By Tugcenur Yilmaz and Ferdi Turkten
ANKARA (AA) - A recent biased U.S. report shows that Washington has failed to grasp the reality of the FETO terror group, as it tried to paint the group behind a defeated 2016 coup as innocent, said Turkish presidential aide Ibrahim Kalin on Wednesday.
For centuries religious minorities in Turkey have lived in peace as equal citizens protected by the rule of law, said Kalin, hitting back at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 2019 report, according to Turkish presidential sources.
Also rebuffing the report, the Foreign Ministry said that Turkey sets an example for the world with its community where various religions and beliefs coexist peacefully.
"The mention of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) as 'Sunni Muslims' that face persecution in the report reveals from the very beginning how biased and detached from reality it is," added ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy in a statement.
The U.S. saying that FETO leader Fetullah Gulen and the FETO group are only “accused” by the Turkish government over its defeated 2016 coup amounts to condoning terrorism, in light of dozens of court rulings establishing it as a terrorist group, said Aksoy.
"Representatives of Turkey’s religious communities proclaiming that they live without being subject to any pressure is the best confirmation of the climate of religious freedom in Turkey," he added, referring to a joint declaration last year signed by the Greek Orthodox patriarch, general vicar of the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey, and the chief rabbi of Turkey, as well as Syriac, Chaldean, and Protestant representatives.
He added: "During this difficult period when the threat posed by terrorist organizations against religious freedoms is at a peak, Turkey sets an example to the world with its society in which various religions and beliefs coexist peacefully."
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 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 Burak Bir