Turkish-American Influence Group Gets Anti-Erdogan Ad Removed From Times Square

Turk­ish state media is report­ing on a suc­cess­ful effort by the Turk­ish Amer­i­can Nation­al Steer­ing Com­mit­tee to remove a Times Square ad with the text “STOP ERDOGAN.” Accord­ing to the Anadolu Agency report:

March 4, 2021 A defama­tion cam­paign adver­tise­ment by mem­bers of the Fetul­lah Ter­ror­ist Orga­ni­za­tion (FETO) against Turkey has been removed in New York City after back­lash from the Turk­ish com­mu­ni­ty. The anti-Turkey ad, broad­cast on a screen in Times Square, prompt­ed the Turk­ish-Amer­i­can Nation­al Steer­ing Com­mit­tee (TASC) and mem­bers of the Turk­ish-Amer­i­can com­mu­ni­ty to protest. Speak­ing to Anadolu Agency, TASC Co-Chair­man Halil Mut­lu said the ad out­raged the Turk­ish-Amer­i­can com­mu­ni­ty, who he said flood­ed the adver­tis­ing com­pa­ny with emails and phone calls. In addi­tion to the reac­tions of hun­dreds of Turk­ish peo­ple, Mut­lu said the TASC also reached out to the man­agers of the adver­tis­ing com­pa­ny and informed them about the ter­ror group’s activ­i­ties and its coup attempt in Turkey.

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The Turk­ish Amer­i­can Nation­al Steer­ing Com­mit­tee (TASC) then ran ads via vans with LED screens in Times Square, one read­ing “LOVE ERDOGAN.” Anoth­er showed pho­tos advanc­ing the Turk­ish government’s posi­tion on the 2016 Turk­ish coup attempt, blam­ing the Penn­syl­va­nia-based cler­ic Fethul­lah Gülen. Gülen rejects this accu­sa­tion, and the US has so far refused to extra­dite him, cit­ing insuf­fi­cient evi­dence. Turkey calls Gülen’s reli­gious move­ment the Fetul­lah Ter­ror­ist Orga­ni­za­tion (FETO). TASC’s ties to Turkey and to Turk­ish Pres­i­dent Erdoğan include:

• TASC co-chair Halil Mut­lu is Erdoğan’s cousin.

• TASC co-chair Gunay Evinch is a prin­ci­pal of Saltz­man & Evinch, a law firm retained by Turkey.

• TASC’s for­mer trea­sur­er, Murat Guzel, detailed his US polit­i­cal activ­i­ties in e‑mails to Erdoğan fam­i­ly members.