Beware of FETO, Daesh who exploit religion: Erdogan

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said all those who continue to be active in the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) following the July 15 defeated coup are traitors.

In his speech delivered at the presidential complex to mark the August 30 Victory Day on Tuesday, Erdogan said: "Beware of terrorist organizations such as FETO and Daesh, which exploit the high values of our religion.

"Allah gave us a mind to think, to compare and to take our own decision."

He said the Turkish nation has a tradition that goes back a thousand years, a civilization with moral and material dimensions, and a sovereignty of thousand years under its geography.

"The people who put their minds under a quack [Fetullah Gulen] living in America and who sell their souls for a dollar, do not have any links to our history, culture and us."

Erdogan said the first evidence regarding FETO surfaced after the December 2013 corruption investigation.

"People who continue to be still active in this defection gang are ‘intentionally’ traitors," he said.

The U.S.-based preacher is also the main suspect in the investigation of mass wiretapping case of December 17 and December 21, 2013, which targeted more than 7,000 people in Turkey.

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.

Erdogan talks to soldier in Jarabulus

During his speech, Turkish president contacted via a video conference Lt. Efe Trabzon, who is involved in the security operation in the Syrian city of Jarabulus.

Trabzon's troops were screened by a drone from 6,500 meters above.

Erdogan called out to the Turkish soldiers: "I am proud of the news which I have received, and I also proudly follow both the fight on our border and the fight of moderate opposition in Jarabulus [against terrorist organizations]."

Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched on Wednesday, is aimed at improving security, supporting coalition forces and eliminating the terror threat along Turkey’s border through Free Syrian Army fighters backed by Turkish armor, artillery and jets.