James Corbett – Since the failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15th, the name of exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen is on everyone’s lips.
Not only is President Erdogan pointing the finger at Gulen as the mastermind of the coup, so is General Hulusi Akar, the Chief of Staff of Turkey’s Armed Forces and the country’s top ranking general. In testimony to prosecutors in Ankara earlier this week he stated that while he was being held captive by pro-coup soldiers he was asked to speak to Gulen, who he described as their “opinion leader,” but he refused.
http://youtu.be/mqrN540Zvf0
“I believe those coup-plotters are members of [Gulen’s] organization,” Akar said. “I think they thought their organization would take a huge blow after our Supreme Military Council meeting in August — which we prepared for studiously. This terror organization probably foresaw the outcome of the upcoming meeting and attempted a coup by bombing the parliament building and security offices, killing civilians, attacking their own brothers-in-arms and units with a ferocity and dishonor never seen before.”