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

Letter campaign launched for Turkey’s imprisoned women, mothers

In the aftermath of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, more than 17,000 women from all walks of life including teachers, doctors and housewives have been jailed in Turkey on coup charges in government-led operations. There are currently more than 700 children accompanying their mothers in Turkish jails.

After coup, Turkish activist afraid to return home

Okumus said he has lots of questions about the origin of the coup, and is suspicious about Erdogan’s motives to blame Gulen. He said the coup has created a kind of with-us-or-against-us mentality in Turkey, one that will ultimately hurt the country and its relations with the United States. Turkish officials have already fired tens of thousands of teachers, university deans and others they say have ties to the failed coup plot.

Attempting to discredit Gülen by linking him to Israel

A typical example of black propaganda is the “anti-reactionaryism action plan” prepared in cosmic rooms with the intention of destroying the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Gülen community in 2009, which was initially denied and passed off as a “piece of paper,” but which led to the trial and sentencing of those who prepared it.

Votes of religious orders and communities [in Turkey]

The three-week debate between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Fethullah Gülen had a long past that falls under this category. Although the AK Party is powerful, the Gülen movement is not a piece of cake it can swallow easily. The AK Party is a political party that keeps its members together using the power and interests available to a ruling party. The Gülen movement, on the other hand, is an army of volunteers.

Albanian president to Erdoğan: Turkish schools pose no threat

In the latest round of a debate surrounding the Turkish schools in Albania, President Bujar Nishani dismissed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s request to shut schools down because of their links to the faith-based Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet movement.

Tanzania dismisses Turkish gov’t allegations concerning Feza schools, asks for proof

Tanzania has dismissed an allegation by Turkey that the Feza schools in the country are being used to radicalise the youth and fund opposition against the Ankara government. Stung by a failed coup last month, Turkey has targeted businesses associated with Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim Cleric it wants extradited from the US to face charges in Ankara of plotting the coup and funding terrorism activities.

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

Ankara assassination: Why Erdogan blames the Gulenists and ignores the jihadists

Imam Sytari praises Gulen as a global thinker

Reuben Abati: Let’s Talk Turkey About Turkey

Gülen urges Hizmet members to defend prep schools in civilized way

İstanbul hosts dialogue leaders to discuss tolerance in education

Whisked Away – The Turkish government and its program of kidnappings

Building bridges while breaking bread: Norfolk temple holds interfaith Ramadan meal

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News