Ankara has demanded Gulen’s extradition over the failed coup, which left 271 people dead.
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“Turkey came from the brink of a precipice”, Yildirim said.
The changes are part of a broad crackdown in the aftermath of the abortive coup, which Erdogan blames on USA -based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, denies any knowledge of the attempt to overthrow the government.
Erdogan has also strongly criticized US military officials for comments he said implied that the detention of Turkish military officers as part of the coup investigation could affect the country’s fight against the Islamic State militant group.
Nihat Zeybekci, economy minister, vowed that the coup plotters would regret their actions.
Ahead of the meetings, US joint staff spokesman Capt. Greg Hicks said Dunford would “deliver messages condemning in the strongest terms the recent coup attempt”.
Hicks said the USA general would also reaffirm “the importance of our enduring partnership for regional security”, citing operations out of the Incirlik air base against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, and Turkey’s contributions to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
The top German court ruled against the live link amid concerns that political tensions in Turkey could spill over into Germany, home to Europe’s largest Turkish diaspora.
The court ruled that messages from speakers elsewhere, such as politicians in Turkey, could not be shown on a video screen at the rally, which was attended by about 30,000-40,000 people.
Germany is home to roughly three million people with Turkish roots.
“Our aim is that we set up such a system that nobody within the armed forces would ever consider a coup again”, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told a news conference on Monday. “This is a clear double standard”.
But on Saturday, Germany’s Constitutional Court banned the speech from being broadcast.
Germany’s charge d’affaires was hauled in to the foreign ministry to hear how strongly the Erdogan regime feels about the issue.
Yet the officials also signaled that they wouldn’t let the issue of Gulen alone sour relations between the two countries. That prompted Turkey to recall its ambassador from Berlin for consultations.
Apart from trying to apprehend those who directly participated in the coup attempt, the government has sought to crack down on those suspected of being members of Gulen’s movement and has increasingly brought the military under civilian control.
More than 1,700 military personnel were dishonourably discharged last week for their role in the putsch.
After a meeting with main opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, on Monday Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that the opposition’s “sensitivities, thoughts and concerns” would be taken into consideration, but did not elaborate.
More than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained, suspended or placed under investigation since the coup, prompting fears that Erdogan is pursuing an indiscriminate crackdown on all forms of dissent. “Sorry, but everything has a price”. One suspect is still on the run.
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In an interview at the weekend, Erdogan said he also wanted to subject the MIT intelligence agency and the chief of general staff’s headquarters under presidential authority. The soldiers raided his hotel in an attempt to capture or kill the president but are believed to have missed him by an hour or less.
