ANKARA (AA) – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized Germany for not extraditing Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) members to Turkey.
In his speech at an award ceremony at the presidential complex in Ankara on Thursday, Erdogan said: “We are worried that Germany, which has been taking terrorist organizations like the PKK, DHKP-C under its wing, is now becoming a backyard for FETO.”
He likened terrorist groups to “scorpions that will sting its carrier frog because it’s in their nature.
“I don’t see the future of Germany — which receives terrorists with open arms instead of fighting against PKK, FETO, Daesh or racist groups — well,” he said. “Germany has become one of the most important countries that terrorists seek shelter in. I am saying it clearly.”
Germany, which hosts a three million strong Turkish community, is among countries where FETO, led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, has a large network with dozens of private schools, businesses and media organizations.
Several important Gulenist figures, including prosecutors and journalists are believed to have fled from Turkey to Germany.
Last month, Turkey formally asked German authorities to locate, arrest and handover two high-profile prosecutors, Zekeriya Oz and Celal Kara, who are accused of plotting to overthrow the Turkish government.
They are accused of playing a key role in a controversial anti-corruption probe late 2013 that targeted the upper echelons of government.
Germany views Gulenists with suspicion but the group is not outlawed in the country, with the authorities stressing that such a move could only come after concrete evidence of criminality was presented.
FETO is primarily focused on interfaith dialogue programs promoting messages of moderate Islam in Germany in what many see as an effort to win the trust of the media and political institutions. The organization, led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, is accused of orchestrating Turkey’s July 15 coup plot as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
The defeated July 15 coup left 246 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
