ISTANBUL — Since the massive corruption scandal broke out on Dec. 17, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been covertly blaming the Fethullah Gulen religious movement — better known as the Cemaat — painting it as a subcontractor of the United States and Israel, accusing it of engaging in a conspiracy to remove him from power. He even accused the Cemaat — without openly stating its name — of establishing a “state within the state,” and vowed not to allow it to supersede government authority. In short, there is an undeclared but open war between the Erdogan camp and the Cemaat.

Therefore, Al-Monitor decided to interview investigative journalist Nedim Sener. He argues that he has been targeted by the Cemaat and fell victim to a plot by its members in the police and the judiciary, who have tied him to the infamous Ergenekon case, where military officers, intellectuals and other civilians have been convicted of establishing a terrorist organization to bring down the Erdogan government. During those days, the Erdogan camp and the Cemaat were in a relationship of convenience to finish off the military’s tutelage, and Erdogan certainly did not experience discomfort with the Cemaat’s establishment in state institutions. In fact, the Cemaat lived its best years in state institutions since the Erdogan government came to power.

In that light, Sener draws attention to the very fact that the prime minister’s camp knows very well in which occupations and state institutions these Gulen movement members are. “They’re not searching for them with a torch in the darkness and trying to figure out who is from the Cemaat or not. They know very well who is who. They brought them into power in these occupations. And it is easy for the government now to dismiss them. That is why Fethullah Gulen lost control in his latest address to his followers and literally cursed on the Erdogan government,” he told Al-Monitor.

“I certainly don’t believe in the Cemaat’s sincerity in the fight against corruption. Since the day the Erdogan government came into power, there has been corruption. I personally reported them. ... There was, for example, the Deniz Feneri charity [where part of 41 million euros ($56 million) collected for charity from Turks living abroad was used outside its purpose]. The government dismissed those judges who tried to unearth this corruption, and the Cemaat did not express a thing about it then. Why have they become sensitive on corruption today but they were not yesterday! Turkey is not facing corruption charges for the first time. Therefore, we also need to question the Cemaat’s motivation in this setting, as well.”