 In 2007, the military expressed its opposition to the election of Abdullah Gül, of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), as president, by issuing an e-memorandum, but Gül was eventually elected when the AKP won both a referendum on the matter, and also a snap election, and the party returned with a larger majority in the parliament.As opposed to previous political interventions by the Turkish military, Turkey's AKP government and pro-government media maintain that the 15 July 2016 coup attempt was not motivated by allegiance to Kemalist ideology, but rather to the vast political, economic, and religious network led by U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen.Between 2007 and 2012, high-profile Kemalists, including high-ranking officers of the Turkish Armed Forces, faced a series of trials and purges, under reports of involvement in a secret society codenamed "Ergenekon".