Indonesia joins countries asked to close FETO affiliates

By Ainur Rohmah

TUBAN, Indonesia (AA) - Indonesia has joined the list of countries asked by Turkish authorities to clamp down on organizations within its borders linked to United States-based preacher Fetullah Gulen.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry request follows similar reported moves made in Cambodia, Thailand and Japan.

Ankara has accused the Fetullah Terrorist Group (FETO) of orchestrating an attempted coup July 15 in which FETO-linked military personnel attempted -- unsuccessfully -- to overthrow Turkey’s elected government.

On Thursday, the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Jakarta underlined in a statement that are a number of schools in Indonesia linked to "this terrorist organization".

"According to the Indonesian officials, their umbrella organization in Indonesia, i.e. PASIAD has been shut down on 1 November 2015. As the Embassy, we have for long been expressing our concerns on the activities of the FETO terrorist organization here in Indonesia to top Indonesian officials."

It added that according to information it had received from the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry had sent an official letter to State Islamic University Jakarta in Ciputat, South Jakarta, and ordered the closure of their Gulen lectern sometime ago.

"It is noteworthy to state that after the coup attempt perpetrated by the FETO terrorist organization, a number of countries decided to shut down the schools, affiliated to it," the statement said.

It listed the countries as Jordan, Azerbaijan, Somalia and Niger and said that authorities in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus had also decided to list Fetullah Terror Organization/Parallel State Structure (FETO/PDY) as a terrorist organization.

"We appreciate the true solidarity of these countries," it underlined.