A streaming “interview” on social media with Ebuseleme Gülen, a nephew of Fetullah Gülen, the U.S.-based leader of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), made waves among members of the group who remain at large following a 2016 coup attempt they carried out in Türkiye.
The younger Gülen, one of many nephews and nieces of the terrorist leader, recently emerged as a “dissident” figure in the group, accusing the older Gülen’s close circle of attempts to kill him. His latest “interview” with a FETÖ member on the run like himself, exposed a rift among members of the group and revealed new details about the coup attempt.
Önder Aytaç, an influential figure in the group who fled Türkiye in 2014 and settled in the United States, a destination for many fugitive members of the group, appeared to endorse Ebuseleme Gülen’s statements and criticized Kudret Ünal, the personal doctor of Gülen, as well as Emre Uslu, another fugitive FETÖ member for their support to the leader’s close circle.
Nephew Gülen has claimed that Cevdet Türkyolu, one of the co-leaders of FETÖ, stole funds the group’s members sent for activities of the terrorist group and “made himself rich.” He said Türkyolu was expelled a few times from the Pennsylvania compound and came back every time, convincing the group’s leadership of his innocence. He said Mustafa Özcan, another top FETÖ figure, was also involved in plots of Türkyolu. Earlier, he claimed that they tried to “smuggle” Gülen out of the compound, to sever ties with Gülen’s followers who criticized their conspiracy.
Aytaç faced insults online following his comments but did not step back and slammed Ekrem Dumanlı, another fugitive member of the group he accused of heading the “online team of evil.”
Barbaros Kocakurt, one of the names accused by Ebuseleme Gülen, has made his first appearance online, denying the latter’s claims, while other influential names in the group lined up online, releasing similar videos and statements. A website operated by the terrorist group also released a photo of Gülen against rumors of his death.
Ebuseleme Gülen also exposed the involvement of Gülen himself in July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Türkiye in the first such lengthy confession by a member of the terrorist group. His recount has revealed months of planning for the attempt.
He said Adil Öksüz, the fugitive mastermind of the coup attempt who was controversially released after his initial capture at a military base at the heart of the putsch bid, has always been in touch with Gülen and other top names of the group. He revealed that Gülen was lying when he said he did not personally know Öksüz.
Gülen stated that the same “crew” that planned the coup attempt with Öksüz was also behind his uncle’s alleged “evacuation” from the Pennsylvania compound. The nephew said Adil Öksüz has always been with Gülen and he was introduced to him while the two were in Istanbul and he knew him back then as the “person responsible” for FETÖ’s infiltrators in the Turkish army. Ebuselem Gülen, who was involved in game design, said Öksüz asked him to develop a computer game that would “demonize” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shortly before the coup attempt. “I told him that it wouldn’t be popular but he said ‘wait and see,’" he said. He claimed that Öksüz told him that the game was needed to justify their “struggle” against the Turkish government.
He said his uncle hinted to him about the coup during a meeting in April 2016. “Our friends thought about some (plan). Soon, all institutions in Türkiye will change hands and you will be assigned to important posts,” Gülen told him, the nephew said.
