Class of '94: Rise of Gülenists in the Turkish army

We carry the same name: Brigadier Gen. Murat Yetkin used to be the commander of the 9th Commando Brigade in Sarıkamış, in the northeastern border province of Kars, until the military coup attempt of July 15-16, 2016. He is now appearing before a court and being sought three life sentences for taking part in the coup attempt and for having his name appear on the list of appointments of important ranks had the coup plot reached its goal to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) government and shut down the parliament. He was supposed to be the Chief of Staff of the Land Forces of the coup d'etat.

The ironic part is that Brigadier Murat Yetkin worked in the cabinet of former Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ for years. Başbuğ was arrested on charges of conspiring against the AK Parti government in January 2012, after his retirement in 2010, and was sentenced to life in the Ergenekon trials by judges who are now either arrested or on the run for being members of the "Fethullahist Terror Organization [FETÖ]," as the indictments say, the illegal network of Fethullah Gülen, the U.S.-resident Islamist preacher who is accused of masterminding the coup attempt.

The profiles of the majority of ranking soldiers, who will appear before judges on charges of taking part in the July 15 putsch, hint the working strategy of the illegal Gülenist network in the Turkish military.

There is an overwhelming concentration of colonels and brigadier generals (or commandos in the navy) among military officers who were arrested red-handed on July 15-16 during and after their defeated uprising. Out of 38 members of the "Peace at Home Council," which the coup plotters called their committee to take over the government and shut down the parliament,...