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Accused Turkish General Denies He Was Behind The Coup

Erdogan made the announcement on July 20 during a live television broadcast following meetings in Ankara with his cabinet and the country’s national security council.

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Turkey says Fethullah Gulen, a USA -based Muslim cleric, was behind the coup and has demanded his extradition.

Erdogan told broadcaster Al Jazeera through an interpreter: “We need to be more sensitive”.

Turkey has repeatedly named Gulen as the instigator of its turmoil and demands his extradition from the United States.

Erdogan believed the bilateral relation is not based on emotion, as Turkey and the USA, an important strategic partner, have many common interests and should strengthen solidarity with each other.

Turkey’s parliament has endorsed sweeping new powers for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that would allow him to expand a crackdown in the wake of last week’s failed coup.

Rubin explained that even though Erdogan has attempted to align the military with his Islamist vision, a general of Ozturk’s stature would have risen through the ranks while the military was still quite secular.

Mr Erdogan has warned of further arrests, sackings and suspensions as part of a far-reaching crackdown by Turkish authorities on those suspected of involvement in the coup.

The agency later said Erdogan’s Air Force adviser, Lt. Col. Erkan Kivrak, had been detained at a hotel where he was vacationing in the Serik district of Turkey’s southern province of Antalya.

Turkey’s government has escalated its wide-ranging crackdown against people it claims are linked to plotters in Friday night’s attempted coup, sacking almost 24,000 teachers and Interior Ministry employees across the country.

Kerry said the USA was watching those developments with caution but reiterated Washington’s support for the elected government.

Numan Kurtulmus would not provide details about the files but said they include the past actions of the group that Gulen leads. The cleric has strong denied any knowledge of the attempted coup.

President Erdogan and his government blame Gulen for orchestrating the coup attempt on Friday in which over 200 people were killed and 1,400 injured. “Did they not arrest people in very high numbers?”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also warned that Turkey must respect the law and its democratic institutions if it wanted to remain part of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

About 60,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have been suspended, detained or are under investigation since the military coup attempt.

His spokesman, Joe Pickerill, said the Turkish government was not asking to extradite any Gulen members from Canada, as has been the case with the us, but was seeking “general information” about the group in Canada.

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German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed it was “vital that the state of emergency is limited for the required time and then immediately lifted”.

WNEP via CNN