'Kenyans stand with Turkey against FETO terror group'

By Kaan Bozdogan

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - The Kenyan people stand by Turkey and its president under all circumstances against the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, the head of the Kenya Islamic Foundation said on Wednesday.

Shaikh Muhammed Akhtar, 86, told Anadolu Agency that they prayed for Turkey's well-being as the coup attempt unfolded on July 15, 2016.

As the Islamic Foundation, Akhtar said they knew the real face of the terror group and that they had had no contact with it before the coup attempt.

Underlining that the foundation had never cooperated with FETO, he recounted that when they heard of the terror group's coup attempt, they knew it would fail because Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was "a strong leader" and that the people in the country would stand against the putsch.

"We want Turkey to remain strong and to continue to be the leader of all oppressed nations," he added, urging Turkey to support education projects for Muslims in Kenya.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

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

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz