Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 14) — Two non-government organizations — including one that helped in the rehabilitation of Typhoon Yolanda victims — denied on Friday that it has links with terrorists as claimed by Turkish ambassador Esra Cankour.
The Integrative Center for Alternative Development Foundation, Inc. (ICAD) and Pacific Dialogue Foundation, Inc. (PDF) slammed the accusation as “false and malicious.”
“At the outset, ICAD and PDF vehemently deny that it is a terrorist organization and that it participated in the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. We do not and have never had any links with any group involved in terror attacks,” the organizations said in a joint statement.
Cankour accused ICAD and PDF of being affiliated with Fethullah Gulen, a rival of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Gulen is the leader of a popular movement called Hizmet, but the Turkish government refers to his group as the “Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization,” or FETO.
The Turkish government blames FETO for the October 2016 coup attempt in Turkey that killed 250 people and injured more than 2,000 others. Gulen, who lives in exile in the United States, has repeatedly denied this.
ICAD runs three schools in Pasig, San Juan, and Zamboanga City which Cankour claimed had links to FETO.
The organization wrote that the “irresponsible and untruthful” claim now jeopardized the safety of their students, particularly in Zamboanga City.
“Not only would the students and teachers be subject of possible investigation [or] scrutiny by the government, they would now be targets of real terrorist groups… who may believe them to be sympathizers,” ICAD said in its statement. “Worse, they stand to be ostracized, feared or hated by their community that may be swayed by the false statements of Hon. Cankour.”
Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla told CNN Philippines on Thursday that he was surprised to hear Cankour’s claim, but they are looking into the matter.
Related: Military validating presence of Turkish terrorists
The organizations said that it was open to providing information to clear its name.
According to its profile, ICAD is a non-government organization recognized by the Securities Exchange Commission in 1996. It provided disaster relief during Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
PDF, which was founded in 2011, aims to “build and foster relationships between and among people of diverse backgrounds,” according to its website. The foundation also held panel discussions on religious extremism in various schools and institutions, including Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, Philippine Military Academy, and both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police.
The statement also enumerated various groups which recognized the organizations’ work, including the University of Philippines’ Institute of Islamic Studies, the Catholic Bishops Conference of The Philippines, and various government agencies.
Turkish school speaks up
Filipino Turkish Tolerance School administrator Maruf Celebi also denied Cankour’s allegations, calling them politically motivated.
“Our school [has been] in Zamboanga City for 20 years, and everybody knows us. We are excelling in mathematics, science, and English,” he said.
Celebi assured parents that they did not need to be worried, as they are an educational institution.
He said that parents were concerned, but they have experienced no change in the enrollment of students and they even received 70 new enrollees.
Both Filipino Turkish Tolerance and its sister schools in Manila, which Cankour likewise tagged in her claims, are accredited by the Department of Education.
Stringer Liza Jocson contributed to this story.
