Stranger than fiction: why conspiracy theories persist
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Authors
Gingeras, Ryan
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Date of Issue
2016-08-09
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Abstract
There is no shortage of conspiracy theories surrounding the Turkish coup on July 15. According to many Turkish observers, including Ibrahim Karagul, an editor at Yeni Safak, a prominent newspaper that favors the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), it was engineered by Fethullah Gülen, a secretive Islamic cleric who is currently exiled in the United States. It is true that Gülen heads a vast array of schools, civic organizations, and businesses based around the world. According to his defenders, his network is a progressive Islamist movement committed to bettering relations with the West. Yet Karagul posits that the Gülenists actually comprises a “Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organization,” or FETO in official parlance, which aims to take over the Turkish government. FETO’s members, he argues, are a shadowy mixture of military officers, bureaucrats, teachers, journalists, and business leaders who rarely reveal their truly loyalties, making their activities difficult to detect or preempt.
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Article
Description
The article of record as published may be found at https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/turkey/2016-08-09/stranger-fiction-turkey
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National Security Affairs
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Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
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4 p.
Citation
R. Gingeras, "Stranger than fiction: why conspiracy theories persist," Foreign Affairs Snapshot, (August 9, 2016), 4 p.
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.