Terrorists should not be able to treat Germany as their “backyard”, the head of Turkey’s parliamentary Human Rights Commission said Tuesday.
Mustafa Yeneroglu, who grew up in Germany, spoke out in an interview with Anadolu Agency to echo criticism from Turkey that has heightened in the wake of last year’s attempted coup.
Since the failed putsch, many of those suspected of involvement in the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which Ankara has accused of being behind the coup bid, have sought refuge in Germany.
“Germany should not be the backyard of terrorist organizations which threaten Turkey’s security and make attempts on the lives of Turkish citizens,” Yeneroglu, a lawmaker in the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, said.
“Parliament bombed, the plot to kill the president, 250 people martyred and people attacked by artillery on July 15 isn’t something German politicians deal with,” he told Anadolu Agency.
“Politicians who came to Turkey to visit the bombed out parliament used completely different words in Turkey than they did after they got back to Germany.”
As well as hundreds killed, more than 2,200 were injured by rogue troops trying to seize power on the night of July 15 last year.
Even before the attempted coup, Turkey accused FETO, led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, of trying to take control of the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.