Gülen movement to be added to top-secret national security ‘Red Book’

ANKARA

Cihan Photo

The movement of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, referred to by government officials as the “parallel state,” will be added to Turkey’s top-secret national security document, known as the “Red Book,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced.

“An organization that threatens our national security will of course take its place in it [the Red Book]. The fight against [this organization] has become one of priorities of the state,” Erdoğan told private broadcaster TGRT on July 20, adding that the fight against the “parallel structure” had also been recently discussed at the National Security Council (MGK), the country’s top security board.

The Red Book national security document lists Turkey’s perceived domestic and external threats, and is updated by the MGK when necessary. It was last updated in 2010.

Erdoğan, who is currently running to become Turkey’s first ever directly-elected president in next month’s election, linked the anti-Gülen struggle to the unity and integrity of the country. “I will follow this fight [against this organization] if I am elected president. This is because my people have suffered [from this organization], I know this,” he said.

The fight between one-time-allies the Erdoğan government and the Gülen movement began late last year after a massive corruption and graft investigation against four ministers led by Istanbul prosecutors went public. The government states that the operation was a plot carried out by prosecutors and police officers loyal to Gülen, aiming to topple Erdoğan and his government. Since the probe broke, thousands of prosecutors and police officers have been removed from their previous positions, with pro-government prosecutors now probing the activities of the “parallel state.”