FETO propaganda prevents students from choosing Turkey

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) is spreading malicious propaganda to prevent foreign students from coming to Turkey, the head of Turkey's Federation of International Student Associations (UDEF) said on Friday.

"FETO is making black propaganda, saying 'Don't go to Turkey to study, it's not safe'," Mehmet Ali Bolat said at a meeting for foreign students in Istanbul.

Bolat said Turkey was providing correct information about the country through the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities and the Yunus Emre Institute.

"We would like to carry out student meetings in these countries to increase the number of the students coming to Turkey, by telling them of how Turkey is a big, powerful and safe country," he said, adding that such student meetings would be held in 41 countries.

Bolat said the UDEF was carrying out its student meetings in different countries in an effort "to show international students who want to study in Turkey that there are alternatives to FETO".

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred 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, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.