The BBC reported Greek police said a military helicopter carrying eight men, mostly in military uniforms and believed to be part of the coup, landed in the country seeking asylum.
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People kick and beat a Turkish soldier that participated in the attempted coup, on Istanbul’s Bosporus Bridge, today.
The indefinite ban took effect on Saturday in the wake of the failed coup attempt in Turkey that left 265 dead and over 2,000 injured. “The situation is completely under control”, Yildirim adds. “Our commanders are in charge”, he said.
By the time of reporting, the order had been partially fulfilled as scores of judges of the Supreme Court and other court instances reporting to the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors of Turkey were detained.
Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said earlier that he hoped democracy in Turkey would survive the aftermath of the coup. He’s cracked down on Turkey’s freedom of the press and pushed constitutional changes that would consolidate unsafe amounts of power in the president’s hands. Addressing crowds in Instabul, Erdogan promised to clean out the military of supporters of Gulen, and demanded the United States turn him over.
“I do not think any country would support this person (Fethullah Gülen), the leader of a terrorist organization”, Yildirim said. “It surprised everybody, including the people in Turkey”.
Gulen, who has lived as a recluse in the Pocono Mountains since 1999, issued a statement Friday denouncing the coup attempt and denying any involvement. Washington’s top diplomat said that the embassy was seeking to confirm that no US citizens traveling in Turkey had been harmed, and expressed USA condolences to the relatives of those who have died.
Erdogan on Saturday urged the United States to extradite the preacher Fethullah Gulen, who he accuses of masterminding the failed coup, to face trial in Turkey.
Gulen is understood to maintain significant support among some members of the military and mid-level bureaucrats.
Asked by reporters Saturday about Erdogan’s claim of Gulen’s being behind the attempted coup, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, “We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen”.
Turkish authorities also closed for several hours the airspace around the USA base of Incirlik, preventing air strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria. USA air operations at the base have been halted.
U.S. Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-Islamic State campaign, and U.S. facilities at Incirlik are operating as usual using internal power sources, it said.
“There are too many of them”, he said.
Google said in a statement, “We are aware of reports that YouTube is down in Turkey, however, systems seem to be functioning normally”.
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“We have always done our best to mend and improve relations, but if the source of the break-up, the problem, is turkey, there is not much we can do”.
