Fethullahist Terrorist Organization – European Affairs Magazine

Turkey's Foreign Ministry calls US Human Rights report "unacceptable", that doesn't mention the role of FETO and PKK

5 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday that the 2016 Human Rights report on Turkey, which was released Friday by the U.S. Department of State, included “unacceptable claims and inaccurate descriptions”. “It is noteworthy that the report does not mention at all the role of Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) in the July 15 coup attempt and the presence of FETO leaders in the U.S.”, a statement read. Led by U.S.-based FetullahGulen and his terrorist group FETO, last year’s failed coup left at least 248 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured. The report refers to the terrorist group as “the Gulen movement”. “The [Turkish] government ascribed responsibility for the attempt to the FethullahGulen movement, which it defined as a terrorist organization”, the report read. The Foreign Ministry also criticized the report’s description of the fight against PKK terrorist organization as “a conflict between the government and PKK members”, saying this description was “totally unacceptable”. “At a time when we are facing unprecedented terror threats against the existence of our state and nation, the inaccurate reflection of our reasonable fight against FETO, PKK, [far-left] DHKP-C, and Daeshhas left us deeply disappointed” the ministry said, adding the report was not based on objectivity. It added that Turkey would continue its fight against terrorism, and to work towards further enhancing fundamental rights and freedoms. Turkey has been fighting terrorist organizations on multiple fronts whether at home (FETO, PKK) or abroad, in Syria and Iraq (Daesh and PKK allies).

The arrested HDP co-chair Demirtas asks for release

Selahattin Demirtas, the arrested co-chair of the Kurdish issue-focused Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), has requested his release from jail in a petition written to the Eighth Heavy Penal Court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. Demirtas, who is currently jailed in the northwestern province of Edirne, stated in the petition that he was arrested with “an exaggerated and non-proportional raid aimed at creating a political sensation”. “We have no doubt that the [arrests of HDP lawmakers] are being directed from a center” he said, noting that 31 summaries of proceedings were prepared for him and 11 of the prosecutors who prepared them had themselves been arrested for being members of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), believed to have been behind Turkey’s failed July 2016 coup attempt. “My indictment was increased to 501 pages and the sentence being sought for me was determined as 142 years in order to create a negative perception in the public. They wanted to create the impression that my arrest was necessary” Demirtas added. The HDP co-chair said in his petition that his right to a fair trial was violated and his rights stemming from being a deputy were seized from him through his arrest. At present a total of 11 HDP figures, including Demirtas and the HDP’s other co-chair, Figen Yüksekdag, remain in prison and face hundreds of years in jail.