An article published on Dec. 11 by the Centre for Research on Globalization, a Canada-based think tank, revealed the ties between the U.S.-based leader of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), Fetullah Gülen, and former CIA official Graham Fuller, which allegedly dates back nearly 40 years. The article titled, "The CIA, Fetullah Gülen and Turkey's Failed July 2016 Coup," written by F. William Engdahl, drew attention to the arrest warrant the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office issued for Fuller for his alleged role in the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
It asserted that Fuller and Gülen's acquaintance dates back to long ago, saying the two were complicit in Gladio's activities in Turkey before the 1980 coup and infiltrating Central Asian countries in post-Soviet period.
"Counter-Guerrilla members were responsible for a series of far-right terrorist attacks in Turkey and facilitated a bloody U.S.-backed 1980 military coup," the article claims.
The 1980 coup, held under the pretext of ending political turmoil in the country, saw leaders of all political parties imprisoned and banned for years. Through the decisions and practices of the National Security Council of the coup regime, 50 people were hanged between 1980 and 1984, including activists from both leftist and right-wing movements. Hundreds of thousands of people were arrested, and torture under detention was widespread with 300 people dying in dubious circumstances.
Engdahl's article also says that Gülen was broadcasted over "the CIA's Radio Free Europe" into the Central Asian countries in post-Soviet period.
"[T]he CIA used Gülen and his moderate Islam image to build one of their most extensive networks of subversion reaching across the entire so-called Turkic region of former Soviet Central Asia," the article says.
An arrest warrant was issued in early December for Fuller, who acted as a sponsor for Gülen when he applied for a residence permit in the U.S. more than a decade ago. The warrant was issued as part of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt probe launched by the Terror and Organized Crime Bureau of the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office.
The Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office issued the warrant for "attempting to destroy the Republic of Turkey or obstruct its functions, obtaining confidential state secrets for political or military espionage and attempting to destroy constitutional order." Fuller has been claimed to have been in Turkey during the July 15 coup attempt and left the country after it failed.
The prosecutor's office reportedly determined that Fuller had direct contact with former CIA official Henry J. Barkey and other suspects allegedly involved in the coup attempt. Both Barkey and Fuller are accused of organizing a meeting at Splendid Hotel on Büyükada off Istanbul in July 2016. Fuller had previously said in an interview that he wrote a reference letter for Gülen after the FBI resisted granting him permanent residency status between 2006 and 2010. He also defended Gülen, saying that he was not behind the coup attempt.