German intel expert says, based on CIA, BND reports, Erdoğan was behind failed coup


Date posted: April 3, 2017

German intelligence expert and author Erich Schmidt-Eenboom has said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, not the faith-based Gülen movement, was behind a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016 based on intelligence reports from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND).

Speaking on a German public broadcaster ZDF program on Sunday, Schmidt-Eenboom said: “According to CIA analyses, the so-called coup attempt was staged by Erdoğan to prevent a real coup. The BND, CIA and other Western intelligence services do not see the slightest evidence showing Gülen instigating the coup attempt.”

The military coup attempt on July 15 killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement despite a strong denial from the movement and lack of any concrete evidence to this effect so far.

When asked by the host of the program, Maybrit Illner, why Erdoğan is accusing Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and his followers of masterminding the coup attempt, Schmidt-Eenboom said: “This is the easiest way to criminalize and eliminate them.”

Gülen, who inspired the Gülen movement, called for an international investigation into the coup attempt, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.

“CIA and other intelligence services have the capability to infiltrate into the most secret communication systems and according to the information they gathered, July 15 was a staged coup,” said Schmidt-Eenboom in further remarks.

According to a statement from Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on April 2, a total of 113,260 people have been detained as part of investigations into the Gülen movement since the July 15 coup attempt while 47,155 were put into pre-trial detention.

Related videos:

 

 

 

Source: Turkish Minute , April 3, 2017

Tags: | | | | | | |


Related News

Turkey After the July Coup Attempt – Alan Makovsky’s testimony before Committee on Foreign Affairs

The vastness and persistence of the purge of the civil service, arrests of journalists, and closure of media outlets—many seemingly having nothing whatsoever to do with the exiled Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen or his Gülenist movement that the Turkish government blames for the coup attempt.

Three Turkish diplomats seeking asylum in Germany after coup

At least three Turkish diplomats, reportedly including one military attache, are seeking asylum in Germany in the wake of the failed military coup in Turkey, German media cited government sources as saying. That would likely further strain tense ties between Ankara and Berlin after Turkey was outraged by a resolution passed by Germany’s parliament that declared the 1915 massacre of Armenians to be genocide.

US says first batch of docs does not constitute extradition request for Gülen

United States (US) Spokesman Mark Toner has said that the first batch of documents sent by the Turkish government did not constitute a formal extradition request for US-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

‘Parallel’ lies won’t patch giant tear, Gülen tells government

Turkish Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gülen has decried recent claims by the government and the president that his followers are behind recent violent street protests in Turkey, indicating that the government is attempting to patch up a “giant tear” it has made with these claims in an effort he said is bound to fail.

Turkish cleric calls for international body to examine coup charges

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, told the German broadcaster ZDF in an interview broadcast on Friday that there was no evidence linking him to the thwarted putsch, which he has denounced. He accused Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan of using the coup to silence opponents.

Unlawful accreditation ban against Today’s Zaman reporter ends

Today’s Zaman’s chief parliamentary reporter Ali Aslan Kılıç, who was denied access to the Parliament building in March after his entry card was revoked, received his new card on Wednesday after a court ruling in his favor.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

This is beyond a witch-hunt – Turkey now blames Gülen movement for 9/11 attacks

‘The Gulen movement is one of the very few that has managed to live what it preaches.’

PM’s son: Dad, let’s initiate an operation against Hizmet’s senior members

TUSKON says systematic campaign of defamation is under way

Cabinet bans charity Kimse Yok Mu from collecting donations

Kimse Yok Mu’s Eid al-Adha worldwide aid efforts continue

First Lego League qualifier at Brooklyn Amity School

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News