Italy:Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for international action against the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah G\u00fclen, who is accused of orchestrating the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey.
\n\u201cI would like to call on all our friends to take the necessary measures against the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization [FET\u00d6] in their own countries for the future of their own people and their well-being,\u201d Erdogan told the U.N. General Assembly late on Sept. 20, referring to the G\u00fclen network.
\n\u201cThis terrorist organization is in a deep mental heresy of subduing the whole world, far beyond Turkey. It is evident from experience that if you do not fight against FET\u00d6 now, tomorrow may be too late,\u201d he said.
\nTurkey has asked the U.S. authorities to arrest and extradite G\u00fclen, whose followers infiltrated into the armed forces, the police force, the judiciary and civil service over decades. The July 15 coup attempt, during which 241 people were killed, is widely believed to have been led by soldiers who were followers of the preacher.
\nThe government has been pursuing a crackdown on the G\u00fclen network since prosecutors and police linked to the group launched a major graft investigation on Dec. 17, 2013, which included four ministers and many bureaucrats.
\nIn an interview with Reuters on Sept. 19, Erdogan said the U.S. should \u201cnot harbor a terrorist\u201d like G\u00fclen and said his activities around the world should be banned.
\n\u201cI would also like to state that attributions such as \u2018Turkish\u2019 or \u2018Turkey\u2019 used by this terrorist organization and the people within it are wrong. [This group] has no association with Turkey whatsoever,\u201d Erdogan told the U.N. General Assembly.
\n\u201cI take pride in my nation as my nation defeated this heinous coup attempt by risking their lives. They showed a very noble stance. If I am standing here today before you it is thanks to our nation\u2019s brave and noble stance,\u201d he said.
\nAccording to the Turkish president, the failed coup was \u201caimed at the global democracy as well.\u201d
\nG\u00fclenists infiltrate state institutions, influence the society and dominate economy \u201cunder the disguise of education, dialogue, tolerance, non-governmental organization and ostensibly good intentions,\u201d he said.
\nThe Syrian war and refugee crisis were also addressed in Erdogan\u2019s speech.
\n\u201cWe cannot lose any more time\u201d in achieving a political settlement to the Syrian conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, he said.
\n\u201cThe [Bashar al-Assad] regime is condemning people to famine and suffering, in order to encourage them to surrender or to die. The U.N. and the U.N. Security Council should no longer tolerate the regime\u2019s policy,\u201d Erdogan added.
\nHe stressed that Turkey has \u201cno expectations with regard to the territory of Syria\u201d and attaches great significance to an undivided Syria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Italy:Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for international action against the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah G\u00fclen, who is accused of orchestrating the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey. \u201cI would like to call on all our friends to take the necessary measures against the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization [FET\u00d6] in their own countries for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n