Erdogan presses Kyrgyzstan for action against Gulen group

Kyrgyz-Turkish Yssykkul Girls' High School, Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyz-Turkish Yssykkul Girls' High School, Kyrgyzstan.


Date posted: April 11, 2018

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday urged Kyrgyzstan to take stronger action against the group blamed for a failed 2016 coup, as new President Sooronbai Jeenbekov visited Ankara in a bid to ease tense ties.

Relations between Ankara and Bishkek had often been strained under the rule of Jeenbekov’s predecessor Almazbek Atambayev, whom Turkey accused of failing to take tough action against the group of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen.

Turkey accuses Gulen of masterminding the abortive coup and leading a terror group called the [FETO], charges he denies.

Gulen’s group had built up huge influence in Turkey but also abroad — notably in Africa, the Balkans and Turkic Central Asian states like Kyrgyzstan — in particular through an education network.

“We made clear our expectations from Kyrgyzstan in the fight against FETO,” Erdogan said after talks with Jeenbekov at his presidential palace.

He reaffirmed Turkey’s past warnings that Gulen’s group was capable of launching similar actions against Kyrgyzstan as it had in Turkey in July 2016.

“It is such an organisation that it has the character to do the same to Kyrgyzstan tomorrow what it did to us today,” said Erdogan.

“I believe (the Kyrgyz president) will act more shrewdly and take the needed measures more rapidly,” added Erdogan.

Alluding to the tensions under Atambayev, he added: “I believe my dear brother’s visit will contribute to opening a new page in Turkish-Kyrgyz relations.”

Jeenbekov, who was the chosen successor of Atambayev, took office late last year after winning presidential elections in the first round.

At the time of the coup bid, Turkish media said a Gulen-linked foundation ran 28 schools in Kyrgyzstan, from primary schools to a university.

Ankara then angered Bishkek by saying Gulen supporters had infiltrated its institutions and could carry out a coup there.

Almost two years after the failed coup bid, Turkey is still pressing a crackdown to eradicate Gulen’s influence, not just at home but abroad.

In March, five teachers and a doctor, all Turkish nationals alleged to be Gulenists, were flown back to Turkey from Kosovo in a covert operation by Turkish intelligence and the Kosovo interior ministry.


Related News

Kyrgyz President Atambayev: Ankara should not threaten us with coup

Kyrgyz president: Those calling Turkish teachers terrorists should see a doctor

Kyrgyz President Atambayev: Sebat Turkish schools won’t be shut down

Kyrgyz Prime Minister Atambayev: I support Turkish schools with all my heart

Turkish Schools in Kyrgyzstan Celebrated 20th Anniversary

 

Source: France 24 , April 9, 2018


Related News

Being partners of the state

The freshly appointed justice minister, using phrases not easily understandable to people in the streets, said, “Neither God nor the state accepts partners.” This statement does not have an Islamic background. Every citizen is a partner of the state. The duty of a government is to perform common tasks in the name of these partners and based on the mandate given to it.

Grand Mufti of Egypt: “At least 10 Turkish schools must be opened in Egypt”

Dr. Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt wanted Turkish entrepreneurs to open at least 10 schools in Egypt. Dr. Gomaa attended the opening ceremony of the second Turkish School of Egypt, located in the city of Beni Suwaif, in southern Cairo. He remarked the students in these Turkish schools learn English perfectly. He mentioned […]

Minister thankful to Fethullah Gulen for backing the peace process

Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, thankful to Fethullah Gulen for backing the ongoing peace process in Turkey’s Kurdish issue, said, “The peace process is a process in which the entire nation feels the honor of being equal citizens of the same state under the same flag. So I would like to […]

Virginians Deliver 114,000 Pounds of Winter Warmth to Refugees in Turkey

Local governments working with volunteers from religious groups and private business in Virginia delivered more than 72 tons of coats and blankets this winter to Syrian refugees in Turkey. The Northern Virginia Regional Commission, made up of 14 local governments in the Washington, DC suburbs, has been coordinating the coat and blanket drive for each of the last three winters.

Alleged Hizmet link in Hablemitoğlu murder a lie, says widow

The wife of murdered academic Necip Hablemitoğlu has said a recent attempt to establish a connection between the assassination of her husband and the Hizmet movement is an effort to turn her against the movement.

Court wants up to 11 years for Samanyolu TV director

A prosecutor has filed charges against a director of Samanyolu TV accusing him of “insulting” and “slandering” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and fomenting “grudges and hostility among the public,” demanding up to 11 years and two months in prison.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

“It was so cold, it felt like an arrow through my heart”

A Case for Why Gulen Would Never Support a Coup

Dutch government calls on Turkish community to report threats by supporters of Turkish President Erdogan

Dusseldorf drawn to the call “Come, whoever you are”

Turkish Teachers In Kazakhstan Fear Going Home

Foes on the Run as Erdogan Makes Power Personal

Erdogan’s problem with his well-educated citizens

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News