By Sultan Cogalan and Nazli Yuzbasioglu
ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish government has given around 10,000 foreign briefings about the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) since the defeated July 15 coup attempt, according to Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
U.S.-based FETO leader Fetullah Gulen masterminded the coup plot, which left at least 248 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, according to the Turkish government.
Since the failed putsch, the Turkish government as well as the media and NGOs have been trying to raise awareness abroad and brief foreign officials along with the public on what exactly happened on the night of July 15.
"At the presidential level, our [Turkish] ambassadors made 88 meetings; at prime ministerial level, this number is 110, which equals to approximately two out of three of the countries registered at the UN," Cavusoglu told Anadolu Agency during an editorial meeting at the agency's headquarters in Ankara earlier this week.
He added that 816 meetings were conducted by ambassadors at ministerial level plus 1,620 meetings with parliamentarians. Also, an additional 6,707 briefings took place with senior officials, Cavusoglu said.
Cavusoglu said Turkey's foreign missions gave 2,388 interviews to various media, conducted 249 press briefings and wrote more than 500 articles, op-ed pieces and letters to newspapers or magazines.
The government -- through the Turkish educational Maarif Foundation -- also maintained efforts to take over Turkish schools built by FETO for its own sake in different countries.
"Since [July 15], over 80 institutions have either been shut down or taken over," Cavusoglu said. "All of FETO's non-governmental organizations, like associations, have been shut down. But we generally take over the schools in order to reduce the effect of the change on the students and their families."
In total, FETO schools were shut down in six countries. The Maarif Foundation took control of schools in seven countries. Sudan and Pakistan seized schools in their territory and around five other countries are preparing to hand the schools over to Turkey’s Maarif Foundation, according to Cavusoglu.
He did not share the names of the countries which shut down or let the Turkish government to take over the former FETO schools.
The Maarif Foundation took over five schools in Guinea and named two of them after Sgt. Omer Halisdemir who became a symbol of the Turkish nation's resistance to the coup attempt after he shot pro-coup Brig. Gen. Semih Terzi in the forehead at the entrance of the police special operations headquarters in Ankara, the minister said.
Long before the coup attempt was conducted, FETO had been behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, according to Ankara.
After July 15, tens of thousands FETO suspects were arrested, including many in the armed forces, police, justice system and education sector.
Cavusoglu said his ministry also suffered from this infiltration and that 406 individuals were dismissed after their connections to the terror network were proved.
He also stated his department was monitoring possible FETO connections of 60-70 individuals belonging to the ministry.
He also said his ministry now would hire more than 200 new personnel as "one fifth of" each department had been dismissed due to FETO links.
Last Oct., foreign ministers of Gulf Cooperation Council member states designated FETO, a terrorist organization, stressing their support for the Turkish government’s recent moves against the group.
The same month, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation also officially recognized FETO as a terrorist organization.