The Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which was behind a foiled coup try in Türkiye on July 15, 2016, more and more turned to Canada, the place they bolstered their presence lately. The nation is now internet hosting a large variety of group members, both these on the run from Turkish justice or those that arrived within the nation from the United States. As a matter of reality, Canada now has the biggest FETÖ community after its southern neighbor, the place Fetullah Gülen, chief of the group, resides with out restrictions in Pennsylvania.
An unsuccessful coup try in Türkiye sped up the arrival of FETÖ members to Canada as Türkiye took extra steps to crack down on the terrorist group.
Canada is house to a lot of associations affiliated with the group, whereas CentreCanada, is essentially the most outstanding amongst them. The affiliation’s web site, whose full title is CentreCanada Newcomer Services Society, says it helps newcomers begin their new life in Canada. It additionally hosts a string of “events” within the vein of “sohbet” (gathering of FETÖ members).
Thriving FETÖ-linked associations are apparently inspired by Canada’s refusal of extradition of wished members of the terrorist group by Türkiye.
CentreCanada is based by Anatolian Heritage Federation, a Toronto-based civic society with hyperlinks to FETÖ, which promotes the terrorist group’s anti-Türkiye marketing campaign. It gives providers from housing assist to schooling and employment for “newcomers.”
The North American nation the place FETÖ already had a presence earlier than the 2016 coup try welcomed senior figures of the terrorist group fleeing nations in Africa and Asia after the try. Most arrived with authorized paperwork and by air earlier than Turkish courts issued arrest warrants for them. In latest years, different wished group members secretly traveled to Canada by way of the U.S., the place they infiltrated by means of the Mexican border. The lack of motion by the Justin Trudeau authorities made Canada a well-liked vacation spot for FETÖ members braving perilous journeys from Mexico to the nation.
Among these calling Canada their new house is Osman Özsoy, an instructional who’s on the Turkish Interior Ministry’s most wished terrorist checklist. Özsoy was a presenter in a now-defunct TV station of the group in Türkiye. Before the coup try, he gained notoriety for his remarks on his TV present, the place he promoted a coup in opposition to the federal government.
Cemal Karaata, wished by Türkiye for his position in killing the Russian Ambassador in Ankara Andrei Karlov, is one other FETÖ fugitive residing in Canada. Karlov was murdered whereas attending an occasion within the Turkish capital in 2016 by an off-duty police officer loyal to FETÖ. A subsequent investigation revealed that the assassination was a plot by the terrorist group. Temel Alsancak, one other suspect within the assassination plot, was noticed in Texas, U.S., in June.
Said Sefa, one other fugitive FETÖ member identified for his on-line propaganda for the terrorist group, additionally lives in Canada.
The terrorist group is understood for its world community of faculties and associations it based whereas it disguised itself as a global nonprofit group with non secular undertones lengthy earlier than the coup try. Anatolian Heritage Federation spearheads FETÖ’s “public relations” efforts in Canada. It operates branches or organizes occasions in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Kitchener. It is an umbrella group for 19 extra comparable however smaller associations, together with Canadian Turkish Friendship Community (CTFC), Intercultural Dialogue Institute (IDI), Embrace Islamic Society, Northern Light Relief Foundation and Northern Lights Education Services.
Outside Anatolian Heritage Foundation, Canada hosts different FETÖ-affiliated organizations, together with the Canadian Turkish Heritage Foundation in Ottawa, Centre Culturel Anatolie in Montreal, Burç Intercultural Centre in Calgary, Nebula Academy and Mosaic Education Centre in Edmonton. FETÖ can be identified for ties to an unknown variety of firms and social media web sites within the nation. Ankara has repeatedly warned Canada to take motion in opposition to such organizations, to no avail.
Türkiye usually complains of failures in worldwide cooperation in opposition to terrorism and the extradition situation stands out amongst these failures. The nation, which fights in opposition to threats from a number of terrorist teams, expects the identical stance from the worldwide neighborhood, significantly its allies. Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç mentioned final month that few nations approve extradition requests. Tunç informed Demirören News Agency (DHA) that extradition requests for members of FETÖ have been coupled with worldwide arrest warrants. “As of July, we have a total of 2,100 extradition requests (sent to the ministry by courts). We have filed requests to 112 countries in 1,387 cases. We made 28 requests to Sweden and 22 of them were rejected. As for Red Notices (for international arrest warrants), none were approved,” he mentioned.
Fetullah Gülen, who lives in a compound operated by FETÖ in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, has praised the Western nations helping group members in 2018. Addressing fellow FETÖ members in a video entitled “Foreign lands, emigration, shahada and service,” Gülen mentioned that many nations, together with Germany, Canada, the U.S. and “partially” France, had helped them. “They said rent a house and we will pay for it … Germany has done this, so has Canada and France (partially) and the U.S. and other places,” Gülen, who not often made appearances following the coup try, mentioned within the video.
An unknown variety of FETÖ members, principally high-ranking figures, fled Türkiye when the coup try was thwarted. Many of the group’s members had already left the nation earlier than the coup try after Turkish prosecutors launched investigations into different crimes of the terrorist group.
The U.S., the place FETÖ’s fugitive head Gülen resides, is the topic of most extradition requests. Türkiye has despatched a number of extradition requests for Gülen to Washington to date however, sadly, has seen little progress on this topic. Ankara formally requested Gülen’s extradition on July 19, 2016, and has been urgent the U.S. ever since, sending lots of of folders stuffed with proof implicating Gülen and FETÖ within the coup try. The situation has been raised in bilateral conferences between Turkish and American officers in cellphone calls, letters and different exchanges.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
