A database of people loyal to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) led to the identification of 445 staff of the Turkish National Police, Turkish media outlets reported on Thursday. On Thursday, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that a branch of police detected the said staff members and launched an administrative inquiry into their links to FETÖ.

Media reports said the names stemmed from the database seized from a suspect codenamed "Garson" ("Waiter") who collaborated with authorities in 2017. The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has been working to decipher the encrypted database, which contained the work of FETÖ infiltrators in law enforcement over the past 16 years. Deciphered data was sent to a branch of police dealing with organized crime. The police department has combed some 57,000 documents deciphered by MIT so far. Reports say some 3,000 FETÖ infiltrators were included in the database, while further investigations are underway.

Another 4,121 people who were "handlers" for FETÖ’s infiltrators in law enforcement were also discovered in the database. Most FETÖ handlers uncovered in the encrypted database are so-called "sisters," female members of the terrorist group in charge of female police officers loyal to FETÖ. They were also in charge of the spouses of FETÖ-linked police officers.

Among the names found in the database are handlers of FETÖ who were involved in several plots against the government, including two coup attempts in 2013 under the guise of an "anti-graft probe" toward people close to the government, as well as the 2016 coup attempt by FETÖ’s military infiltrators and those behind a plot to remove MIT’s then-Chair Hakan Fidan.

The terrorist group, which had infiltrators in law enforcement, the Judiciary and the bureaucracy, still has backers in army ranks and civil institutions. However, they managed to disguise their loyalty as operations and investigations since the coup attempt.

Founded by Fethullah Gülen, who now resides in the United States, the terrorist group thrived in past decades. Though most members did not hide their ties to Gülen, who disguised FETÖ as a group with religious undertones operating an international network of schools and charities, investigations in recent years revealed that FETÖ secretly installed members in the army and law enforcement. The infiltrators were careful to hide their ties to the group, for instance, abstaining from attending open gatherings of the terrorist group's members before it was designated as a security threat about a decade ago. Past investigations showed that police and military infiltrators contacted their handlers secretly and received instructions, including right before the 2016 coup attempt, which was masterminded by a "civilian" lecturer loyal to Gülen, who now remains at large.

The group faced increased scrutiny following the coup attempt that killed 251 people and injured nearly 2,200 others. Tens of thousands of people were detained, arrested or dismissed from public sector jobs following the attempt under a state of emergency. Hundreds of investigations launched after the attempt sped up the collapse of the group’s far-reaching network in the country. FETÖ was already under the spotlight following two separate attempts to overthrow the government in 2013 through its infiltrators in the Judiciary and law enforcement.

Authorities say FETÖ used a string of tactics to get more members to infiltrate into law enforcement, the Judiciary, army and other significant institutions. These include stealing answers and questions for promotion in law enforcement, the army and the public sector in general. Once infiltrated, they would cover up any past ties to the group and avoid any religious affiliation, as FETÖ then promoted itself as a religious group led by "preacher" Gülen.