Former PM Davutoğlu met Gülen in US: Ex-AKP lawmaker

Mesut Hasan Benli - ANKARA

“In those days, the AKP had great obedience to him [Gülen],” İlhan İşbilen told the court during the second hearing of the case of the July 15 failed coup attempt, believed to have been masterminded by the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).



“He [Gülen] had pictures taken with all AKP lawmakers. They all visited him. Everybody has visited him in that house in the past four years,” he added.



İşbilen also denied claims that he was Gülen’s “successor,” and denied being a member of FETÖ.



“I have nothing to do with any of the cases, and I don’t know who carried out the coup,” he said.



Upon questioning, İşbilen said he did not consider FETÖ to be a “terrorist organization.”



Meanwhile, during the hearing he was also particularly asked about his phone conversations with former Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay.

A former lawmaker from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has said former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu visited the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen at his home in Pennsylvania with his family and stayed with him for more than four hours.