Following the uncovering of the structure of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) in Belgium FETÖ’s structure in Russia has also been deciphered. Mustafa Okutan, the organization’s imam in Belgium, and Üzeyir Özmen, responsible for part of the organization in Russia between 2007 and 2016, confessed.
Özmen, who completed an internship program at the Consulate General of Saint Petersburg, in the statement he gave, described the structure of FETÖ in Russia to the Chief Prosecutor of Konya where he was dubbed as "a suspect".
He said FETÖ had divided Russia into five parts, namely Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Saratov and Astrahan.
FETÖ used the Russian-Turkish Cultural Center as its headquarters for its activities in Russia. Özmen, who served as a 'deputy city imam’ in FETÖ, confessed that FETÖ’s imam in Russia used the code name ‘Saffet.’
Özmen, who stated a code name was given only to the imam of the country, said that the accountant of the country operating under the imam of the country resides in Istanbul.
According to the statement, the money collected from FETÖ’s activities in the Zeytinburnu and Bakırköy districts was sent to Russia. The money was transferred to Russia via the Erdemir Exchange office in Istanbul-Şirinevler.
Six months before the coup attempt, instructions from the organization's ringleader Fetullah Gülen were sent to Russia.
It was determined that imams and accountants across 170 countries, including Turkey, were given instructions to “obtain visas mainly from the US and European countries”. The reason for this was the policy to be vigilant should the coup attempt carried out by FETÖ members in the Turkish Armed Forces fail.
In the wake of the crisis between Turkey and Russia, members of FETÖ said, "We will have much better relations with Russia as a result of this crisis. This will be a blessing for us." After the July 15 coup attempt, it was found that members of the Russian Federation had deleted their records from a FETÖ-affiliated school, and they had started to stay at the same houses as Russian students.
It is noted that FETÖ members in Russia regularly offered bribes in an attempt to improve their bilateral relations with the Presidency of the Russian Legislative Assembly and increase their efficiency in the Duma Assembly.
It was found that Yagna Saidovic, who was responsible for Foreign Affairs of the Saint Petersburg Parliament, had connections to FETÖ and suppressed some politics on behalf of the organization, and, provided some parliamentary entrance cards to some FETÖ members.
Within the scope of the investigation, it was found that the members of FETÖ in Russia had nicknamed the US Dollar.
FETÖ members in Russia refer to the US dollar as “lokum (Turkish delight),” while in Turkey, they refer to the dollar as ”Lahmacun (Turkish pizza).”
FETÖ was able to easily transfer money through its members who came on holiday to Turkey. In messages on ByLock, FETÖ members said things such as “Bring three lahmacuns,” which meant “Bring $30,000 USD.”
Volkan Haznedar and Ali Yilmaz were named suspects in the money laundering group. Ali Yilmaz had a company named “Nimet Lokumları,” and was found to be the one who nicknamed the US dollar as “lokum.”
According to information gathered from the investigation file, the organization did not implement the settlement policy, which it had in Russia, in other countries. In Russia, due to the fact that there is a security officer in each apartment, dating from the rules of communism, the police are informed if there are more than three students in a house.
Üzeyir Özmen shared with the prosecutor's office the fact that Fetıllah Gülen's nephew Selman Gülen was responsible for the Dialogue-Eurasia Platform in Russia.
Selman Gülen frequented Russia, and was recently deported on charges of being an agent, Özmen said.
