CHP leader criticizes gov’t over FETÖ

ANKARA

Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu addresses his party's parliamentary group in Ankara, Turkey, on Feb. 11, 2020. (AA Photo)

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has criticized the government over FETÖ’s infiltration into the state and state’s institutions.

“A report from a unit of the presidency says, ‘FETÖ is infiltrating all capillaries of the state.’ Who placed the members of the FETÖ terrorist organization to the capillaries of the state? How were these people placed within the police, the Interior Ministry and [the army]?” Kılıçdaroğlu said on Feb. 11.

The CHP leader’s remarks came during his party’s parliamentary group meeting in the capital Ankara.

“Since the ruling party is the only authority to make these appointments, can this party say, ‘I thought they were honest,’ when placing this terrorist organization’s members into the state?” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

He also added that FETÖ’s activities within the country have been monitored by the state for at least 25 years. He said that there is a report of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), dated April 3, 1991, that assessed “the political moves of Fetullah Gülen.”

FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.

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

“No ruler can say, ‘I had no idea.’ The state is stable but the political party that rules the state is temporary. All kinds of intel exist in the state’s archive,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

Kılıçdaroğlu also said that security units, along with MİT, were also collecting information about FETÖ. He also referred to a National Security Council (MGK) decision on declaring a fight against FETÖ and agreeing to take necessary measures.

“Did FETÖ continue to infiltrate the state despite the MGK decision? They continued to place FETÖ members in the most sensitive institutions of the state,” he said.