24 March 2022; MEMO: The United States' military has reportedly been infiltrated by Turkey's outlawed Gulenist movement, according to a Turkish newspaper report.
Citing a recent Turkish intelligence memo, the Hürriyet newspaper reported that the US-based brother of a convicted member of the organisation headed by the religious cleric, Fethulla Gulen – branded as FETO – is leading efforts to infiltrate the Pentagon and American military.
FETO, an international organisation with educational institutions and members all around the world, was labelled as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish government following the failed military coup in 2016. Ankara, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused the group and its leader, Gulen, of being behind the attempt through the infiltration of the Turkish military and institutions.
Now, that infiltration has apparently been confirmed abroad, too. According to the intelligence memo cited by Hürriyet, a senior staff member at the US Ministry of Defence, Nizamettin Gül, uses his role as the Head of the Analytical Toxicology Department at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defence (USAMRICD) to collect sensitive information for Gulen and help other members infiltrate the US military.
His brother, Esalettin Gül, also reportedly held a leading role in the Erzurum provincial branch of FETO, before having been arrested after the 2016 coup attempt and tried on charges of "membership of an armed terrorist organisation" and "financing of terrorism". Those charges led to his sentence to seven years and six months in prison.
Both of the Gül brothers are reported to be directly related to Gulen and FETO's leadership.
Gulen currently resides in Pennsylvania in the US, from where he operates. Turkey has repeatedly demanded his detention and repatriation, based on the allegations of terrorism and leading the coup attempt, but so far such demands have gone unanswered.
