According to local media sources, the unauthorized court ruling to release Gülen Movement-affiliated suspects was ordered by the leader of the movement, U.S.-based imam Fethullah Gülen, one week prior to the incident in one of his frequently published lectures. In Gülen's speech on April 20, he allegedly ordered for the release of Gülen Movement-affiliated Samanyolu Broadcasting Group General Manager Hidayet Karaca and 75 other detainees, by urging them "to be released with ease, as soon as possible."

In this regard, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu branded the attempt as a coup in the judiciary and claimed on Sunday that the judges acted upon an order: "They attempted a coup in the judiciary [on Saturday]. They received an order a week ago from Pennsylvania [where Gülen lives]."

Davutoğlu continued by underlining that there are records affiliated with the incident: "We have records; an order demanding their release from prison."

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also made statements regarding the unauthorized court ruling prior to his visit to Kuwait on Monday. He said: "There is a hijacking of authority in these court decisions." He continued highlighting that there is a clear attempt of directing the judiciary with orders from Pennsylvania, a reference to Gülen.

"With attempts to use unauthorized warrants they have hijacked authority. Allowing entry to the courthouse to some deputies puts unacceptable pressure on the judiciary. There is a clear attempt of directing the judiciary with the orders coming from Pennsylvania," Erdoğan said.

The evidence allegedly shows that Gülen uses the same method of relaying orders in his speeches, which members of the movement refer to as "bamteli" (vital point). Similarly, in the Tahşiye case, Gülen was the first one to make a reference to the group as "Tahşiye" in 2009. During the operation in 2010 when police launched an operation into the Tahşiye group, 122 members of the group were detained and their leader and former imam, Mehmet Doğan, were imprisoned for up to 17 months.

Prior to the operation, in a speech on April 6, 2009, Gülen denounced the Tahşiye group by saying it would be used by domestic and international powers as a tool to threaten national security, similar to the Kurdish-Turkish Hizbollah of the 1990s and al-Qaida. Following Gülen's speech, Zaman daily wrote about the issue in its pages along with other media outlets close to the movement. Because of this, some claim that the speeches published on the official Gülen Movement website herkul.org often signal the movement's coup attempts.

The Gülen Movement is seen as a threat to national security by the Turkish government as it has been accused of infiltrating top state institutions, including the police and judiciary, and wiretapping thousands of people including senior officials, journalists, actors, heads of nongovernmental organizations and others with the alleged aim of overthrowing the government. Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S., is accused of leading a criminal organization and officials have reported that sufficient evidence has been discovered proving the allegations against him.

In addition, Karaca and police officers were detained on Dec. 14 as part of an investigation, referred to as the Tahşiye case, into alleged illegal activities by the movement. Other police officers allegedly linked with the movement were detained in operations into illegal wiretapping activities.

Some are accused of forming a criminal organization to commit crimes. Furthermore, the members of the Gülen Movement are suspected of perpetrating criminal activities through operatives in the state, especially the judiciary, police and the media. The Dec. 14 operation was the result of complaints filed against the Gülen Movement by several individuals from the Tahşiye group, which was allegedly victimized by the movement.