Gülen's nephew testifies against terrorist uncle

Tavus bin Keysan Gülen, a nephew of Fetullah Gülen, leader of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), has confessed his ties to the group. The younger Gülen, who was arrested in January, faces a prison term up to 22 years on terror charges and invoked a remorse law that reduces his sentence in exchange for cooperating with authorities. An indictment against the leader's nephew, which was released on Friday, details his ties to senior figures of the terrorist group.

FETÖ is accused of carrying out the July 15, 2016 coup attempt that killed 250 people. Fetullah Gülen attempted to topple the government by employing FETÖ's infiltrators in the military, according to investigations. He currently resides in Pennsylvania in the United States, while security forces carry out almost daily operations to capture his followers across Turkey.

Gülen said he and his brothers occasionally visited his uncle in the United States between 2002 and 2009 and stayed in a house owned by FETÖ in Istanbul. He detailed the roles of FETÖ's senior figures including Abdullah Aymaz, the alleged right-hand man of Gülen, in the terrorist group, and testified about the immediate circle of Gülen in the United States, from İsmail Büyükçelebi to Cevdet Türkyolu, the terrorist leader's aides.

The nephew also said the group divided Turkey into six regions and appointed leaders to each region, giving their names to authorities.

Since the coup attempt, thousands of people linked to the terrorist group are detained or arrested and coup trials are still underway. On Friday, two military officers were sentenced to aggravated lifetime imprisonment for involvement in the putsch attempt. A court in the eastern city of Tunceli issued life sentences for Col. Suat Erdoğmuş and First Lieutenant Cihan Yılmaz on coup charges, while Osman Demir, a district police chief tried in the same case, was sentenced to nine years in prison for membership of a terrorist group.