Turkey criticizes US over terrorism report for ‘neglecting’ coup attempt by FETÖ

ANKARA

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has criticized the “Country Reports on Terrorism 2019” of the U.S. State Department for “being negligent” regarding the role of FETÖ in a July 2016 coup attempt.

 “It is noticeable that the terrorist nature of FETÖ is being questioned and legitimate measures we have taken in our fight against FETÖ are criticized as it is used to be as in previous years,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy said in a written statement on June 25.

“This situation is proof of the continuation of the U.S.’s negligent attitude regarding the heinous coup attempt of 15th July. The myriad of evidence presented in relation to this treacherous terrorist organization is overlooked once again,” he stated.

This attitude demonstrates that there is a “reluctance to comprehend” Turkey’s fight against FETÖ, said the statement, recalling the group was behind the coup attempt of 15 July that killed 251 citizens. “The measures mentioned in the report are those taken legally by our country against FETÖ,” said Aksoy.

On the other hand, the spokesperson said Turkey’s fight against ISIL and its efforts with respect to the prevention of the movements of the Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) are reflected and the continuation of PKK’s terrorist attacks towards internal and external interests of the country is emphasized in the report.

However, the report “attempts to conceal the fact that YPG is the same terrorist organization as PKK, by indicating that our country views YPG as the Syrian arm of PKK,” said Aksoy.

“This approach amounts to the abstention of explicitly emphasizing the terrorist identity of the YPG, and moreover confirms the cooperation between the USA and this terrorist organization,” read the statement.

“The USA needs to realize that cooperating with a terrorist organization while countering another is not right,” he noted.