Reşat Nazmi Oral, a member of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), confessed his ties to the group's military infiltrators and disclosed his ties to key figures in the failed July 15, 2016 coup. The coup attempt that killed 251 people and injured nearly 2,200 others was the work of the terrorist group's military infiltrators.
Oral, code-named "Usame" by the group's fugitive leader Fetullah Gülen, was an "imam" or handler for several critical FETÖ figures in the coup attempt. He gave the names of more than 100 people linked to FETÖ after his capture in the capital Ankara earlier this week. Among them were 31 high-ranking military officers. One figure was Bünyamin Tuner, a lieutenant colonel who was one of the abductors of Yaşar Güler, the second-in-command at the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Another name Oral commanded as a handler was Savaş Kabaklı, another lieutenant colonel who was a member of the putschists' Peace At Home Council. Kabaklı was stationed at a brigade in Ankara and was among the instigators of the coup attempt there. Kabaklı and Tuner were sentenced to multiple aggravated lifetime imprisonment terms in coup-related trials. Oktay Felekoğlu, another officer convicted in the slaughter of 10 anti-coup citizens at the army headquarters, was also answering to Oral. Hasan Polat, who worked for Oral, was assigned as "martial law commander" by putschists in the southern city of Hatay.
However, the suspect denied his role in the coup attempt and claimed he was "removed" from FETÖ's secret network in 2014. Investigators are now probing his role in the putsch bid and why he moved to the capital Ankara, a place at the heart of the coup attempt, from the southern city of Gaziantep one month before the coup attempt.
Oral was a judge in the 1990s before he quit the profession upon orders of his superiors in FETÖ. He was then already a FETÖ handler for the terrorist group's military cadets, planting them in the army. His work expanded after he quit his job, and he worked as a lawyer with Mustafa Çuhacı, another top FETÖ figure.
He told investigators that he quit his post as "handler" when his business card was found in the possession of Osman Hilmi Özdil, a senior member of the group in charge of its police infiltrators, while the latter was questioned by security forces during his trip to the United States.
FETÖ is accused of planting its members everywhere, from the police to the judiciary, the army and bureaucracy for years. Disguising their ties to the group, followers managed to rise to the top ranks. They became generals in the army and senior police chiefs. Through its "imams," FETÖ monitored the infiltrators and gave them orders.