Coup ‘mastermind' Gulen's organization has infiltrated India: Turkey Minister

New Delhi, August 21

Turkey has claimed that an organisation linked to the Turkish cleric it accuses of staging last month's failed coup has “infiltrated” India.

In an interview to PTI on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu claimed that the organisation — Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation — had been increasing its presence around the world and it had also “infiltrated” India through associations and schools.

“I have already taken up this issue with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. In all countries where FETO has a presence, we ask them to take immediate actions to remove them from their territories,” he said.

He said terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constituted a threat.

“Therefore, exchange of information regarding these threats and bilateral and multilateral cooperation and solidarity against terrorism is crucial. This is what both Turkey and India are focused on,” he said.

Asked for a response to the Minister's comments, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the Indian side was “sensitive” to Turkish concerns and Indian security agencies were “looking into” Ankara's demand for shutting down of associations connected with the FETO.

The statements come on a day when at least 50 people were killed and more than 90 others were injured in a suicide bomb attack in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep on Saturday.

Turkey has been reeling under frequent terrorist strikes by the Kurdish PKK, an organisation designated as militant by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

Some 240 people died and more than 1,500 were wounded in an failed coup on July 15.

President Tayyip Erdogan accuses Gulen — a former ally of the Turkish strongman who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999 — of masterminding the attempted coup and has called on Washington to extradite him.

Gulen, who cooperated closely with Erdogen while he was Mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s and after his Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, has condemned the coup and denied involvement.

More than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained, suspended or placed under investigation following the coup attempt, prompting fears that Erdogan was using the events to crack down on dissent.

Washington's refusal to heed to Erdogen's demands to extradite Gulen until it had evidence of his involvement has strained ties between NATO allies.

Turkey has cracked down on educational institutions and associations with “suspected” links with Gulen.  — Agencies