Turkey 'dried up' FETO network in Africa: Le Monde

By Vakkas Dogantekin

ANKARA

By taking over former FETO terrorist-run schools in Africa, Turkey has drained FETO’s networks there, reported French daily Le Monde.

In a piece published Tuesday, Le Monde analyzed Turkey’s efforts to take over schools in Africa linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.

The article, "How the Turkish state dried up the Gulenist [FETO] networks in Africa," told how, since 2009, the number of Turkey’s embassies in Africa had jumped to 50 from just 27.

"Schools are no longer in the hands of terrorists, but trustworthy people, and our children will continue to receive an education in good conditions," Idriss Deby, Chad’s president, said in 2017, after the FETO schools in his country were transferred to Turkey’s Maarif Foundation.

French-speaking Turkish official

Le Monde highlighted the foundation and Hasan Yavuz, its vice president.

Turkey established the foundation in 2016 to take over the administration of overseas schools linked to FETO. It also establishes schools and education centers abroad.

Le Monde wrote that French-speaking Yavuz made numerous trips to African countries, directly contacted the government heads, and promised investment and further cooperation from Turkey in return for dismantling FETO schools.

Dismantling FETO schools was not easy in countries such as Mozambique, where Defense Minister Atanasio Salvador Mtumuke did all he could to protect Sogut Koleji, the FETO school that educated the children of high-ranking diplomats and elites in the country, said Le Monde.

The daily also mentioned the positive impact of Turkey’s Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association, MUSIAD, saying that it opened several representative offices across Africa to establish a pro-Turkey business network.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

FETO has a considerable presence outside Turkey, including private educational institutions that serve as a revenue stream for the terrorist group.