Turkey vows to stay vigilant against FETÖ threat

It's not easy to entirely wipe out the FETÖ organization, and Turkey will continue to stay vigilant against coup plotters, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, vowing to eliminate terrorists wherever they are, even outside the borders.

"As we continue our fight against other terrorist organizations without compromise and with determination, we will follow FETÖ until its last member is made ineffective," Erdoğan told his parliamentary group on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt that left 251 people dead and more than 2,000 injured.

Turkey held Fethullah Gülen and his FETÖ organization responsible for the coup attempt and launched a big campaign to clear the state apparatus, including the military, justice and all other public offices of clandestine members of the terror organization. Tens of thousands of civil servants were dismissed from their jobs, while those who were found out to be active members of the organization were prosecuted and jailed.

Describing the FETÖ as an insidious organization that can hardly be fully wiped out, Erdoğan vowed that Turkey would continue to stay vigilant against it inside and outside Turkey. "We are after them from both inside and outside. And we are bringing them back to Turkey when we capture them. We have recently brought the FETÖ's chief financial coordinator in Central Asia," Erdoğan said.

Turkey is planning security measures in the regions where there is a threat of terrorism, and that's why the government is strengthening its diplomatic infrastructure and presence abroad, the president explained.

"If we do not establish this strong infrastructure, we know and see through countless examples in our distant and recent history that they will not allow us to...