FETO dangerous beyond Turkey, experts say

By Kenan Irtak

ISTANBUL (AA) - FETO members gathered information about Pakistani politicians during intelligence meetings, Pakistani lawyer Muhammad Sohail Sajid said on Wednesday.

“The real face of FETO is very dangerous not only for Pakistan or Turkey, but for the entire Islamic world,” Sajid told a conference organized by the South Asia Strategic Research Center in Istanbul.

He claimed that FETO members in Pakistan established a network among businessmen and politicians for illegal money transfers under the guise of educational activities in the country.

Sajid said FETO abused Pakistani people’s love for Turkey as they increased their influence in the country through the financial assistance of benevolent donors.

Addressing the conference, Prime Ministry advisor Kudret Bulbul said FETO leaked other countries’ organizations and educational systems.

“Because we left the field empty, we did not fill this strategic area, FETO is filling it up and we have to deal with this trouble we are facing today,” he said.

Bulbul has described the FETO as the “most insidious and secret organization in the world”.

Pakistani strategist Ibrahim Muhammad Qazi said FETO is very influential in the country’s media and continues to broadcast publications against Turkey.

“A TV channel linked to FETO broadcasts using the Pakistani satellite instead of the Turkish satellite,” he claimed.

FETO, led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, has been accused of orchestrating the defeated coup of July 2016 that left at least 249 people martyred, and around 2,200 others wounded.

Ankara accuses FETO of staging the coup attempt as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.