Azerbaijan to identify "Gulenists" - senior official

A deputy head of the Azerbaijani presidential administration has said that followers of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen in Azerbaijan will be identified, APA news agency reported on 20 August.


"The FETO [Fethullah Terrorist Organization] is financed by certain circles, and due to this, investigations are being carried out in Azerbaijan and Turkey. The powers behind these events will never be able to destabilize Azerbaijan. All the supporters of FETO in Azerbaijan will be identified," Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of the Azerbaijani presidential administration and head of the administration's foreign relations department, told APA.


He also said that investigations have revealed that "this organization, along with its supporters, is connected with certain opposition circles in Azerbaijan".


"Attempts to damage the Azerbaijani government and its interests will be prevented by any means," Mammadov added.


Azerbaijan has recently launched a criminal case against Fethullah Gulen's supporters in the country. The Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General's Office is questioning an aide of the major opposition party leader in connection with the criminal case launched against Gulenists.


Earlier, on 20 June, the Azerbaijani-based Turkish-funded Zaman-Azarbaycan newspaper was shut down, and on the same day, a private Azerbaijani university believed to be linked to Gulen was placed under the management of another university.


On 18 July, Azerbaijan's media regulator, National Television and Radio Council (NTRC), ruled to suspend the broadcasts of the ANS TV for its plans to air an interview with Gulen.



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