FETO spends 'vast amount' to attack Turkey from US

By Kemal Karadag

ANKARA (AA) - Fetullah Gulen, the U.S.-based leader of the terrorist organization behind last year’s defeated coup, pays at least half a million dollars a month for lobbying activities in Washington, according the partner-lawyer of an international law firm.

“Gulen has spent a vast amount of money on donations to officials. He spends anywhere from half a million to a million dollars a month just on lobbying in Washington,” said Robert Amsterdam, an international lawyer in Amsterdam & Partners LLP, a law firm with offices in London and Washington DC.

Amsterdam & Partners LLP was retained by Turkey to pursue a global investigation into the suspicious activities of Gulen, the mastermind of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

Amsterdam said Gulen spends money to attack Turkey, and anyone working for Turkey, as well as to promote and protect his activities in the U.S.

Mentioning "Empire of Deceit: An Investigation of the Gulen School Network", a book published by the law firm in September, Amsterdam said it demonstrates the activities of Gulen organization.

“The activities of Fetullah Gulen were shielded as in any criminal conspiracy. A tremendous amount of effort is made to shield Gulen,” he said.

He also said FETO schools were run as secret cells of the organization, adding more than 200 schools of Gulen’s network operate in the U.S.

The law firm has already initiated a multi-jurisdictional investigation into the network.

-'Science' of overcharging

Shedding light on the operation of the organization’s system, Amsterdam said there is a theft based on overcharging.

“They take public money from the schools and put it into the pockets of the Gulen organization through overcharging on real estate, through overcharging for educational services, through overcharging on construction services.

“The Gulenist organization has made a science of overcharging and essentially the ripping off the public in the U.S.,” he said.

Amsterdam emphasized that their aim was to “map” the organization.

“Our aim -- not only in the U.S. but in Africa in Europe as well -- is first to map the organization. This [second] book maps the political activity of Gulen in the U.S.," he said.

Amsterdam revealed the name of the book as “Web of Influence”, which will be ready in a number of months.

“For the first time this book demonstrates beyond any doubt, with zero doubt, that to the American authorities the Gulen organization is not a legitimate organization dedicated to the education of children," he said.

He added the book would demonstrate how Gulen spreads money on politicians through cultural organizations and political donations to systematically cover up the activities of his organization in the U.S.

The financial power of Gulen should not be underestimated, Amsterdam concluded.

“Had Hilary Clinton won the election, our job would have been ten times more difficult. The Trump victory in the U.S. has opened up some political space and it has been fun to watch Gulen hire everybody connected to Trump who cleaned his shoes, washed his cars.”