A UK parliamentary report questioned key parts of the Turkish government’s account of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, saying the evidence available at the time did not prove that the Gülen movement as an organization directed the attempted takeover.
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has blamed the coup attempt on the movement led by the late Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen and sought his extradition from the United States. Turkish officials have also pressed European governments to recognize the movement as a terrorist organization.
The UK report did not endorse Ankara’s characterization of the movement and said publicly available evidence did not establish that Gülen or the movement’s senior leadership ordered the coup attempt.
Critics of the Turkish government say the failure to subject key officials, including then National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan and then Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, to full parliamentary and judicial questioning has contributed to continuing doubts about what authorities knew before the events began.
Some critics have described the events as a “controlled coup,” alleging that the government had advance knowledge of the military activity or allowed it to proceed before using the aftermath to expand President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s powers. Turkish officials reject those claims.
The report’s findings, highlighted on social media by Mustafa Meşhur, included the following:
“ERDOĞAN DESIGNATED THE MOVEMENT A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION BEFORE THE COUP ATTEMPT”
The report said individuals associated with the Gülen movement may have participated in the coup attempt but found insufficient evidence that the movement’s leadership organized or directed it.
It also noted that Erdoğan had designated the movement a terrorist organization before July 15, 2016, placing the accusation in the context of the breakdown of the former alliance between Erdoğan’s government and Gülen-linked institutions.
“UK DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THE MOVEMENT AS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION”
The report said the UK government did not recognize the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization.
It distinguished between evidence concerning individual suspects and the broader claim that the entire movement constituted a terrorist organization.
AKP, KEMALISTS AND COMPETING NETWORKS WITHIN THE STATE
The report also discussed competition among political and ideological groups seeking influence within Turkey’s state institutions.
While the AKP accused the Gülen movement of building a “parallel state,” testimony cited in the report suggested that other groups, including the AKP and secular nationalist networks, had also sought to establish influence within the bureaucracy, judiciary and security institutions.
ERDOĞAN CALLED COUP ATTEMPT “A GIFT FROM GOD”
The report noted that Erdoğan described the coup attempt as “a gift from God” soon after it was defeated.
Critics said the government used the coup attempt to consolidate power and suppress opposition. Tens of thousands of people were arrested, while more than 100,000 public employees were dismissed or suspended under emergency decrees.
The report also noted that Erdoğan’s government had blamed the Gülen movement for a range of political and institutional problems extending beyond the coup attempt.
The report sought to avoid adopting either the Turkish government’s terminology or the movement’s description of itself.
It did not use the acronym favored by Turkish authorities or the government’s phrase “parallel state structure,” instead using descriptive terms such as “the Gülen movement” and “Gülenists.”
