What is FETO?

A year has passed since the failed coup attempt that claimed the lives of 249 and injured 2,000 others on July 15, 2016. Turkey's government says FETO is the prime suspect behind the failed coup.

Soldiers blocked the Bosphorus Bridge during the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
TRT World and Agencies

Soldiers blocked the Bosphorus Bridge during the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

Turkey marks a year on July 15 since the coup attempt killed 249 people, and injured 2,000 others.

Turkey's government blames Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been living in self-exile for more than 17 years in the United States.

The government calls Gulen's movement Fethullah Terrorist Organisation or FETO.

Before the failed coup and the massive crackdown which followed, FETO and its members were accused of running a parallel shadow government after gaining control of state institutions which included the military and the judiciary.

Gulen and his followers claim that his organisation is merely a social welfare network that promotes education, interfaith harmony and a moderate, non-violent Sufi brand of religion.

But after evidence was found during the post-coup crackdown, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially declared FETO a terrorist organisation and its members or those linked to it as terrorists.

TRT World's Hassan Abdullah reports from Ankara.

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