AKIPRESS.COM - The European Union does not share Turkey’s view that the network of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen is a terrorist organization and would need to see “substantive” evidence to change its stance, Reuters reports as the EU’s counter-terrorism coordinator as saying.

The comments by Gilles de Kerchove are likely to infuriate Ankara, which accuses Gulen of masterminding a failed military coup last year, in which more than 250 people were killed. Gulen has denied the charge and condemned the coup.

Turkey has long accused its NATO allies, including the United States and Germany, of failing to condemn the abortive putsch strongly enough, saying they appeared more concerned by Ankara’s ensuing crackdown on suspected supporters of the coup.

“As for FETO, we don’t see it as a terrorist organization, and I don’t believe the EU is likely to change its position soon,” Kerchove said, using the Turkish government’s acronym for Gulen’s network.

“You need not only circumstantial evidence - like just downloading an app - but concrete substantive data which shows that they were involved...,” he told Reuters in an interview cleared for publication on Thursday.

Turkish authorities have detained some 50,000 people, including teachers, police officers, journalists and U.S. consular staff for alleged links to Gulen’s network. Some 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from their jobs.