers, as well as to instruct the group's members on how to carry out plots against anti-Gülenists.
Investigations show that 95 out of the first 100 people who downloaded and installed the app were personnel of police intelligence and the other five people were employees of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK). TÜBİTAK was the target of mass infiltration by FETÖ in the past, and it is believed that the original developers of the application are linked to this state-run institution.
The ByLock investigation was expanded after the coup attempt and thousands of people accused of using the messaging app for communicating Gülen's messages to subordinates and for pro-terrorism propaganda have been detained or arrested.
Servers of the app deployed in Lithuania were brought to Turkey where teams from the intelligence service work to decode. Prosecutors launched investigations and thousands, ranging from shopkeepers to high-ranking generals and bureaucrats, housewives and prominent businesspeople, were detained for exchanging messages via ByLock for acts of terror.
Most of the defendants claim they "accidentally" downloaded the app and never used it, while others claim they did not use it for FETÖ messages. However, the messages, including those urging FETÖ members to help the coup plotters who killed 249 people in 2016's coup attempt, point out that the app was one of the most employed means of communication in the secretive group.
Before the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, ByLock was removed from Google Play Store, as well as Apple's store, however, its services were open for access. ByLock was popular among FETÖ members between 2013 and 2015. After 2015, the cult turned to Eagle IM, which offers "256-bit end-to-end AES encryption," according to the app's description on its Google Play Store page.
While the majority of downloaders of Bylock were associated with FETÖ and used it to communicate with each other, some 11,000 Bylock users had downloaded the app involuntarily.
At a presentation named, "Cheating Spouses," it was noted that some cheating husbands and wives had downloaded it as a secret communication devise. Judicial officials were told to use supporting evidence, such as links to FETÖ's financial institution Bank Asya, testimonies of witnesses, and not to prosecute based solely on the presence of Bylock on cell phones.
