Security sources say Britain serves as a major destination for a European network of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), and most companies linked to them are based in London.
FETÖ, which attempted to overthrow the government with a bloody coup attempt in 2016 through its military infiltrators, is known for its international network, from the Americas to Africa. In Europe, its high-ranking members are mostly in hiding in Germany or Nordic countries, while Britain turned into a haven for high-level FETÖ members fleeing Türkiye after the failure of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
Sources say the group has been growing in Britain since the 1990s and now hosts prominent figures of the terrorist group. Those include Mustafa Yeşil, fugitive head of a foundation linked to FETÖ, Akın Ipek, a business magnate whose companies were seized by Turkish authorities over his links to the group, Talip Büyük, who served as a senior operative of FETÖ in northern Iraq, as well as Mustafa Özcan, No. 2 in the group after the death of the group’s leader Fetullah Gülen in 2024, his business partner Ali Çelik and Ahmet Beyaz, former general manager of a major Turkish lender linked to FETÖ.
The country also hosts an unknown number of FETÖ members apart from them, and they enjoy citizenship or residence permits. Sources say the group’s members can easily acquire citizenship or residence permits thanks to regulations for “entrepreneurs” and “investors.” People in those two groups can acquire residence rights in 45 days by investing 200,000 pounds ($258,899) or 2 million pounds, respectively. Investors are entitled to U.K. citizenship within six years.
Fugitive FETÖ members exploit these regulations to bring more members of the group into the country. Through finances provided by others, the group’s administrators set up companies under the name of fugitive members of the group to help them acquire citizenship.
U.K. records clearly show hundreds of different companies registered under the same single address as part of FETÖ fugitives’ effort to obtain residence permits. Those include 244 Chase Road, London, England, N14 6HH. The address of this two-storey building is home to multiple companies founded by Mustafa Yeşil, Ahmet Beyaz, Tarık Toros, Özcan Keleş and Ismail Sezgin, prominent names of the group.
At Suite 1, 596 Green Lanes, Palmers Green, London, United Kingdom, N135RY, one can find companies of Mustafa Özcan and Ismet Aksoy, two leading names of the group, along with numerous companies registered under the name of FETÖ’s handlers for lower-ranking members.
The terrorist group reaped profits from donations by members under the name of “himmet,” often collected for the group’s charities, only to be used to finance the activities of the group. “Himmet” is also the name given to money extorted from businesspeople by FETÖ through blackmail and threats. Security sources say “himmets” were deposited at the coffers of those London-based companies. Companies registered under the names of Ismet Aksoy, Mustafa Yeşil, Mustafa Özcan, Talip Büyük, Ahmet Beyaz, Ali Çelik and Şerif Ali Tekalan are utilized to control the cash and divert it to various investments. Tekalan’s son is also involved in this FETÖ plot and owns a real estate investment company in London. Similarly, sons of Büyük and Çelik also own companies in London, while several companies are registered in the name of family members of Yeşil.
Sources say the group invests money in the real estate sector and low-risk financial markets, though the exact amount of cash it accumulated is unknown.
