Students drop out of FETO-linked schools in Netherlands

AMSTERDAM

Dozens of students in the Netherlands have pulled out of schools linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which Turkey blames for the July 15 defeated coup, according to local media reports.

FETO has been operating eight primary schools, including two high schools, and a boarding school in the country, including the Cosmicus College in Rotterdam, Metis Montessori High School in Amsterdam, Roos Islamic Primary School in Purmerend and Zaandam, Roos Primary School in Amsterdam, Cosmicus Primary School in Rotterdam, The Hague and Arnhem, Cosmicus-Impuls Primary School in Amsterdam, Witte Tulp Primary School in Amsterdam and Inpoint Boarding School in Meerdere.

According to the Dutch media outlet, RTL Nieuws, 35 students have so far dropped out in schools in Rotterdam.

Out of 403 students in Zaandam, 120 dropped out, Dutch news website De Nos added.

Fatma Kasal said she put her two sons out of FETO schools in Zaandam city after the July 15 coup attempt.

Kasal said school managers later declared their schools were not linked to FETO. However, she added, the management had made parents listen to Fetullah Gulen's discourses during meetings.

Another parent Leyla Guzhan said she also pulled her 8-year-old child out of a Gulen's school.

"We were worried a lot after the coup attempt. We wondered if our child had been taught about Gulen's opinions or not. Then we decided to pull our child out of the school," Guzhan said.

Turkey's government has said the July 15 defeated coup, which left 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, was organized by followers of Fetullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his FETO network.

Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

*Reporting by Hasan Esen; Writing by Sibel Ugurlu