US media shortchanges FETÖ threat: Film director

An American film director said that the U.S. media pays too little attention to the threat of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Mark Hall, director of the 2016 documentary, "Killing Ed," which probed the financial misdeeds of FETÖ-linked charter schools in the U.S., said: “Although I've given many interviews [on the FETO threat] to the media here, very few will accurately represent my statements and most refuse to publish my remarks at all.”

He blamed this lack of attention to FETO having spent “18 years spreading a false image through highly paid public relations and community outreach.”

He said many U.S. political figures, along with academics and journalists, fell for the “false image” created by the terrorist group and believe it “wholeheartedly.”

Now that there have been two years since the 2016 defeated coup attempt in Turkey, more and more facts are being discovered showing that this terrible event was initiated by FETÖ, Hall said, adding that the media has done a poor job covering FETO activities in the U.S. as well as the defeated coup attempt in Turkey.

He said the media ignored the “large amount of money that this group receives from U.S. taxpayers.”

Americans who know the truth about FETÖ also support Turkey in its bid for extradition of the group’s leader Fetullah Gulen, who has been living in Pennsylvania since 1999, he said.

In July 2016, FETÖ and Gulen orchestrated a defeated coup in Turkey which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Since the defeated coup attempt, Turkey has sought Gulen's extradition from the U.S., and complained that the U.S. is not moving fast enough.

FETÖ also has a considerable presence outside Turkey, including private educational institutions that serve as a revenue stream for the terrorist group, including in the U.S.