Intelligence report: Gülenists sought help from DAESH
An intelligence report from Turkey's national police suggests that after the failed attempted coup on July 15, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) contacted the DAESH terrorist group, seeking their help with assassinating a figure close to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. According to a report from the General Directorate of Security (EGM), a FETÖ member spoke with two DAESH members in the Syrian town of Tel Abyad. While a recent report from a prosecutor noted strong collaboration between the PKK and the FETÖ terrorist organizations, particularly following a previous coup attempt by Gülenists on Dec. 17, 2013, the security directorate issued a warning regarding Gülenist affiliation with DAESH with the intent of conducting a plot against a relative of the president.
The report, obtained by the Milliyet daily, indicated that a FETÖ member contacted two DAESH members named Mutenna Abdulrazzak al-Ali and Ibrahim al-Hassan on Aug. 8 and discussed a plot involving assassination of a person close to President Erdoğan, as well as plans for carrying out sabotage in Istanbul. The warning further indicated that six silencers were sent to Ankara from Şanlıurfa on Aug. 9 to be used in the attack, and the FETÖ member provided funds to assist the DAESH members in exchange for their carrying out the attack.
The evidence supporting a connection between the Gülenist terror cult and DAESH is a FETÖ member named Uğur Pehlivanoğlu, a purported teacher at a school in Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq. In 2014, Pehlivanoğlu went to the Havice region near Kirkuk with six students belonging to the FETÖ terror cult; he joined the DAESH Salahaddin Ayyubi brigade and fought along with DAESH. Businessmen in Gaziantep who were in close contact with Pehlivanoğlu covered FETÖ's expenditures, and by the end of 2014, Pehlivanoğlu became a senior figure in DAESH with the nom-de-guerre Abu Walad.
The report, obtained by the Milliyet daily, indicated that a FETÖ member contacted two DAESH members named Mutenna Abdulrazzak al-Ali and Ibrahim al-Hassan on Aug. 8 and discussed a plot involving assassination of a person close to President Erdoğan, as well as plans for carrying out sabotage in Istanbul. The warning further indicated that six silencers were sent to Ankara from Şanlıurfa on Aug. 9 to be used in the attack, and the FETÖ member provided funds to assist the DAESH members in exchange for their carrying out the attack.
The evidence supporting a connection between the Gülenist terror cult and DAESH is a FETÖ member named Uğur Pehlivanoğlu, a purported teacher at a school in Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq. In 2014, Pehlivanoğlu went to the Havice region near Kirkuk with six students belonging to the FETÖ terror cult; he joined the DAESH Salahaddin Ayyubi brigade and fought along with DAESH. Businessmen in Gaziantep who were in close contact with Pehlivanoğlu covered FETÖ's expenditures, and by the end of 2014, Pehlivanoğlu became a senior figure in DAESH with the nom-de-guerre Abu Walad.