I don’t understand based on what kind of data statements such as, “We eliminated FETÖ” and “We eliminated FETÖ elements” are made. How many Fetullah Terror Organization (FETÖ) culprits were detained from among the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) last month alone? How many teachers and bureaucrats aligned with them are currently being investigated in relation to FETÖ? How many have been arrested?

March is not over yet, but there have been over 2,000 detentions to date. Of this figure, as many as 623 have been arrested in connection with FETÖ. Most of them were released pending trial. In other words, the investigation process is ongoing.

However, for some reason, these days we hear voices saying, “We eliminated FETÖ.”

Let’s give them their due credit. The backbone of FETÖ has collapsed. The statement, “We entered their burrows,” is very fitting.

Yet, the fight against FETÖ is not one to end in a year or two. I issued a reminder recently. Recall the statement that Mr. Prime Minister delivered from Çankaya Palace right after the July 15 coup attempt. He said, “We are fighting against an unusual organization.” He had also said, “Some 60 to 80 percent of those at the colonel rank in the TAF are FETÖ members.”

This organization has layers. There are also those who do not fit into the set of criteria formed in the fight against FETÖ. For example, there are those who never even walked past Bank Asya’s doors, who never canceled their DİGİTÜRK subscriptions, and who never subscribed to the ZAMAN newspaper. As a matter of fact, there are those who never even went to a mosque. And these people are still among us and are still counting down the days with incredible hope.

FETÖ’s back has been broken. Most importantly, they have now been sentenced as guilty forever in the eyes of the public. The dervish cape they were wearing has been removed and they are left stark naked with their dark and dirty silhouettes.

There is no problem up to here. But the fight against FETÖ is not one that will culminate in three to five years. Because there is a second generation, and as a matter of fact, a third generation.

I still remember, right after the Dec. 17-25 corruption-flavored judiciary and police coup attempt in 2013, a very important friend of mine in Ankara, whose foresight I hold in esteem as much as I do his ideas, had said: “This organization is one that explicitly intends to kill President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan. It has several layers. Hence, it will take 40 years to end this fight, because a member who has infiltrated any of the state’s departments is going to retire in 40 years. The fight must continue until then.” (Keep in mind that this statement was prior to July 15, 2016.)

THERE ARE “PROTECTED” FETÖ MEMBERS

We discharge those we detect. But what about the ones we are unable to detect or the ones that are “protected”?

We have a slight idea about why those we have not been able to identify are undetected. They shift from one disguise to another. They are sly, and where necessary, they have the maneuverability to deny even themselves.

I intentionally used the term protected, as I witnessed it myself. There are incidents I personally witnessed. I heard with my own ears a very important politician say “He is probably being protected” about a suspect who had been exposed and yet had no procedure carried out. I even had other witnesses beside me.

And those who are “protected” are still on duty. I don’t have the answer to the question “why are they are still there?” Nor to the question, “Why are they still being protected?” Because, apparently, they are neither in a very important position nor are they doing very valuable work. But they are still there.

They are in academics, as well as bureaucracy.

The question I ask myself is, “Why are they still being protected?” The most innocent answer I can come up with is:

At one stage it was said that “We need to leave part of the job to sociology.” In other words, there is hope to rehabilitate in time some elements who see that the organization mechanism has become out of order. So, the hope to rehabilitate the children and youth in the event that they are freed from the influence of FETÖ.

SWORD REMNANTS MUST ALSO BE CLEANED

I always had the hope that this might have a response at the lower level. However, I have seen that even their elements in the lowest level have no remorse or feeling of regret to date. What’s more, I repeated many times that if we do not crosscheck what the “informants” say with evidence, we might fall into a trap.

Therefore, this fight must extended all the way to the “sword remnants” too. Otherwise, FETÖ is going to continue to cause more headaches.

Meanwhile, there is benefit in following up on those who have an eye on FETÖ’s position. In other words, those who want to be “native apparatuses” for those who seek to stop Turkey’s great march. I’m referring to the issue that Yeni Şafak Editor-in-Chief İbrahim Karagül described as “conservative opposition.”

Perhaps we can discuss the matter in greater detail in another article.

For the time being, I will just say that the most dangerous apparatus set up among us to fracture social cohesion and the great march is the current activity carried out through “Islamism” or “conservatism.”

I will say that looking at the current picture of these circles, which never quite tell us what they really want, is telling us something, and I will leave it at that.

Word to the wise is enough.