On 15 July 2016, a failed coup attempt in Turkey left 241 people dead while 1,540 people were wounded. The Presidential Complex and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey were bombed.

There is strong evidence that Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cult leader who heads an organization on Turkey’s terror list dubbed the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETO), directed the coup attempt, according to the Turkish government.

Turkish public opinion is on the same page as well. According to a recent survey, 88.1 percent of participants said they believed that Fethullah Gulen was behind the 15 July coup attempt.

The Turkish government has declared a state of emergency after the coup attempt and issued decrees having the force of law as stipulated in Article 91 of the Constitution of Turkey. Around 80,000 state officials were suspended after it was determined that they had links with FETO.

A list of criteria is used as a gauge of the links of an alleged FETO member to the organization, reported a news story in the daily Milliyet. People fitting these criteria in varying degrees are subjected to official processes. The government emphasized that the aim of preparing such a list was to discern the guilty from the innocent, said the story.

These criteria are as follows:

1. Investing money in Bank Asya (FETO-linked bank) and in other financial institutions of the “parallel structure” (another commonly used name for FETO)

2. Being a member of FETO’s syndicates or associations

3. Using encrypted communication applications such as ByLock

4. Donating to FETO’s social aid organization Kimse Yok Mu

5. Being mentioned in reports produced by the police, MIT (The National Intelligence Organization of Turkey) and MASAK (The Financial Crimes Investigation Board of Turkey)

6. Giving support to FETO on social media

7. Attending the lectures and meetings of the organization under the guise of non-governmental organizations

8. Being promoted in a short span of time or being assigned to prominent offices exceptionally

9. Transferring money to the organization under the guise of himmet (alms)

10. Being subject to reliable denunciations, testimonies and confessions

11. Visiting FETO-linked Internet sites regularly

12. Undertaking the back-door businesses of FETO-linked corporations and protecting them

13. Accompanying the people in the judiciary and the police who are determined to act in favor of the organization

14. Supporting FETO in the last years after having resided in houses of the organization

15. Being mentioned in the information given by colleagues and friends as FETO supporter

16. Continuing to enroll their children in the organization’s schools and maintaining the organization’s newspaper and magazine subscriptions