Dr Kwesi Anning
Security Analyst, Dr Kwesi Anning, has downplayed a terrorist threat warning by the Turkish parliament concerning the operation of Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO)-linked schools in Ghana.
“I, as an analyst and knowing the nature of Turkish politics and the matter in which Fetullah has been turned into a monster and a devil to suit parochial domestic interests, we should dismiss this and just carry on with serious business of securing our country and getting the economy to move. This is not worth any serious consideration,” the Head of the Department of Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) told Jonas Ofori-Yeboah on Class FM’s 505 news programme on Wednesday, February 7.
The Turkish parliament's deputy speaker said on Wednesday that FETO-linked schools were not only a threat for the security of Turkey, but also for other countries where the terror group is active.
In a meeting with the head of the Ghana-Turkey Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group, Sualihu Alhassan Dandawa, the Republican People's Party (CHP) MP Yasar Tuzun drew attention towards the presence of FETO-linked schools in Ghana.
Mr Tuzun reiterated that a total of five FETO-linked schools were active in Ghana.
FETO and its U.S-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey 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.
However, Dr Anning maintains that: “This is an attempt to use emotional solution to get Ghana to do their dirty work. What I think really is necessary now is that because the Turks have raised this alarm that our intelligence services sharpen their watch and their protection of those who go to these schools. We can’t take it for granted that Turkey and its agents will not attempt to do something untoward. It is very unfortunate that this man comes here and shows such gross disrespect to our hospitality. This is not the way international diplomacy is played”.
For him, the country’s security agents are capable of assessing threats and to determine a counter measure hence it was needless for Mr Tuzun to tell Ghanaian authorities to shut the schools in question.
“Do they have the audacity to come here and to tell us that we should close these schools? I think really, it is a mark of gross disrespect. So thank you very much but I think we are capable of making our own assessments and analyses of those who are potential threats to us,” he said, adding “is this man trying to tell us that the whole national security apparatus is so damn ignorant that he has to come from Ankara to tell us? I mean is that what we want to tell our own agents? It is nice for partnerships to develop but partnerships that seeks to undermine your credibility, your identity, authority and knowledge, I think we should handle that partnership with a 50 foot pole”.
