The testimony of a military officer who turned state's evidence reveals to what lengths the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and its imams went to track and pressure its members. The commissioned officer was detained as part of an investigation into FETÖ infiltration in the military, before testifying against the group. He was released after turning state's evidence.

In his testimony, he said the FETÖ imam responsible for him constantly showed up in unexpected places, demonstrating his reach. The imam, an academic at the now closed Gediz University in İzmir, was arrested before being granted bail. The imam was identified with his initials, M.Ö.

The officer said the FETÖ imam had been responsible for him and some classmates for six years, between 2006 and 2012, while they studied at a military academy in İzmir. At first he had joined FETÖ under the illusion that they stood for religiosity.

"Once I decided to leave, they started to trail me. I changed my phone number but still, M.Ö. found it and called me."

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.

He was transferred in 2010 to Gökçeada, an island in the Aegean near the Çanakkale Strait. "Six months later, M.Ö. called me and said the group did not have a cell in Gökçeada, telling me to move to Çanakkale. He pleaded with me to remain in the group, warning me that failure to do so would have repercussions."

Despite making it plain that he wanted nothing to do with FETÖ, M.Ö. would let him go. "He followed me, tried to bring me back. In 2014, he called my mother, asking her to vote for the CHP [Turkey's opposition Republican People's Party]."

In July 2012, the officer was transferred to Ağrı, in the northeast of the country near the border with Iran and Armenia. "A year later, M.Ö. found me in İzmir when I was on holiday. We later went to Çanakkale together. He once again mentioned that there would be repercussions to my leaving. While in Çanakkale, he introduced me to two people who were supposed to be in charge of me. These two kept calling me from public phones or prepaid cellphones. M.Ö. learned about my transfer to Ağrı. He told me he would be introducing me to imams based there. He said he would be coming to Ağrı. On July 31, 2012, I flew to Ağrı. M.Ö. and two others were at the airport to welcome me."

He said FETÖ was especially careful not to let go of its members within the military. Once he was transferred to Ağrı, the officer was introduced to two imams, one an academic at the Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University and the other from Erzurum.

The officer said after the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, he finally realized what sort of group FETÖ was and decided to come clean about everything he knew about it.