Minister of State for Europe and the Americas at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, Sir Alan Duncan has said that the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) is responsible for the botched July 15 coup attempt, a parliamentary report by the UK parliament said.
According to the report published early Saturday, when asked about whether or not the Gülenists were responsible for the coup attempt, he said "I think the answer has to be, in large part, in terms of significant involvement, yes."
"It is a very complicated phenomenon in Turkish government and society; it will probably take years to analyze this and to get to the bottom of it," Duncan was quoted as saying in the report when pressed about the extent of FETÖ involvement in the coup attempt.
Duncan also referred to the "clear and systematic infiltration of the entire apparatus of government by a group of people who, as a state within the state, try to overturn the state," in clear reference to FETÖ's parallel state structure.
When asked specifically whether he believed that the Gülenists were "a state within a state", he said "I think, from where I sit, if I were asked to say yes or no, I would say yes."
British parliament committee report indicating evidence that FETÖ members took part in the July 15 failed coup attempt was published early Saturday.
The UK report "analyzes the stance of the EU in dealing with the failed coup."
The report also stresses the necessity of developing UK-Turkey relations.
Military troops loyal to the government, along with police units and millions of Turkish citizens, successfully quelled a coup attempt, launched by a small military junta linked to FETÖ, starting from mid-afternoon on July 15. At least 2,839 pro-coup members of the military, including 29 colonels and over 40 generals, have been detained across Turkey.
Turkey's top judicial body HSYK also ordered the detention of 2,745 Gülen-linked judges and prosecutors while two members of the Constitutional Court were detained for involvement in the coup attempt.As a result of the attempted coup, 248 people were killed, including 41 police officers and 47 civilians, while 1.440 others were injured. Some 104 pro-coup figures were also killed.
