ANKARA
Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Nabi Avci said Wednesday that European countries should take Ankara’s warning about the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) seriously if they want to avoid getting into "big trouble".
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Avci said that the FETO members had been involved in disinformation and lobbying activities in Europe.
"On top of the racist and xenophobic rhetoric in European countries, there are the disinformation and lobbying activities of the FETO. Europe is really in a difficult situation.
"Therefore, they should take our warnings seriously. Otherwise, they are going to get into serious trouble. They already are," he said.
The rise of right-wing populists across Europe, many of them espousing anti-Muslim and anti-migrant rhetoric, has alarmed Turkey in recent months.
Avci said Europe had become “sick” and its recovery would not be easy, adding the continent was faced with a "serious political crisis" and "lack of leadership".
He added that the Netherlands was the latest example referring to the recent diplomatic row between Ankara and Amsterdam.
On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was refused permission to land in the Netherlands and Family and Social Affairs Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya was forced to leave the country under police escort after being blocked from entering Turkey’s consulate in the Dutch city of Rotterdam.
When Turkish citizens in Rotterdam tried to peacefully protest, they were met by police using batons, dogs and water cannons, in what some analysts called a disproportionate use of force.
The incidents drew strong criticism from Ankara, including diplomatic notes sent to the Netherlands in protest.
Avci said the Turkish government did not have any problems with the Dutch people, but the government.
“The current Dutch administration is extremely ignorant, rough, insolent and selfish. They are really going to be a big headache for Europe. The signs are there."
The minister added that the growing xenophobia had already started "poisoning" the country.
Avci also criticized the Dutch "police brutality" against the Turkish protesters in Rotterdam.
“The Dutch police could probably not display such a rough, ruthless and inhuman attitude under a more rational administration. But it is spreading in waves.”
The minister said the relations between the Turkish and Dutch people would rise above the crisis between the two governments, adding millions of Dutch tourists had visited Turkey in the last 15 years and knew Turkish people.
“I think the Dutch people are also feeling uncomfortable about the whole incident," he said.
FETO campaign in the Netherlands
Avci said he previously warned the Dutch government of FETO members who fled Turkey following the July 15 failed coup last year.
FETO, led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, is accused of orchestrating the attempted coup to overthrow the elected government in Turkey. The bid left 249 people martyred and around 2,200 wounded.
Avci said he told the press following a UN World Tourism Organization conference on October 6 in the Dutch city of Utrecht that some FETO members, who fled Turkey in the aftermath of the failed coup and subsequent anti-FETO operations, had been conducting a "very systematic campaign against Turkey in both the Netherlands and some other European countries”.
"Who are they actually taking their orders from? Are they actually at the service of the Dutch bureaucracy or Pennsylvania? This is the question that I suggested the Dutch authorities take seriously and ask themselves," Avci said.
Gulen has been living under self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania in the U.S. since 1999.
The minister noted that his Dutch counterpart left the conference "cold" after he finished talking to the press.
"After the press conference, I was told by our friends that they were not surprised as there were some dual-passport holder Turkish-Dutch citizens with links to FETO who were in key positions in Dutch bureaucracy, and guided the Dutch politicians.
"I have been told that they infiltrated local municipalities, city councils and supported political campaigns, as well as affording advantages to some politicians, which is basically what they had done in Turkey in the past.
"They especially guided some Dutch politicians and media to run anti-Turkish campaigns, I have been told."
FETO-linked schools in the Netherlands
The minister went on to say that there was sound intelligence that the FETO-linked schools in the country had supported their students to infiltrate Dutch government institutions through securing the questions for university and public service exams in advance and passing them to FETO members, just like they did in Turkey.
“There is a similar situation in Germany and others, too," he added.
According to Dutch media reports, there are nine FETO-linked schools in the country plus a private tuition center including Metis Montessori High School, Cosmicus-Impuls Primary School and Witte Tulp Primary School in Amsterdam, Cosmicus College in Rotterdam, Cosmicus Primary Schools in Rotterdam, The Hague and Arnhem, Roos Islamic Primary Schools (IBS de Roos) in Purmerend and Zaandam, and INPOINT tuition center in Meerdere.
The organization also runs several boys and girls dormitories in several Dutch cities.
Reporting by Yildiz Aktas:Writing by Sorwar Alam
