No difference between FETO, PKK, Daesh: Erdogan

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday there is "no difference" between the separatist PKK, Daesh, and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group blamed for the July 15 defeated coup.

"There is no difference between the PKK, Daesh, and FETO. They all serve the same purpose," Erdogan said in an address to a delegation of Islamic NGOs at the Presidential Palace.

Erdogan said despite the terrorist groups’ "different" names, they have the "same" motives.

Speaking just hours after a trio of deadly PKK attacks in Turkey’s east and southeast, he added that FETO was "behind" these latest attacks in terms of "intelligence-sharing and "encouragement."

Turkey's government has said the defeated July 15 coup, which left 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, was organized by followers of Fetullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his FETO network.

Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.