Armenian diaspora, FETO form alliance in US to lobby against Turkey

The group responsible for last year's coup attempt in Turkey is cooperating with the Armenian diaspora in the U.S. to solidify opposition to Ankara, a Turkish NGO said Thursday.

Ali Çınar, the president of the Washington-based Turkish Heritage Organization, said supporters of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) were coordinating with U.S.-Armenian groups to lobby against Turkey in the U.S. Congress.

FETO had "worked closely with the Armenian diaspora on the so-called Armenian genocide," Çınar told Anadolu Agency in Istanbul last week.

He was referring to the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia in 1915, which have been declared a genocide by some. Turkey does not accept the killings amounted to genocide but has acknowledged the loss of life within both the Armenian and Turkish populations during World War I.

Çınar also claimed FETO had been expanding its network of schools in the U.S. and earned $729 million a year from the schools.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the July 15 coup attempt, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

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.