We received suspected Gülenist's names before coup attempt: Former gendarmerie commander

The Turkish military had a long list of high-ranking soldiers linked to the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen two weeks before the July 15 attempted coup, former gendarmerie commander Galip Mendi has told a parliamentary panel formed to investigate the failed attempt. 

Mendi told the panel that the top brass planned to fire the names on the list at the annual Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting scheduled to be held in August, but the coup attempt came before that date. 

"We received the final lists on July 2. If we could have held the council meeting, the records of the names on the list would have been deleted from the TSK [Turkish Armed Forces]," he told the council on Nov. 2. 

Mendi was among the high-level soldiers who were held hostage on the night of the coup attempt by Gülenists, who are widely believed to have orchestrated the thwarted coup. 

"We were notified by the MİT [National Intelligence Agency] and police in 2014, 2015 and 2016 that certain personnel were Gülenists. These names ended up being involved in the coup attempt. We made efforts on this at the level of the general staff, and the 2016 YAŞ meeting was going to be held between Aug. 3 and 5. We had come to a mutual agreement to immediately dismiss those who we were highly suspicious of," he also told the council. 

Mendi added that two dossiers were brought to the general staff by the MİT and the police, with the last one coming on July 2.

"The Gülenists were due to be dismissed in this year's YAŞ meeting. They probably heard about it beforehand," he also said. 

Saying a number of generals "don't understand that the [Fethullahist Terrorist Organization] FETÖ is a project against Turkey," Mendi claimed "there is either...