Court issues warrant against Gülen for ordering July 15 coup attempt

An Istanbul court has issued a warrant for Fethullah Gülen, the founder and leader of the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), on charges of ordering the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey. 

Upon a demand by Istanbul prosecutor Can Tuncay, Istanbul First Court of Peace ruled for the arrest of Gülen, the first warrant issued against the U.S.-based Islamic scholar concerning the July 15 attempt.  

The ruling said Gülen organization, which infiltrated the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in major cities like Istanbul and Ankara, aimed to take over all the state’s institutions and security bodies by changing the constitution. It also clearly asserted that the organization, which aimed to become a large and effective political and economic power at the international level, carried out the coup attempt with a group of allegiant soldiers and meanwhile committed multiple crimes.

Describing the illegal actions which took place during the attempt, the ruling said a probe was launched into Gülen on the legal grounds that “organization executives are sentenced as perpetrators due to all crimes committed within the frame of organization’s activities” and that “there was no doubt that the coup attempt was the action of the organization and it was carried out by its founder suspect Fethullah Gülen.

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