Philippine schools deny links to FETO terror group

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (AA) - A Turkish non-profit organization that operates a school in this predominantly Christian city on Friday denied allegations it has connections to any terror organization.

The denial comes after Turkish Ambassador Esra Cankorur revealed the supposed presence of Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) in the Philippines and that the group is active through a school in Zamboanga and two others in Manila.

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.

One of the institutions referred to Wednesday by Cankorur is the Filipino-Turkish Tolerance School that was founded in 1997 in Zamboanga and has held math competitions, Turkish cultural shows and distributes beef during the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival.

"We do not and have never had any links with any group involved in terror attacks. ICAD [Integrative Center for Alternative Development Foundation, Inc.] and PDF [Pacific Foundation Dialogue, Inc.] have never been involved in any criminal activities, much less terrorist activities in the Philippines or elsewhere. ICAD and PDF are also not affiliated with any terrorist organization,” the group said in a statement.

In addition to the school in Zamboanga City, ICAD also runs the Fountain International School in Metro Manila and Academia Language and Review Center in San Juan and Pasig.

ICAD students are listed as from 28 countries.

The Malacañang Palace said last week the military is working to verify the purported presence of FETO terrorists.

"We will investigate organizations abetting or aiding terrorism and will hold them accountable, especially those that may be working as fronts for terrorist and criminal activities," local news outlet ABS-CBN quoted Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella as saying.