A student sits with her head in her hands as US first lady Melania Trump visits the FETO-linked Dove School of Discovery during a two-day, three-state tour promoting her "Be Best" initiative in Tulsa, Oklahoma, US, March 4, 2019.
US First Lady Melania Trump on Monday visited Dove School of Discovery in Tulsa, Oklahoma run by the Fetullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation (FETO).
As of 2017, FETO operated 136 charter schools in 28 states, and used more than $2.1 billion in US taxpayer dollars since 2010, CBS News reported.
Thank you to the teachers, leadership & students of DOVE School of Discovery in Tulsa for welcoming me today. There is great work being done! It is so important that education includes not only academics, but the importance of a strong sense of character & values. #BeBest pic.twitter.com/sRRMMASrlx
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) March 4, 2019
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu last month said that the FBI had started investigating FETO's network in 15 US states, and had made arrests in New Jersey.
FETO has a considerable presence abroad, including private schools serving as a revenue stream for the terror group, some of which are in US states.
Schools run by FETO in the US have faced allegations of financial mismanagement, misappropriation of public funds, and abusing the immigration process.
"One of their most troubling characteristics is that they don’t have a great track record when it comes to financial and legal transparency," Scott Beauchamp noted in a piece for The Atlantic.
FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and nearly 2,200 wounded.
Ankara 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.
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