Gülen ordered followers to conceal themselves after December 2013 probes: Report

U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, ordered his followers to conceal themselves after the December 2013 graft probes, according to a police report sent to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

The report, titled "The ideology of the [Fethullahist Terrorist Organization] FETÖ," claimed that Gülen had ordered some of his adherents to leave Turkey and some others, who have infiltrated into the state, to turn into "sleeping cells" after the "Dec. 17-25, 2013 and July 15, 2016 coup attempts failed."

The December 2013 corruption cases targeted figures close to the government and resulted in lasting enmity between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Gülen movement, former close allies.

Four former cabinet members - Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan, Interior Minister Muammer Güler, EU Minister Egemen Bağış, and Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar - were accused in the probe before they were acquitted by parliament.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan previously described the Dec. 17-25, 2013 probes as "coup attempts."
The report stated that FETÖ had evolved in "three stages" since its formation.

"The period starting from the 1970s, when the group was founded, until it expanded overseas, was called 'the first stage/faith.' 'The second stage/life' was between 1993 and the Dec. 17-25, 2013 process. The Dec. 17-25 process marked the group's attempt to pass onto stage three. That stage was not realized because the Dec. 17-25 coup attempts failed," the report said, adding that if the attempt was "successful" then FETÖ would have moved onto the third stage, the "sharia" or "conquest" stage. 

"The...