It took six years of meticulous work, but Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) finally deciphered an encrypted SD card found in possession of a member of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), according to a report by the Sabah newspaper. The investigation now uncovered names of some 3,000 people working for the Turkish National Police who were previously unknown to authorities but worked for FETÖ in secret. Another 4,121 people, who were "handlers" for FETÖ’s infiltrators in law enforcement, were also discovered in the database.

The member codenamed "Garson" (Waiter), handed out the card containing a database of FETÖ members to authorities in 2017 after he agreed to be a "secret witness" in investigations against the terrorist group. The group’s former members can invoke a law granting them lenient sentences in exchange for valuable information about the wrongdoings of FETÖ, which was behind a 2016 coup attempt.

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 spouses of FETÖ-linked police officers.

MIT tapped supercomputers to decode the card encrypted with advanced technology. The database had a trove of documents dating back to 16 years ago about the infiltration of FETÖ into law enforcement. Authorities scanned some 57,000 documents found in the card. Chief Prosecutor’s Office in the Turkish capital, Ankara, is expected to receive the final version of the report on the deciphering of the card, and it will serve as evidence for future operations against the terrorist group.

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 have indicated.

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.

On Tuesday, the Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara issued arrest warrants for 20 suspects linked to the terrorist group. Suspects were wanted as part of an investigation into an examination fraud perpetrated by FETÖ between 2011 and 2013. They are accused of stealing questions and answers to examinations to promote public sector employees and supplying them to fellow members of the terrorist group.

FETÖ has been accused of stealing questions and answers to several examinations in the past. The examination results of many participants linked to FETÖ were annulled after investigations uncovered the fraud recently as last year.

Over the past few decades, the terrorist group is believed to have expanded its infiltration into the public sector, from law enforcement to ministries. Examinations were a stepping stone for the group, whose infiltrators helped others infiltrate.