Turkey vows to stay vigilant against FETÖ threat

ANKARA

It’s not easy to entirely wipe out the FETÖ organization, and Turkey will continue to stay vigilant against coup plotters, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, vowing to eliminate terrorists wherever they are, even outside the borders.

“As we continue our fight against other terrorist organizations without compromise and with determination, we will follow FETÖ until its last member is made ineffective,” Erdoğan told his parliamentary group on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt that left 251 people dead and more than 2,000 injured.

Turkey held Fethullah Gülen and his FETÖ organization responsible for the coup attempt and launched a big campaign to clear the state apparatus, including the military, justice and all other public offices of clandestine members of the terror organization. Tens of thousands of civil servants were dismissed from their jobs, while those who were found out to be active members of the organization were prosecuted and jailed.

Describing the FETÖ as an insidious organization that can hardly be fully wiped out, Erdoğan vowed that Turkey would continue to stay vigilant against it inside and outside Turkey. “We are after them from both inside and outside. And we are bringing them back to Turkey when we capture them. We have recently brought the FETÖ’s chief financial coordinator in Central Asia,” Erdoğan said.

Turkey is planning security measures in the regions where there is a threat of terrorism, and that’s why the government is strengthening its diplomatic infrastructure and presence abroad, the president explained.

“If we do not establish this strong infrastructure, we know and see through countless examples in our distant and recent history that they will not allow us to live in peace, security and prosperity on these lands. That’s why we don’t look at terrorist organizations and their activities as just ordinary armed structures,” he stated.

“We will continue to be on alert against the PKK and FETÖ. But this is not just the responsibility of the politics. Our 84 million people are part of this national cause,” the president added.

Erdoğan said the July 15 and the martyrs of that night would be commemorated in the most substantial way and called on all the lawmakers to attend the ceremonies.

'Our target is June 2023'

Recalling that the next presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in June 2023, Erdoğan reminded his lawmakers to start working for the polls in their constituencies as soon as the parliament will go to recess.

“As the People Alliance, our goal is June 2023 polls. God willing, our country will mark a new era through the June 2023 elections,” he said, referring to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

The opposition is no capacity to address the problems of Turkey, Erdoğan stated, citing that the AKP was the only political entity that could recover the economy, solve the main problems and undergo reforms in the field of democracy and freedoms when necessary.

The economic and political achievements of Turkey in the past 19 years have shown that the only political party that can build the future of the country is the AKP, Erdoğan said.