The European Union has denied claims made by the Turkish press that it has for the first time called the Gülen movement a “terrorist” organization in its upcoming progress report slated to be released on Tuesday, according to the Ahval news website.
A source who spoke to Ahval on condition of anonymity categorically denied claims made by Turkish media outlets such as NTV and the left-wing Birgün daily, stressing that the draft report is identical to last year’s on the Gülen movement and that ”FETÖ” is referred to as government lexicon for the movement.
In the EU’s last progress report on Turkey, published in November 2016, there were 28 references to the Gülen movement, none of them referring to the group as “terrorist.”
The 2016 report said ”The government attributed the organisation of the coup attempt to the Gülen movement.” In another reference, the report said ”In May, the President and the government announced that the Gülen movement was formally included in the list of terrorist organisations kept but not disclosed by the National Security Council.”
The list of terrorist organizations is created by the interior ministries of the EU member states; designating an organization as a terrorist structure does not fall under the purview of the EU Commission.
The EU’s terror list was established following the 9/11 attacks on the US. At the time, Turkish Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Turk lobbied Brussels to include the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) on the list. These organizations were later included.
