Five classmates from the same university played key roles in the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and its coup attempt in 2016, according to a report by Turkish daily, Hürriyet.
The report by Toygun Atilla identified a man who engineered the 2016 coup attempt, two police chiefs who were behind a conspiracy against an opposition party leader, a police chief blamed for inciting the Gezi Park riots in 2013 and leading academics linked to the terrorist group graduated from the same class in 1990.
Adil Öksüz was among the five, whose yearbook photos during their time at the Theology School of Ankara University were published by Hürriyet; he is currently a fugitive wanted for co-conspiring for the coup attempt that killed 251 people.
A theology lecturer in Sakarya University in northwestern Turkey, Öksüz was secretly serving as a handler of FETÖ's infiltrators in the military. Turkish authorities say he met with generals associated with FETÖ prior to the putsch attempt and organized the attempted takeover.
Öksüz was captured at Akıncı Air Base, which was used as the command center of the putsch on July 15, 2016. He was, however, released hours later, allegedly by judges and prosecutors linked to FETÖ. He remains at large and is believed to be hiding in Europe.
Ramazan Emekli pursued a different career path after graduating from the theology school and joined the Police Academy. Starting out at the Intelligence Department of Turkish National Police, Emekli rose through the ranks and became the deputy police chief of Istanbul.
Emekli was arrested for links to FETÖ but was released pending trial before he disappeared. He is known as the top police officer who ordered the burning of tents set up by protesters at Istanbul's Gezi Park in the summer of 2013. The incident gave an excuse to terrorist groups to stage riots claiming police "attacked" the protesters.
Like Emekli, Gürsel Aktepe also joined the Police Academy after graduating from the same school in Ankara. He was the deputy head of police intelligence before being dismissed from the job on suspicion of links to the group, after FETÖ's first coup attempt in 2013.
Aktepe was also a suspect in a case of illegal wiretapping of politicians, journalists and business people and was indicted in a secret video recording of then chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Deniz Baykal, involved in an extramarital affair. The video was leaked online by Gülenists and it led to the resignation of Baykal. Though dismissed from his job, Aktepe was not jailed and would resurface on July 15, 2016, in Ankara. He was among the former police officers linked to FETÖ who arrived at the police intelligence headquarters in the capital Ankara to help putschists take over the building. He was arrested after the coup attempt was quelled. Other classmates with links to FETÖ are İsmail Acar, Osman Eğri and Ahmet Bedir.
Acar, a theology lecturer like Öksüz, was arrested for his links to the group and prosecutors investigated suspicious money transfers between him and Öksüz. Eğri was vice president of Hitit University in central Turkey and remains at large after an arrest warrant was issued for him for links to FETÖ. Eğri is accused of recruiting children from poor Alevi families for the terrorist group, which is known for brainwashing high school students and helping them to rise in the military, police and the bureaucracy. Bedir, former president of a theology school in Bozok University in central Turkey, was also dismissed from his job for his ties to FETÖ after the coup attempt.