Fugitive FETO member admits terror group's link with schools in Bosnia

By Talha Ozturk and Lejla Biogradlija

SARAJEVO, Bosnia Herzegovina (AA) - A fugitive member of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the failed 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, on Friday openly acknowledged the links between the terror group and some educational institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Omer Aytac, known to have fled Turkey after being convicted of FETO membership in 2014, voiced apparent criticism on social media of the terror organization's payment practices of its members.

"Are the schools belonging to the hizmet movement in Bosnia in debt? Do you see the teachers in Bosnia as slaves? Why do you pay them such small salaries? You don't give them severance pay?" said Aytac. Members and sympathizers of FETO often refer to the terror group as the "hizmet" movement, meaning service in Turkish.

"Since when has it been a service to open businesses like restaurants and tourism companies, etc. in Bosnia?"

He also openly admitted that FETO-linked schools known as the Bosnia Sema Educational Institutions were sold to a US-based firm called Global Education and then to the British company Richmond Park Education.

"They say the British company bought it (Bosnia Sema Educational Institutions), the American company bought it, but these are another kind of lie they tell in many parts of the world. Everyone knows who did and did not buy it. The Mustafa Ozcan, Talip Kucuk, Mustafa Yesil consortium, or another kind of something similar," said Aytac.

FETO has operated in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1998, establishing the Bosna Sema education facilities that same year.

The educational institution, originally known as Bosna Sema schools, has reportedly twice changed ownership since the 2016 defeated coup.

The staff at these institutions, which lost many of their students after the coup attempt in Turkey, were also connected to FETO.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016 which left 251 people dead and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, including the military, police, and education.

FETO also has a considerable presence outside Turkey, including private educational institutions that serve as a revenue stream for the terrorist group.