“President Erdogan should understand that his threats will never work against European leaders who are strong supporters of democratic principles and human rights”, Stanishev said.
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Those concerns were amplified by a broad purge of state institutions and some private ones after the July 15 uprising, in which at least 270 people died. Sorry, we will not let our guard down.
Gulen, a former Erdogan ally turned fierce critic, has denied any involvement in the coup plot but acknowledged in a CNN interview that people “sympathetic” to his movement may have been among the coup plotters. “Unfortunately, the West gives support to terror and stands on the side of coups”, Erdoğan said in an address to worldwide investors.
“An organization that can massacre innocent people in one night cannot be associated with Islam”, he said.
German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said on Monday Europe would not be blackmailed by Turkey in talks on visa liberalization, which have been hampered by a dispute over Turkish anti-terrorism legislation and a crackdown after the abortive coup on July 15.
How do Turks in Europe see Erdogan?
It was mainly Gulenist prosecutors who, after Erdogan and his party narrowly escaped being banned in 2008, built two big conspiracy trials targeting the upper echelons of the military.
As of late July, the number of people thought to be affected by the crackdown in Turkey totaled nearly 60,000 – including 21,000 teachers whose licenses were revoked, 8,000 police removed from their posts, more than 250 staff from the prime minister’s office, as well as judges and soldiers, according to the BBC. Broadcaster NTV said “many people” had been detained, but the official gave no details.
Turkey deserves better understanding from European partners about the “outrageous” failed coup, the head of Europe’s top human rights organization said Wednesday, amid complaints from Turkish leaders that Western allies have not shown solidarity with the government.
“The coup attempt was outrageous. They wonder what has happened”, he said. “We will have all the access we need to Incirlik, Diyabakir [air base] and other facilities as necessary to prosecute the counter-ISIL fight”, Dunford said, using another acronym for the Islamic State.
The Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi illustrated the increasingly overt European disquiet about Mr Erdogan’s approach to the rule of law in a tweet on Tuesday.
Turkish politicians have been frustrated by USA and European criticism of the purge that has followed the coup, accusing the West of greater concern about the rights of the plotters than the gravity of the threat to a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member state.
The chairman and several executives from Boydak Holding, a prominent family-run conglomerate with interests from furniture to energy, have also been detained, as has the chief of Turkey’s biggest petrochemicals firm Petkim.
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Extremely worryingly for a base that houses dozens of American tactical nuclear weapons, Incirlik was also a key point in the coup with its Turkish commander arrested and power temporarily shut down.
