FETÖ-linked physician in US accused of raping, sexually abusing patients

A senior member of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) who worked as a physician in Turkey and fled the country following the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt sexually abused and raped patients while illegally practicing his profession in the U.S., according to reports.

FETÖ member Haldun Çetinkanat, who had worked as a physician of orthopedics and traumatology at a private hospital in Turkey’s Denizli province, fled the country for the U.S. with the assistance of senior FETÖ figure Ismail Büyükçelebi and visited FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen’s compound near the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, according to Hürriyet daily columnist Nedim Şener.

Büyükçelebi is considered to be the next in line to succeed Gülen and is one of the main decisionmakers in FETÖ.

Çetinkanat then started working as a physiotherapist in the U.S. without a license. He conducted physiotherapy sessions with Büyükçelebi and senior FETÖ members, including several women.

While claiming to eliminate pain through hypnotherapy, Çetinkanat sexually assaulted 30 women and raped seven, Şener said, noting that senior FETÖ members, including Büyükçelebi, immediately withdrew references to the physician on Twitter, while others claimed that FETÖ had no connection with him.

“I would never give my reference to someone like him and warn all friends, brothers and sisters to be careful in this regard,” Büyükçelebi said in a Twitter statement on Sept. 10.

Meanwhile, Veysel Ayhan, the former editor-in-chief of the Gülenist Zaman daily, also issued a statement on the FETÖ-linked Tr724 website, saying that the physician in question had established links with the group and “violated the privacy of patients.”

Ayhan referred to a statement by the FETÖ-linked White Tulip organization, which warned people against receiving services from physicians who do not have licenses in the U.S.

This is not the first fallout among FETÖ members.

FETÖ fugitives and existing members of the group in North America found themselves caught up in a series of scandals, including fraud by executives.

In the U.S., several senior FETÖ members have been accused of defrauding members of millions of dollars. For instance, former footballer Hakan Şükür, who fled the country in November 2015 and is accused of providing funds to the FETÖ network, confessed that he himself got swindled.

"I was tricked by those whom I swore by," he said on his YouTube channel, claiming he had lost his entire fortune, including savings for his own children.

FETÖ's notoriety in handling funds was also documented in American courts, which closed charter schools for failing to meet requirements and a lack of adherence to generally accepted financial standards. The U.S. state of Alabama was the latest example to shut down a FETÖ-linked school two months before its opening, citing a failure to meet conditions for operation.

FETÖ has a considerable presence internationally, particularly in the U.S., including private schools that serve as a revenue stream for the terrorist group.

Over 173 charter schools that enroll over 85,000 students in 26 states continue to operate in the U.S.