Turkey, Uganda talk handover of FETO terror schools

Turkey has been talking with Ugandan officials over transferring the management of schools and hospitals in the East African country linked to FETO, the terror group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, said Turkish diplomats.

“The Ugandan government says the transfer of the establishments should be done within legal means,” Kerem Alp, Turkey’s ambassador to Uganda, told Anadolu Agency on Sunday.

“We told them there is a link between some schools and hospitals operating in Uganda linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization [FETO],” he said in Kampala, the capital.

Alp explained that he has held meetings with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, the attorney general, and other officials about the FETO threat.

He said he hopes the Ugandan government will cooperate on the issue so that the schools are transferred into the hands of the Maarif Foundation, a Turkish group created to manage former FETO-run schools.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the failed coup in Turkey 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.

FETO has a considerable presence abroad, including private schools and hospitals which serve as a revenue stream for the terror group.

After the defeated coup, Turkey established the Maarif Foundation to assume the administration of overseas schools linked to FETO. It also establishes schools and education centers abroad.