FETÖ schools still active in 75 countries: Minister

ANKARA

Schools affiliated with FETÖ are still active in 75 countries, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in reply to a parliament questionnaire.

FETÖ schools and language courses have been terminated in 22 countries, the minister said in his reply to a written questionnaire submitted by Hasan Kalyoncu, a lawmaker from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), to the Turkish parliament.

Schools affiliated with FETÖ were terminated in Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Gambia, Libya, Jordan, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Rwanda, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia, Montenegro, Maldives, Madagascar, Côte d’Ivoire, Serbia, Senegal, Venezuela and Oman, according to the minister.

FETÖ affiliated schools were taken over by Turkey’s Maarif Foundation in 18 countries: Guinea, Somalia, Niger, Sudan, Republic of Congo, Mauritania, Mali, Chad, Senegal, Tunisia, Gabon, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Venezuela, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, an Istanbul court on April 30 remanded in custody 137 of 153 suspects as part of a probe of infiltration of the Turkish army by FETÖ. The active-duty soldiers were remanded in custody for alleged FETÖ group membership, said judicial sources who spoke on condition of anonymity to Anadolu Agency due to restrictions on speaking to the media. While 16 suspects were released under judicial control, a police search is underway for 26 fugitive suspects.    

The FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen are accused of being behind of a defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and nearly 2,200 injured.