FETÖ steps up terror activities in Africa ahead of Erdoğan visit

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) has stepped up its efforts in Africa in a bid to negatively impact Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to the continent and participation in the BRICS summit currently being held in South Africa.

Erdoğan will attend the summit to be held between Wednesday and Friday. His attendance at the summit will serve as the first high-level contact between Turkey and the BRICS bloc.

On the sidelines of the summit, the Turkish president is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of all BRICS member states and other invited leaders.

A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdoğan is scheduled on Thursday on the sidelines of the summit, according to Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov.

According to the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD)’s South Africa head Abubekir Salim, against whom the FETÖ terror organization has launched several false lawsuits, “A group of journalists were brought by FETÖ members to meet the group’s ringleader Fetullah Gülen in Pennsylvania prior to Erdoğan’s visit to South Africa in a bid to negatively impact public opinion in the country and portray FETÖ in a good light. It was also aimed at starting a smear campaign against the president and put forth false accusations.”

The journalists were asked to launch smear campaigns using false evidence against Turkish businessmen and companies operating in Africa.

Speaking about recent developments, Salim said that the good atmosphere that prevailed between Turkey and South Africa following the election of President Ramaphosa is set to improve even further after the participation of President Erdoğan in the BRICS summit.

“All they did to prevent this was for nothing. We will never allow it to destroy the beautifully developing and effective ties between the two countries, and all the ongoing efforts together with our president’s visit, and will continue to develop our trade ties in particular and bring relations to its peak.”

FETÖ terrorists are led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gülen, who orchestrated Turkey's July 15 coup attempt and is the mastermind behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Since the failed coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police and judiciary as well as in state institutions across the country to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETÖ.