It has been more than five years since the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) failed in its ultimate attempt to seize power in Turkey. It also lost a large number of members as counterterrorism operations apprehended thousands. But a new indictment by prosecutors in the capital Ankara demonstrates that it is still lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right time to overthrow the government.

The indictment involves S.A., the so-called "Karaman imam" of FETÖ for the eponymous central Turkish province. Imam is a term used by the group, which exploited religion to garner followers, for its senior members assigned to certain places. Along with S.A., four others face prison terms of more than 32 years on charges of running a terrorist group and financing terrorism. Recently accepted by a court in the capital, the indictment says FETÖ sought to "reorganize" its cadres and resumed their meetings in secret in safe houses. The terrorist group is also accused of bringing together its members who were released from jail after serving time for FETÖ-related crimes and was collecting "donations" from members again, like it did before it faced heightened scrutiny in the aftermath of the coup attempt.

S.A. is accused of hosting several meetings of members in Konya and Ankara and was in charge of the group’s network in Karaman. The indictment says he was in contact with S.E., another high-ranking member of FETÖ who is based in Ankara, and S.E. handed over money to the suspect to deliver to other members of FETÖ. K.E., another FETÖ member who was S.E.'s "superior," is accused in the indictment of running a scheme to funnel money to terrorist group members. All suspects were captured while they were holding a secret meeting in a FETÖ safe house in Ankara’s Yenimahalle district. A search of the premises had led to the discovery of a large cache of cash and documents related to FETÖ’s activities.

According to the indictment, the suspects were "motivated" by other members of the group, including a senior figure codenamed "Veysel" who sent a message to S.E. in August 2020. "Our friends (members of FETÖ) will face a new situation and this whole matter will end all of a sudden," the message read and added, "They won’t go with election defeat," referring to the government. "They will see another mass event and it will finish them," the message also said, in reference to the 2016 coup attempt. "Veysel" also instructs FETÖ members to be "prepared" for "reconstruction and recovery" after the mentioned "mass event."