Turkish government says the July 15 coup attempt was carried out by the Gulen-led Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), martyring 246 people and injuring more than 2,100 others.
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The crackdown is targeting alleged followers of Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based cleric Mr Erdogan blames for the uprising.
In Germany, the governor of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg said his regional government received a letter from the Turkish consul-general in Stuttgart asking it to check and “reevaluate” organizations, facilities and schools “which in the opinion of the Turkish government are, it says, “controlled” by the Gulen movement”.
Turkey is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally and a candidate for European Union membership. Some Turkish media and even government officials, including the labor minister, have claimed that the USA was somehow involved, despite an outright denial from the US.
In the wake of Erdogan’s response, Votel issued a statement Friday explaining, “any reporting that I had anything to do with the recent unsuccessful coup attempt in Turkey is unfortunate and completely inaccurate”.
The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, General Joseph Votel, issued a statement yesterday asserting that he had no link to the coup attempt in Turkey, an unusual move by one of the highest-ranked United States military leaders.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that it was “right and important” after a coup attempt to pursue the coup plotters “with all the means and possibilities of the state of law”.
Votel also expressed his concerns that in the long run the coup and Ankara’s efforts to clear the military of coup supporters would affect on USA operations in the region.
“It’s not up to you to make that decision”, he said, referring to Votel’s comments.
“Those who show tolerance to traitors are also traitors themselves”, he said. Erdogan said. “Keep that to yourself”.
“Instead of thanking this government for thwarting the coup attempt and for [maintaining] democracy, you are standing by the putschists”, Erdogan told reporters Friday.
He called on Turkey’s regional partners and the worldwide community to take effective measures to prevent the activities of this group in their countries.
Turkish government officials have speculated that the United States supported the failed attempt.
Inside Story – What will Turkey’s failed coup mean for its relations?
Washington later dismissed the allegations against the general, with White House press secretary Josh Earnest calling them unsubstantiated. He said several army barracks used in the attempted coup would be moved away from Ankara and Istanbul to new locations.
On July 19, U.S. ambassador John Bass even went on CNN Turk to dismiss the accusations against the US. The U.S. launches airstrikes, surveillance aircraft and other missions out of Turkey’s Incirlik air base.
Among the limited changes in the most senior commanders, the deputy armed forces chief General Yasar Guler was appointed commander of Turkey’s gendarmerie force, while the head of the prestigious First Army, General Umit Dundar, replaced him as Akar’s second-in-command, the presidential spokesman said.
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More than 60,000 people have been suspended, detained or placed under investigation since the failed coup.
