FETO terrorists part of OSCE meeting: Turkish diplomat

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia

Turkey denounced Thursday members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) terror group participating in a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Speaking at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Bratislava, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the FETO terror group tried to destroy the Turkish democracy with its coup attempt in 2016 and condemned its members who took part in the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting of the OSCE.

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

Turkey also 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.

“This is not a position against the civil society, it is not an attempt to limit the participation in the OSCE,” he said, adding that Turkey expected the OSCE’s help in turbulent times.

He voiced the rules of the OSCE on inviting participants to its meetings and said the Helsinki Summit prevents the participation of those who engage in violence or resort to force.

The rule “has either been selectively applied or totally disregarded,” he said.

The summit document signed in 1992 by 35 member states covers cooperation, peaceful settlement of disputes and non-intervention in internal affairs.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar