Thirteen years ago, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) mounted its first open attempt against the Turkish state in what has since been dubbed the “MIT conspiracy” in reference to the plot’s target, the National Intelligence Organization.
On Feb. 7, 2012, FETÖ infiltrators stationed in Turkish police forces and the judiciary tried to overthrow the government from within by summoning then-intelligence director Hakan Fidan and other high-level intelligence officers to testify under the pretext of proving their “ties” to the PKK terror group.
The plot was not limited to a legal process and instead aimed at crippling Türkiye’s intelligence mechanism and seizing critical state institutions years before FETÖ sought to seize power on July 15, 2016, through a foiled coup bid by its military infiltrators, in which 252 people were killed.
The goal was to discredit MIT, discharge its executives, and bring full control of intelligence operations to FETÖ.
FETÖ also aimed to portray the MIT as cooperating with the PKK to sabotage the process the Turkish government had launched in 2005 to end PKK terrorism.
When the process eventually collapsed in 2015 after the PKK resumed attacks in southeast Türkiye, it was also in part due to FETÖ’s schemes, officials have since said.
The Feb. 7 conspiracy was kicked off when Bilal Bayraktar and Sadrettin Sarıkaya, two prosecutors in Istanbul who were later disbarred over links to FETÖ, launched an investigation against the PKK and named Fidan, as well as several other MIT officials, on charges of “aiding and abetting the PKK” and “compromising the investigation.”
FETÖ planned to summon MIT officials for questioning, search their homes and issue arrest warrants against them. To avoid any obstacles, they chose Feb. 7, 2012, the day then-Prime Minister President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would undergo surgery.
FETÖ’s plot was thwarted by a last-minute, unplanned visit from Erdoğan to a family in need, and state reflexes kicked in.
When MIT officials refused to agree to the summoning, the government swiftly passed legislation that tied the summoning of intelligence officials for testimony to the permission of the prime minister.
Over 10 days later, the warrants against Fidan and others were lifted, and a verdict against non-prosecution was issued in late March.
Later, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office of Istanbul launched a probe into FETÖ members who took part in the conspiracy, with the following investigations revealing several previous meetings at a hotel between the prosecutors that sought to arrest Fidan and the others.
A FETÖ witness revealed two so-called “private imams” traveled to the United States to secure FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen’s permission.
“Had Hakan Fidan shown up to testify, he would have definitely been arrested,” the witness said.
Prosecutors completed the investigation in February 2020 and indicted 34 suspects, including Gülen himself, in the case.
It was concluded that what happened on Feb. 7, 2012, was FETÖ’s first attempt to “collapse the elected Turkish government.”
In 2021, a total of 15 suspects were sentenced to seven to nine years in prison for their part in the plot, while others were acquitted.
The Court of Cassation, however, overturned the convictions and acquittals in February 2023 upon an appeal, and the case is currently continuing in closed session at the 23rd Heavy Penal Court of Istanbul.
The retrial of the defendants continues with closed sessions at the Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court.
In the meantime, Sarıkaya was caught in one of the organization’s safe houses, where he was hiding in Istanbul in February 2017. Cases were filed against Sarıkaya at the Court of Cassation. The other former prosecutor, Bilal Bayraktar, is still wanted as a fugitive.
Erdoğan, in 2018, said it was blatantly obvious who the next target would be after Fidan had the then-intelligence chief been arrested.
He said he had told Fidan or his assistant they would not go to testify “no matter what happens, even if the police comes at your door.”
“We fought FETÖ infiltrators in the judiciary that day,” he said.
Türkiye has targeted its active members and sleeper cells nonstop, and its influence has been much reduced since 2016. However, the group maintains a vast network, including infiltrators suspected to be still operating within Turkish institutions.
FETÖ backers in army ranks and civil institutions have disguised their loyalty, as operations and investigations have indicated since the 2016 coup attempt. FETÖ is also implicated in a string of cases related to its alleged plots to imprison its critics, money laundering, fraud and forgery.
The terrorist group faces operations almost daily as investigators still try to unravel their massive network of infiltrators everywhere. In 2024 alone, police apprehended hundreds of FETÖ suspects across the country, including fugitives on western borders trying to flee to Europe.
Those apprehended were mostly low-ranking members of the group, as high-ranking members managed to flee the country before and immediately after the coup attempt.
Still, security forces occasionally capture key figures of the group who managed to remain in hiding, such as Cihat Yıldız. Yıldız, accused of helping the escape of Adil Öksüz, the civilian mastermind of the 2016 coup attempt, was captured during a police check in August in Istanbul.
Turkish security sources also say the group is in turmoil after the death of its leader, Fetullah Gülen, in October last year.
A power struggle between 12 members of FETÖ’s so-called executive board, based in Pennsylvania, has stoked widespread distrust among the rank and file and financial troubles.
FETÖ has amassed a considerable fortune through donations, as well as a colossal business and school network in Türkiye and around the world. With Gülen’s death, the seniors are eager to claim the unattended wealth, sources say.
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