Turkey backs India's bid to join NSG

Turkey on Friday confirmed its support for India’s membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group. It also prodded New Delhi to act against some institutions run by the followers of controversial US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen.

External Minister Sushma Swaraj was briefed by visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on the role of Gulen and a network of his followers in the recent attempt to stage a coup in Turkey.

Cavusoglu pointed out that some of the followers of Gulen were running schools, colleges and other institutions in Mumbai, Hyderabad and other cities across India. He requested Swaraj to act against the institutions run by the network, sources said.

The Embassy of Turkey here had earlier conveyed to the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi Ankara’s concerns over Gulen network’s footprints in India.

Sushma told Cavusoglu that the government would take necessary action after verifying the allegations against the institutions run by the followers of Gulen.

Gülen, a cleric, lives in Pennsylvania in the US. He runs the Gülen Movement, which, according to his website, is a “worldwide civic initiative rooted in the spiritual and humanistic tradition of Islam”.

The Turkish government led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim accused Fethullah Gülen of orchestrating the failed coup in Turkey last month.